Today I scalded my hand and forearm opening the radiator cap of my Daihatsu Charade buzzbox. The car goes through a bit of water lately, and I meant to top it up when the motor was cool so I didn’t burn myself. Today we were going on a bit of a trip, and I forgot to do it when the motor was cool, so I pulled into a service station to put more water in. I tried to slowly take off the cap; releasing the pressure bit by bit, bit by bit, then PHOOSH!
At least it doesn’t look like this one.
As Paul Bauling, MD, director of Burn Service at the University of Colorado Hospital says, “Never open the radiator cap of a hot car. The explosion will cause severe burns and scarring.” Thanks Dr Bauling. At least I don’t have severe burns, just a little one to scare me.
Lesson for today: don’t remove the radiator cap from a hot engine.