josh1107

has anyone else had a intermittent low coolant light? the dip stick looks like enough is in it. once i stop and turn off the engine, when i turn it back on, its off. i put more coolant in, came on again. same thing. weird!

thanks
josh

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

edit: oh, your the same guy from the other thread.

That dispstick has nothing to do with your coolant level.

The sensor reads radiator coolant level. You need to check your radiator coolant level. If its really low, top it off. If its full, you have a bad sensor, they go bad all the time and stay on or will come on about 3 minutes after you start it up every time you start it up. Its right below the radiator fill cap on the rear of the radiator, square thing.

Unplug it or replace it. Thats all you can do.

Silver98Formula79

iTrader: (17)

I unplugged mine, I had the same problem...

Zerokube

iTrader: (4)

im with silver on this one, unplugged it and low light went off.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Its probably a bad coolant sensor, which you DO want to fix. The sensor is there for a reason - to protect the aluminum block. Running low on coolant is a much more serious issue than if we had iron blocks. (Aluminum melts at half the temperature of Iron and can start warping when it gets to be above 350 degrees, which you can hit real quick with air in your system.)

josh1107

as long as the temp gage is reading normal the engine is ok right?
do i still fill the coolant in the same place?

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Yes. Your temp is read from a sensor in the driver side head.

and

Fill the coolant ONLY at the radiator cap on the radiator. That plastic over flow reservoir under the battery does nothing for your coolant level in the radiator.

tripps

iTrader: (7)

I've had the same problem where the light has been on since the summer. Just went outside and unplugged and wrapped in electrical tape and zip-tied to a nearby wire. The temp gauge will save my aluminum block if anything goes wrong!

josh1107

the sensor is 50 bucks, crazy!

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

gmpartsdirect.com

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Does nothing for your the coolant level in the radiator if... you have a bad seal on the radiator cap.

As your coolant comes up to temparature, it pushes air out of the system and in to the overflow. As the coolant cools down, it sucks more fluid from the overflow. In order for this to work, you need a good seal at the cap. Once all of the air is out of the system, the coolant dipstick will give you an accurate reading.

As long as the overflow isn't dry and the system is sealed, adding fluid at the overflow is just as good as adding it directly to the radiator, except that adding at the overflow is a lot cleaner and its easy to do when the engine is warm.

josh1107

thanks, 36 bucks, nice. drove it all day today, no light....

99firehawk

iTrader: (1)

Ive got the light on...
How do I know if I have a bad cap or bad sensor?

josh1107

i dont know, i checked my rad level, completely full. im guessing sensor

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Let the radiator cool, open the cap, and then look. If your sensor is covered by coolant, odds are 99% that the sensor is bad.

If your radiator cap is bad, you'll have a ton of air space just under the cap. If the coolant is up to the level of the cap and you don't have any leakage, then your seal is keeping a good siphon from the reservoir - and the cap should be fine.

jkichline

iTrader: (1)

Isn't it more likely that the sensor is just dirty and needs to be cleaned up? Cleaning the sensor helped in my other cars.

My T/A just started with the low coolant light. I'm on this website because I couldn't figure out where the thing is. I'm glad I read this thread because now I know. I'm going to try and clean it tomorrow morning. Anybody else have luck cleaning the sensor?

RCowan

iTrader: (25)

the sensor is on the back of the radiator, passenger side, next to the battery. Take the battery out of the car, drain just enough coolant so the level is below the sensor. There is a big metal wire clip that holds it in, that's it. Unplug the sensor and remove this clip and it slides straight out. Clean it for about 5 seconds under the garden hose and reinstall, fill radiator, replace battery. DONE!

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Sometimes cleaning the sensor doesn't work. Mine was spotless. If they are dirty, that can foul the system, or sometimes they just plain go bad.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

$19.58 at rockauto.com

jkichline

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys! I tried cleaning it today. It was gunked up pretty bad. I cleaned it up. I had to use a screwdriver to get some of it out. Then I soaked it in electronics parts cleaner. After I got all the gook off, it looked pretty corroded but I put it back in. I thought I had success until I drove about 30 miles. Then the light came on and stayed on. I guess I'll just buy the part.