Dodge Nitro: If your engine overheats - What to do in emergencies - Dodge Nitro Owner's ManualDodge Nitro: If your engine overheats

In any of the following situations, you can reduce the potential for overheating your engine by taking the appropriate action.
• On the highways — slow down.
• In city traffic — while stopped, put transmission in NEUTRAL, but do not increase engine idle speed.

CAUTION: Driving with a hot cooling system could damage your vehicle. If the temperature gauge reads “H,” pull over and stop the vehicle. Idle the vehicle with the air conditioner turned off until the pointer drops back into the normal range. If the pointer remains on the “H” and you hear continuous chimes, turn the engine off immediately and call for service.

NOTE: There are steps that you can take to slow down an impending overheat condition:
• If your air conditioner (A/C) is on, turn it off. The A/C system adds heat to the engine cooling system and turning the A/C off can help remove this heat.
• You can also turn the temperature control to maximum heat, the mode control to floor and the blower control to high. This allows the heater core to act as a supplement to the radiator and aids in removing heat from the engine cooling system.

WARNING: You or others can be badly burned by hot engine coolant (antifreeze) or steam from your radiator. If you see or hear steam coming from under the hood, do not open the hood until the radiator has had time to cool. Never try to open a cooling system pressure cap when the radiator or coolant bottle is hot.

    Hazard warning flasher
    The Hazard Warning Flasher switch is located on the lower switch bank below the climate controls. Press the switch to turn on the Hazard Warning flasher. When the switch is activated, all direc ...

    Jacking and tire changing
    WARNING: • Getting under a jacked-up vehicle is dangerous. The vehicle could slip off the jack and fall on you. You could be crushed. Never get any part of your body under a vehicle that is ...

    See also:

    Attaching child safety seats with LATCH (Lower Anchors andTethers for CHildren) attachments
    The LATCH system is composed of three vehicle anchor points: two (2) lower anchors located where the vehicle seat back and seat cushion meet (called the “seat bight”) and one (1) top tether anch ...

    Tire Pressure Monitoring Low Pressure Warnings
    The “Tire Pressure Monitoring Telltale Light” will illuminate in the instrument cluster, a “LOW TIRE PRESSURE” message will display in the instrument cluster, and a chime will sound wh ...

    Electric parking brake
    An electric parking brake has the same function as a manual parking brake. NOTE • A faint sound from the parking brake's electric motor can be heard when the parking brake is being applied. ...