Signs you should stop the car immediately

There are very few things that can damage a car. There is a direct hit by a bomb or a caterpillar earth mover. Fortunately, both are very uncommon.

Temperature Gauge or oil light
But there are two common things that can damage cars quite severely: Overheating and loss of oil pressure. Your dashboard has indicators and lights respectively for both of these conditions. Do not try to make it home before investigating. Driving with no oil pressure can wreck a car’s internal parts in minutes or less. Severe overheating can blow your head gasket or crack your cylinder head or block just as quickly.

Steam/water vapour
Steam is usually an indication that coolant, which is under pressure, is escaping from your car’s cooling system. If it’s leaking slowly and hitting an exhaust pipe or something else that’s hot, it may not be an emergency.
But if it is leaking quickly, you can overheat the engine and do serious damage to both your engine and your wallet.
If your engine is overheating pull over before permanent damage is done.

Smoke
There are lots of reasons why smoke might be issuing forth from your vehicle. Some are not emergencies such as when engine oil is dripping onto a hot exhaust pipe since a small amount of oil can produce a lot of smoke. But other times where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Or there soon will be. If you see smoke, it’s best to pull over and check it out.

Smell
If you notice a new smell especially if you know it didn’t come from you it’s best to pull over and investigate it. It could be something serious like wire insulation burning or a fuel leak.
So if you notice a smell that’s unusual and you can’t identify it, it’s best to pull over and make sure it’s nothing getting ready to cause a disaster.

Your two primary concerns are fuel, which you should never smell in the passenger compartment once you’re moving and something that’s smouldering could catch fire. Smouldering electrical wires are the most common source of fire.
Lack of visibility
Drivers sometimes forget that when driving they are piloting a one and half tonne projectile. For that reason, it’s good to be able to see. Your visibility can suddenly become impaired for all kinds of reasons including a heavy downpour, broken wipers, a big splash of mud and an empty windshield washer reservoir. If you can’t see well for any reason, pull over right away and either fix the problem or wait until the weather changes before getting back on the road.

Any loud or sudden noise
Unless you’re driving Susan Muwonge’s Impreza, your car is not supposed to make any loud, sudden or unidentifiable noises. A loud or sudden noise can be benign. It could be a plastic bottle that you ran over. On the other hand, it could also mean that your engine just had its final stroke cycle. Either way, it’s best to pull over and try to figure it out.

Sudden change in handling
If something changes in your car’s handling and you can feel it in your steering wheel, chances are it is serious.
It could be a sudden, extreme change like a flat tyre or a wheel about to fall off. Or you might notice that the steering wheel is suddenly wobbling or tugging in one direction. These are all potentially serious problems that require pulling over.

Medical emergency
If you think that you may be experiencing a medical problem, pull over right away.
There are a number of stories about people who have all the signs of major illness, yet they decide to try to “make it home” instead of calling for help. This is a recipe for killing yourself and other people on the road. If you have any reason to believe you are getting seriously ill, pull over and call for help.
Even less deadly medical problems can make us lousy drivers.