Low Coolant (In dire need of help)

[James50Stang]

Hey guys, about 3 weeks ago I put coolant in my car cuz it was low. Today driving to the gas station it said Low Coolant once again. The weird thing is, driving home from the gas station the light went off and everything seemed fine. I'm about to make a 300 mile drive to go home from college in the next few days and I need to see if I have to take it in to a shop before I make the drive so nothing bad happens. Thanks a lot for your help!

I was either thinking screwed up wiring or sensors... Or leaks in the hoses???

 

[89 blue lx]

could be houses, what year is your car? i just had to replace the timing cover gasket in mine because it was doin the same thing

 

[Mustang5L5]

Was the coolant low?

The sensor for low coolant is in the overflow bottle. It is not in the radiator. If the light comes on it means the level in the overflow is low.

The sensor is notorious for sticking. It's located inside the cap of the overflow. Try cleaning it and see if that helps. The coolant level should be up to the FULL HOT level with the car warmed up.

If it is there and the light comes on, the sensor is bad. You can either just replace the sensor or just unplug it and leave it. Unplugging it will not keep the light stuck on.

But before you go that route just monitor the coolant level in the overflow. Maybe pencil a line in at the level when hot and drive around for a day and then recheck it. Keep a bottle of coolant handy in your car as well

 

[livenfine]

Do you drive around town without overheating? If you're not overheating or loosing water, it's likely a bad sensor. 300 miles isn't far, bring extra coolant and you should be okay.

 

[davs5.0]

Mine used to do it all the time. Pull the cap on the overflow bottle and pull the long sensor rod out. At the bottom of it is the sensor. Clean off the two metal leads and replace it. It should put the light out. The sensor is notorious for getting fouled up by the old coolant and triggering the light.

 

[stang_racer69]

what everyone else said


my overflow has a crack in it not too far above the sensor so I keep just enough in it to keep the sensor covered and not leak out when it gets warm and more coolent is released into the overflow