Next week will really test the A/C systems in a lot of cars. Most of the country will be under the influence of massive sub-tropical high-pressure systems that will allow surface temperatures to approach triple-digits all the way up to the Canadian border...in addition to the usual frying-pan temperatures in the Desert Southwest that are normal. The East, in addition, will have the usual steam-bath humidity as well.
Most of the cool air that could provide relief will be locked way up in Northern Canada....so we're going to just have to live with it for awhile.

If you have to drive in that kind of heat, try and keep the car moving as much as possible. Today's cooling systems are much more efficient than in the cars I grew up with ( the temperature gauge needles rarely go more than halfway ), and they don't overheat as readily while standing still, but still, the more air you have moving through the radiator with vehicle speed, the better off you potentially are.
Keep those tire pressures up where they belong ( check them cold...less than 1 mile after a cold start ) ...and DON'T overload your vehicles. Weight, heat, low pressure, and high speed are the classic ingredients for tire failure. Most of those famous Ford Explorer rollovers and tire failures occurred on sun-baked summer roads with too-low tire pressures and overloaded vehicles...and hot, sun-baked roads is exactly what we will have next week. With stock factory wheels and tires, you will usually find the correct tire pressures in one of three places....the Owners' Manual, the drivers' door jamb, or a plate in the glove compartment. Do NOT go by the tire pressure figure molded into the tire's sidewall....usually between 40-50 PSI. That is simply a maximum, never-exceed pressure that could make the tire explode.

If your car does overheat, the old adage about putting the car in neutral and speeding up the engine no longer works......toss that idea out in the trash. That idea goes back to when engine fans were crankshaft-driven and speeding up the engine forced more air through the radiator. That all changed with the advent of electric fans with thermostatically-controlled switches. Speeding the engine up, today, while it will force more coolant through the water pump, otherwise does you no additional cooling good. What WILL work, if your engine overheats, at least to an extent, although it will be mighty uncomfortable, is to open the windows, turn the A/C off, and turn the HEAT on...no, I'm not kidding. You will, of course, sweat like a pig, but the heater will transfer some of the engine's excess heat out of the engine and disspiate it through the heater core inside...that could be just enough to save your engine and its bearings. If that doesn't start to work in a minute or two...and the gauge go down a little, shut the engine off and just let it cool.
And, most of you know better than to do this, but for you few who don't.......never, EVER open the radiator cap on a hot engine.....that coolant is very hot and under a lot of pressure......you can be SERIOUSLY burned.

Words spoken for a true master! Thanks for the heads up on the Heatwave... although, it probably couldn't get much hotter here in FL! It's been damn near triple digits almost every day. :thumbup:

I havent gotten a chance to wash my car since we're almost always in the mid 80's to mid 90's...

Next week will really test the A/C systems in a lot of cars. Most of the country will be under the influence of massive sub-tropical high-pressure systems that will allow surface temperatures to approach triple-digits all the way up to the Canadian border...in addition to the usual frying-pan temperatures in the Desert Southwest that are normal. The East, in addition, will have the usual steam-bath humidity as well.
Most of the cool air that could provide relief will be locked way up in Northern Canada....so we're going to just have to live with it for awhile.

If you have to drive in that kind of heat, try and keep the car moving as much as possible. Today's cooling systems are much more efficient than in the cars I grew up with ( the temperature gauge needles rarely go more than halfway ), and they don't overheat as readily while standing still, but still, the more air you have moving through the radiator with vehicle speed, the better off you potentially are.
Keep those tire pressures up where they belong ( check them cold...less than 1 mile after a cold start ) ...and DON'T overload your vehicles. Weight, heat, low pressure, and high speed are the classic ingredients for tire failure. Most of those famous Ford Explorer rollovers and tire failures occurred on sun-baked summer roads with too-low tire pressures and overloaded vehicles...and hot, sun-baked roads is exactly what we will have next week. With stock factory wheels and tires, you will usually find the correct tire pressures in one of three places....the Owners' Manual, the drivers' door jamb, or a plate in the glove compartment. Do NOT go by the tire pressure figure molded into the tire's sidewall....usually between 40-50 PSI. That is simply a maximum, never-exceed pressure that could make the tire explode.

