Code 79 on the dashboard (along with the little spanner icon) means your engine is low on oil. You should top it up before driving anywhere as running an engine with a low oil level is tempting fate and could lead to a catastrophic engine failure.

The best advice is not to rely on this warning code to alert you to low oil level, and instead make a habit of checking the engine oil level on the dipstick every couple of weeks. This takes just a minute or so and can save your engine in the long run. Your owner’s manual should tell you how to check the oil on this engine, but it’s not difficult. Just make sure the oil level stays between the high and low marks on the dipstick and you should be fine.

Don’t forget, all engines use some oil in the normal course of things, but as engines age, this usage can increase and that’s when owners who don’t do regular checks get caught out.

This is actually quite normal and nothing to be concerned about. If the engine temperature is high enough, the computer will continue to run the cooling fan even though the ignition has been turned off. This helps keep the temperature from spiking when the vehicle stops and is turned off.

Even though this only really lowers the temperature of the coolant in the radiator (not in the actual engine) it also helps to maintain a constant, safe temperature if you restart the car soon after shutting it down.

That said, the fan should only continue running for a couple of minutes at most after you’ve turned the car off. Any longer and you might have a problem with the circuits that power and control the electric fan.

A common cause of overheating can be a failed head gasket which allows the coolant to be consumed by the engine. When this happens, soon there’s not enough coolant remaining to cool the engine and the car overheats.

But it may not be as serious as that. You could simply have a stuck thermostat. This is the component that prevents coolant flowing around the engine when it’s first started, forcing the engine to warm up faster. Then, as the engine gets warmer, the thermostat starts to open to allow the coolant to flow through the engine and do its job, maintaining the correct running temperature in the process.

Other possible causes for overheating include incorrect ignition timing, a slipping fan belt, non-functioning cooling fans, a collapsed radiator hose, blocked radiator, a worn water pump and many others. A good mechanic should be able to make a diagnosis and tackle the problem from there.