The right verb when a car radiator boils (?!)...

[Mehrgan]

Hi all,
May I know what verb or expression is used when your car's radiator boils (?!) during a journey? Is there any such sentence as, 'I'm out of town and my car has ...!' using 'car' to refer to the same problem?

 

[Rover_KE]

It boils up or overheats.

 

[Mehrgan]

Thanks! Can we also say, 'The car's just boiled up!'?

 

[BobK]

Thanks! Can we also say, 'The car's just boiled up!'?

I'd say boiled over. (This is the same phrasal verb as the one you'd use with a saucepan of milk - so it carries appropriate implications of minor disaster and mess.) And yes, there have been several times - in the days of my D-reg Traveller - when I've phoned to say 'Sorry, I'll be late, my car's just boiled over'.

b

 

[SoothingDave]

"Overheated" here. I can't imagine a car boiling over.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would say that the car overheated but that the radiator boiled over.

 

[BobK]

I would say that the car overheated but that the radiator boiled over.

:up: that's what I had in mind. I think the 'boiled over' version works, especially in collocation with 'radiator'. But the collocation with 'car' is 'overheat' - though a car can overheat without the radiator boiling over. (When the needle on the thermometer hits the red sector, the wise thing to do is to pull over and let the engine cool down - and the radiator won't by that stage have boiled over if the thermostat's doing its job.)

b