If your car does overheat, the old adage about putting the car in neutral and speeding up the engine no longer works......toss that idea out in the trash. That idea goes back to when engine fans were crankshaft-driven and speeding up the engine forced more air through the radiator. That all changed with the advent of electric fans with thermostatically-controlled switches. Speeding the engine up, today, while it will force more coolant through the water pump, otherwise does you no additional cooling good. What WILL work, if your engine overheats, at least to an extent, although it will be mighty uncomfortable, is to open the windows, turn the A/C off, and turn the HEAT on...no, I'm not kidding. You will, of course, sweat like a pig, but the heater will transfer some of the engine's excess heat out of the engine and disspiate it through the heater core inside...that could be just enough to save your engine and its bearings. If that doesn't start to work in a minute or two...and the gauge go down a little, shut the engine off and just let it cool.
And, most of you know better than to do this, but for you few who don't.......never, EVER open the radiator cap on a hot engine.....that coolant is very hot and under a lot of pressure......you can be SERIOUSLY burned.


Outstanding post and thanks for the heads up :thumbup:

Great stuff!!! I would also like to add that when you park your car, try and find a shady spot, if that is not possible, invest in some "window covers" that will prevent some of the sun from entering the vehicle. It will save the interior from harmful UV rays.

I also like to let the fan (AC OFF) for a few mins after I start the car, and a few mins before I shut off the car. This helps prevent mold buildup in the ducts -- it also give the engine time to warm up.

my DD doesnt have AC :(

my DD doesnt have AC :(


Then its sounds like the best time to bring out the weekend whip for daily driver duty. :D

so um i leave for an alaskan cruise tuesday and my car sits out in the drieway. is it going to be ok?

It should be fine. I would keep one window open a CRACK, just let relieve the pressure buildup on hot days. You may want to lay a towel down and cover the area surrounding that window just in case it rains hard while you are away.

i normally have my sunroof vented open at pretty much all time dring the summer.

Definatly good advise... A couple summers ago I drove from San Diego to Lake Tahoe in my previous vehicle, Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. It was very HOT and I had 4 people in the car including some luggage with the AC on. During an uphill climb the engien temps got quite hot and the car went into "Limp home mode" I couldn't go past 35-40mph, if I tried to the car would just shudder really bad and misfire. Had to pull over, pop the hood and let it cool down a bit and I was good to go again. Kept the AC off until the hill climb was over.

My dad, who was making the same trip with similar load in his LS430 had no issues with the AC on the entire time. Coolant temp never exceeded the half way mark.

Wait, the heat wave is ABOUT to start? I thought that Los Angeles has had a heat wave EVERY summer for 3 months.... :eek2:

true, but they'r predicting highs up to ~120 in the SoCal area this time around :eek2:

Thanks for the great info! :thumbup:

I noticed that Toyota/Lexus A/C is one of the coldest in the industry. I drive my 2000 GS300, a 97' E320, and a 01' Acura 3.2TL on a regular basis. I also ride in a 98' Supra, 05' ES330, 03' Rav4, 06' Mazda 3, 04' Infiniti FX35, and a 05' Audi A4 2.0T quite often.

My GS and the Supra's AC is really cold, and blasts at high volume. All other Toyota/Lexus are about the same, very cold and strong as well. The other Japanese models are significantly weaker than Toyota/Lexus. My GF's 3.2TL has the coldness but the blast power is weak. My family's E320 has strong blast but it has never been really cold from day 1 of purchase.

Maybe this is another reason why Toyota sales have been up :D


on a side note, Lexus heated seats heat up very fast. Mercedes heated seats heat up slower, but gets scorching when at full power :D

I noticed that Toyota/Lexus A/C is one of the coldest in the industry. I


Yes...Lexus, especially, has what is probably the best A/C in the industry. My IS300 was like an igloo on 90-degree-plus days. Surprisingly, GM, which can't seem to do much else right these days, also makes a superb A/C system.....this is nothing new for them, going back to the 1960's.

Great post, mmarshall! With the Dog Days of Summer seeming to come about a month early this year, that's good advice. :thumbup:

Never, EVER remove a radiator cap on an overheated engine. Climbing up to Arrowhead from Sandy Eggo pulling a light trailer behind my Mustang, the marginal cooling system couldn't handle the stress and my buddy and I and our ladies pulled over in a turnout to let things cool down. About 30 seconds after we exited the car, a carload of people in a steaming old Chevy pulled up right next to us and the panicked driver got out, jerked the hood open – and obviously not knowing anything about mechanical devices of any kind – dove for the radiator cap.

My buddy and I screamed "NOOOOOO!!!!" while stuffing the ladies backward into the car and slamming the doors, just as Vesuvius erupted. This idiot, seeing steam blowing out of the overflow pipe, and leaking under the radiator cap decided to twist it off with his bare hand for a look inside. There followed a geyser of superheated rusty brown fluid that ricocheted off his open hood – at least the part that missed his face – and showered everyone within 20 feet.

The paramedics from Arrowhead arrived shortly, and as they loaded him into the ambulance, one remarked that this was a commonplace injury they treat all the time. First and second degree burns to the face, hands and arms are painful enough, but the reversed imprint of “Harrison” and “Turn Slowly” on your forehead tends to advertise the fact that you are indeed a moron.

