If you’ve ever been driving a car when it overheated, you know that there’s little you can do once you realize something is wrong. There are few moments in driving that can make you feel more powerless than seeing that engine heat monitor climb into the red. Unfortunately, once your engine has overheated, there is little you can do but wait for the mechanic to get everything back in working order.

If you’re lucky, the fixes will be simple – if the situation is at its worst, you’ll be looking at substantial and expensive repairs to replace or refurbish components damaged by the high level of heat. The best way to treat an overheated engine is through prevention – which is why your Subaru Legacy Radiator is so important.

You need your radiator as the first and most important defense against engine overheating – so don’t drop the ball on this aspect of automotive maintenance. Your Subaru Legacy Radiator is located beneath the hood of your vehicle, directly behind the grille. The openings in the grille provide entry for outside air while the car is in motion – meaning that your radiator is perfectly placed to be kept cool by the rush of incoming air. Your radiator is more or less a collection of tubes and pipes. These pipes are filled with a coolant fluid (which is kept cool along with the radiator as a whole). This coolant fluid is circulated to the engine compartment by means of a water pump, where it absorbs much of the engine heat.Once this is accomplished, the coolant fluid returns to the Subaru Legacy Radiator, where the heat is dissipated into the air or redirected into the passenger cabin’s heating system.