The engine of your vehicle is the most important part which may get hot for several reasons. Heating the car engine causes a lot of problems like the warning of “Engine Hot AC off”.
Is a common sign for a car engine. Some reasons are responsible for this.
But what does it mean by “Engine hot AC off”? Do you have any ideas? If don’t, keep going through this article.
You will be able to learn about it, the reasons behind this warning as well as how to fix them. Also, we will try to discuss the prevention steps of this problem.
Have a look-
What Is The “Engine Hot AC Off” Light?
In this situation, when the engine gets too hot anyhow and the cooling fan isn’t working at the same time. That leads to The Engine Hot AC Off light warning.
The AC is turned off because of overheating of the engine. In case, if you try to turn on the electrical cooling fan, that will not work as the car shuts off it to reduce the load.
If it happens, you need to fix it immediately to prevent the engine from dying. Before that, you must have knowledge about the causes as well as the ways to fix the problem.
Can I Still Drive When “Engine Hot AC Off” Is On?
Many of you asked this question frequently. As the Engine Hot AC Off warning occurs for the overheating of the car engine, you should not drive your car before fixing it.
After noticing the warning light, you should stop driving and check the engine. Otherwise unwanted accidents may happen.
You should immediately find out the reason and go to the experienced mechanics if you don’t know the DIYs to fix them.
After fixing the problems, make sure the engine and AC both are working properly. Then you can continue driving without any risk.
What are the causes and how to fix them?
The “Engine Hot AC Off” Light warning may happen for several reasons. They can be solved in DIY ways or by professional mechanics.
The most common causes and ways to fix are as follows-
1. Malfunctioning Temperature Sensor
The most common reason for overheating is the malfunctioning of the temperature sensor. It leads to disaster when it isn’t working properly.
Also, the malfunctioning of the temperature sensor can cause damage to other components related to the engine. The engine gets hot and the AC will be turned off. And the light will be indicating this circumstance.
How to fix it?
It can be fixed by replacing the coolant temperature sensor and the thermostat. The temperature changes randomly, so you need to fix it ASAP.
To replace the coolant temperature sensor, you can follow the following steps-
- Buy a new coolant temperature sensor and remove the defective one
- Disconnect it from the electrical connector
- Put the new one and connect with the electric connector
Again to replace the thermostat, simply go through the following step-
- Figure out the thermostat
- Remove the hose and clamp
- Remove the old on and disconnect the bolts
- Setup the new thermostat connecting with the bolts
- Reset the clamp and hose
2. Fail Radiator Cooling Fan
If the electrical cooling fan can’t operate or work properly, the car engine may overheat and stop. The cooling fan may stop for radiator disablement or burn it out.
When you can figure out the problem, keep your car 20 to 30 minutes in rest. Then make an attempt to fix the problem.
How to fix it?
- Find out the radiator and the cooling fan. It may be at the back or front side of the radiator.
- Detach the 4 bolts
- Disconnect the wired connection
- Pull the cooling fan smoothly
- Wipe the fan in order to remove dirt stuck on the blades
- Clean each corner and small parts of the fan
- Test it at 12V of electricity either it working or not
- Reconnect the fan with a wired connection
3. Bad AC Compressor
The defect on the AC compressor may lead to the problem of the “Engine hot AC off” light warning. Then you have to diagnose the bad AC compressor after verifying it by the following the steps such as-
- Check the oil leaks as well as the other damages
- Find out the temperature fluctuations
- Check it can be rotated independently or not
- If found any skipping and squealing noise
- Check where refrigerant leaks happen or not
After finding these symptoms, the compressor is regarded as a bad AC compressor. Then you need to change the AC compressor to work it properly.
4. Blown Head Gasket
The protection and sealing of the cylinder from coolant infiltration or engine oil are done by the head gasket. Overheating, vibration or mechanical forces may hamper the regular activities of the head gasket.
If you find a sweet smell, white exhaust smoke, misfiring or heated coolant, etc are the most common signs of a blown head gasket. And that will also cause an “Engine hot AC off” situation.
You have to replace the blown gasket with the new one. If you repair it, the problem will be fixed after a period. And it is worth replacing with a new head gasket instead of repairing it.
How to Prevent “Engine Hot AC Off” Light?
We already discussed the causes and the ways to fix the problems. But you know the term “ Prevention is better than cure”. Though this warning is unavoidable sometimes, we are going to discuss the ways to prevent it.
- Inspect the car engine regularly to trace oil and other liquids
- Reset and recirculate the setting of electrical AC to keep it at an optimal level
- Do coolant flush after driving 50,000-100,000 miles as well as change its setting
- Regular check the car temperature gauge
- Make sure the engine coolant level is optimal
- Replace the damaged parts immediately
- Don’t drive your car during overheating
- Make sure all connections are working properly before driving
Final Verdict
Hopefully, now you can easily figure out the causes why the car warns “Engine hot AC off” light. If you can identify the cause, you can easily fix the problem. However, this one is one of the most common problems for vehicles. You will fall in trouble during a long trip. Then you need to apply DIY techniques to fix it.
Besides, if you are aware of these reasons, You can handle them easily. At the same time, with proper care and maintenance of your car engine, you can definitely get rid of this problem.
So far, checking and maintaining your car engine is essential for safe driving.