And I thought last week was hot :(

I hate the fact that I haven't had the change to install an AC in my room yet, where its normally hot and humid. I was planning to do it this week, but I guess I have to put it off until next week or so. No way am I working under the sun. I already sweat a bucket doing nothing.


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Its 102 in NYC right now. I nevr park my vehicles in the garage on hot days. The garage is like an oven on a hot day, and can kill your battery. I learned that lesson years ago, when my battery died in the garage one summer :( . Had Lexus roadside assistance give me a boost at the time, and had to get a new battery. Now I keep them in the driveway covered with California Car covers on hot days.

It's a good time to get that tint installed :D

The heat hasn't let up over here in Cali. Real strange weather. Last night around 3:00 am there was a lot of weird multi-directional wind, lightning, and some rain that lasted a good 3 minutes. :uh:

"Earthquake weather"

Last night around 3:00 am ...and some rain that lasted a good 3 minutes. :uh:


So that's what the noise was. I woke up to the sound of thunder :egads:
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It's a good time to get that tint installed :D

The heat hasn't let up over here in Cali. Real strange weather. Last night around 3:00 am there was a lot of weird multi-directional wind, lightning, and some rain that lasted a good 3 minutes. :uh:

"Earthquake weather"

So that was thunder. I was still up watching movies and I saw flashes outside the window. I thought it was some thief's flashlights. :cool:

I went outside to smoke and the wind was very strong and turbulent, constantly changing directions-- trees were kind of circling around instead of getting blown one way. Lots of flashes of lightning in the relatively light cloud cover. Reminded me of War of the Worlds....very eerie, the way it just came and went.

Btw Globe, I think I saw your GS at Pep Boys off of South Street about a month ago hehe

I never thought that I would see such a weather broadcast in my life:

L.A. 89
N.Y. 99

LOL

Btw Globe, I think I saw your GS at Pep Boys off of South Street about a month ago hehe

Where else is better to shop for JDM car parts besides PepBoys? lol :thumbup:

Surprisingly enough, today was not all that hot here in San Diego... It was warm, but not any warmer than it has been in the last week or two. I'm going to assume this heat wave isn't really going to make things any warmer in my neck of the woods, just keep things warm for a longer than usual amount of time.

man it was 110 in OC this past weekend already and it was no fun. sc430 AC was blasting full force just to keep the car cool. i guess we will see how all lexus does next week huh :)

Surprisingly enough, today was not all that hot here in San Diego... It was warm, but not any warmer than it has been in the last week or two. I'm going to assume this heat wave isn't really going to make things any warmer in my neck of the woods, just keep things warm for a longer than usual amount of time.

San Diego sits on the coast and gets a cool sea breeze that helps a lot. Go inland a little ways and it can be like a blast furnace.

Surprisingly enough, today was not all that hot here in San Diego... It was warm, but not any warmer than it has been in the last week or two. I'm going to assume this heat wave isn't really going to make things any warmer in my neck of the woods, just keep things warm for a longer than usual amount of time.

"Must be nice" :D

New Yorkers get more heat than Californians ;)

I gotta fix my heater bypass valve / hose on my SC and refill the cold stuff....should have done it in slow season when they dont jack up their prices

Surprisingly enough, today was not all that hot here in San Diego... It was warm, but not any warmer than it has been in the last week or two. I'm going to assume this heat wave isn't really going to make things any warmer in my neck of the woods, just keep things warm for a longer than usual amount of time.


Ok, I was wrong... up to 106 by noon today and it's only 12:20 now. :cry:

Damnit, how am I supposesd to wash all my cars then? I will not give in to an automated car wash. Maybe pay the dealer people a little extra to carefully hand wash my cars. :D

11x in a lot of places in cali now....... too crazy

Well, it seems the heat wave for NYC is over. I was driving everyday and the AC in my car was running full steam, condensation formed on the outside of the windshield and windows. Had to turn on the wipers every now and then! I love FREON! Not bad for a 13 year old car...

Also the AC system in the MB SUCKS all types of ass...

Also the AC system in the MB SUCKS all types of ass...None of the A/Cs in my MBs suck ass. They're actually the best, with the exception of the RX330, which is a little better.

reminds me of a funny episode of futurama

Scientist: "global warming"
little girl: "gobo wappa?"

it looks like we are the little girl now, we have very little understand of the term... we should all try to drive a bit less

It looks like the heat wave that I referred to in my opening post is at least partially over. A front moved off the East Coast today bringing in some cooler and drier air to much of the country for at least a couple of days. The West looks like it will stay hot for a while.....but without the awful steam bath humidity we get here in the East.