phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

Main Problem:
My battery died the other day so i went to charge it and the battery was a little loose so i took the battery out to fix the tie downs. Well the battery sits on top of the reservoir that holds the engine coolant and there is a metal pipe with some rubber tubing that comes off the radiator and into this reservoir.

I think the reservoir is broken off of wherever its supposed to be connected to because I was able to pull it up and right out of the engine bay. It had a leaf in it and some dirt and rock chips. The dipstick that sits in the tank is filthy and the coolant was gross and kinda brown. The low coolant light is on but the temp gauge reads fine. The reservoir tank is completely empty. What kinda of coolant should i put in there and how much of a problem do u think this'll be?

other problem:
I drove my car home saturday afternoon (30 mile drive) and the oil pressure gauge was up at the top end. Its never been up that high. I had a SES light on for a few days last week but it went away on its own and the "change oil" light is not on. Car ran fine. I'll prolly get an oil change and see if it changes anything.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Low coolant light is on because the sensor is probably bad, very common.

HIgh oil pressure, never heard of that happening. My guess would be a bad gauge. I don;t know of any way the pressure can go up, just down.

b0pric01

iTrader: (5)

it might be a bad oil pressure sender. That's how mine was when I bought the car and it just recently exploded leaving me with a major oil leak. It's an easy fix though, probably 3 hour job if you have everything you need maybe 4. The sender is ~$50 and you just remove the intake manifold and it's right behind there. I have pics in my thread about a big oil leak.

As for the coolant being brown, you might want to be flushing that a couple times while the weather is still halfway decent.

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

i doubt it the oil pressure sending unit. i replaced that this past summer when i swapped in the ls6 intake, so thats pretty new.

as far as the coolant, is the reservoir supposed to come out like that? i can literally just pull it straight up and there is nothing blocking road dirt from getting up in there except for the battery sitting on top of it. what is the purpose of that tank anyway? i think the coolant was brown b.c of the dirt and the leaf in there

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

Can you snap a pic or two of your reservoir?

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

it might take me a day or 2 to find the time. whats the best way to take off my battery so i dont electrocute myself -- black first or red first?

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

Negative (black) first always. I'm a little confused as to how you are getting leaves and dirt in your coolant reservoir. Pics might give some clue.

Mr Incredible

If I recall, the overflow tank slips right out. That tank should 1) have a top on it with the dipstick attached, and 2) not have leaves in it. It must have been a tiny leaf, or the top was off for an extended period.

The dipstick is full of crappy brown junk due to it having been filled with DexCool. That is what happens to DexCool when it interacts with AIR over time. That is why you need to keep that tank half full of DexCool at all times (when you are running DexCool in your coolant system), so that the air doesn't get into your radiator and make brown goo INSIDE your system.

While the coolant overflow tank is out, clean/inspect and check for any way leaves could have infiltrated. Remember to keep your overflow tank around half filled so that air doesn't make its way back into your radiator.

It doesn't matter all that much which battery lead you take off first so long as you are careful with the leads, the posts, and your tools.

Some questions seem required: Do you have a top on your coolant overflow reservoir? Have you checked to see if there is actually a low coolant level? What oil and oil weight are you using? When was your last oil change? What oil filter are you using? Was your filter changed with your last oil change? Has the high oil pressure repeated? Was the oil pressure needle pegged or just high? How high?

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

i got a leaf in there, like a big ole maple leaf or something.. the battery sits on top of the reservoir. below the battery there is a tray the battery sits in. right below that is essentially the coolant. when i cleaned out the tank, i stuck my arm the whole way down into the tank with a rag and wiped it down and washed it out then just popped it right back in and put the battery back on top of it. if i leaf or dirt got underneath the battery its going right into the coolant tank.

i got some dexcool and poured about half the bottle into the tank b/c it was completely empty and the low light went away.

as far as the oil pressure -- when i start my car is runs up around 78 -- its not pinned up at 80 and it eventually falls down to about 60 after 15 minutes uusually. the other day though it was up around 80 for almost an hour -- i'm about due for an oil change so i'll see if that fixes the problem. what kinda oil do u all use. i have about 130k miles on it

hlaalu

iTrader: (3)

i use mobil 1 10 40

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

oh and now i def have an exhaust leak, i cant sit at a light without the car filling up with fumes -- wtf

Mr Incredible

In Philly, I would use a name brand 5w-30, like the owner's manual says for stock motors.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

If you can pull the Coolant Overflow Resivoir out, then you are missing a Bolt that goes in it to hold it down. The Battery Bolt is one, and the Resivoir piece has another one..

Look in this pic, the Red Bolt that you can barely see on the right Bracket for mine is where the Bolt that I'm talking about is..

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

that looks nothing like what i'm talking about.. mine is round and black with a long neck and a twist off cap -- i'm gonna try to take some pics this weekend. i dont even remember seeing any brackets on it.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

That sounds like the stock coolant reservoir. I'm still wondering how all that crud is getting in there. Just for reference, part numbers are 10402687 for the reservoir and 11514478 for the bolt that hold it in place. Hopefully you can get some pics so we can get to the bottom of this.

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

I know this, I re-located the Battery..

I had the stock one in there before, the one you are all talking about.

What I was saying is that on the right side Bracket that is holding my Resivoir, there is a Red Bolt that you can barely see. That is what holds down the Stock Factory Coolant Resivoir/Battery Tray.

iverson387

First of all if you can fit your hand in the coolant resovoir it has to be broken. The whole with the cap is small and the only other holes are where the hoses get attatched. also since your battery came right out im figuring the plastic hold down which is a small plastic piece with a bolt through it on the front bottom of the resovoir is broken off.(common) I would buy a new coolant resovoir from the dealer-theyre cheap less than 30$. Also i would have the coolant flushed and changed before it gets worse. More than likely the system is contaminated and will clog slowly causing the water pump to fail. As for your oil pressure its probably the sender. Try an oil change using 5w-30 (any name brand-ex castrol gtx) and a ac delco filter.(cheap from dealer 3$) Also i would not use any synthetic oil in the car especially if you have not been using it the whole time. This will lead to oil leaks and the car will burn more oil.(not saying that synthetic is bad but should only be used if it was used form the beginning or early in engines life)

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

That's what I'm trying to tell him with the pic I posted.. I don't have the factory one in, but I'm trying to tell him where the Bolt would be.

phillyz28

iTrader: (6)

hey sorry, i haven't been on here much -- my laptop died on thursday and its been a veryc chaotic weekend so i haven't had a chance to do anything with my car. i got my oil changed and had them do a complete inspection and all they said was I needed new front brakes and my A/C pump was going bad.

I'll try to get pics this week - thanks for your patience and help