If you see smoke rising from the car’s hood, it may be a sign that it is overheating. Your vehicle’s engine might be overheating because it doesn’t have enough coolant to keep its temperature to a safe level. In some cases, putting the wrong type of coolant in the engine can have the same negative impact on your vehicle.
In such a scenario, it may be necessary to flush the coolant out as soon as possible. Alternatively, a vehicle might be excessively hot because there is an issue with the radiator. If it is clogged or broken, it will not be able to remove heat from the engine in an efficient manner.
Driving your car on an extremely hot day may cause the needle on the temperature gauge to move. However, the engine will likely return to a safer temperature within minutes of turning off the ignition.