Recently the car radiator light has come on signifying no water in the reservior but then go off. Yesterday my wife returned from a short trip and water leaked onto garage floor. I called out racq (roadside service) who said that the problem was a leaking radiator. We got one from the wreckers and then started heading out when the light appeared again so I stopped at the side of the road immediately. I then noticed water leaking from a hose and we replaced it also. We thought that all may be fine but on a test run the light came on again signifying no water. Having no luck we removed the thermostat before replacing the gasket. Again tonight the light came on when out. My friend isn't sure whether its a blown head as there is no water in the oil, water is still in the reservior and the temp doesn't rise above the 'a' in normal despite the light coming on. The temp hasn't risen much higher than this in the past,but there is a build up of pressure. Any advice appreciated.
2007-01-23 01:52:54 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I used to drive a '85 nissan 300zx turbo. This thing's coolant system had been so neglected, that every other day another hose would break. I am not sure how old your car is, but it could just be that the system is too old, however if this is a newer car, it could just be your water pump. Water pumps have a small hold drilled in them; when they go out, they leak water to let you know its time to replace the pump. Usually the cooling system will still do its job when this happens until the pump completely fails. See if there is water leaking from the pump.
2007-01-23 02:04:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first, make sure after doing all those repairs that the radiator has been properly filled with coolant. when adding coolant to a radiator, you must let the engine warm up enough to open the thermostat and let the coolant start to flow. if you dont do this and just fill the radiator, then when the thermostat does open next time you let the car get warm, the level in the radiator drops. next you can go by a mechanics shop or if you can get a hold of a coolant system pressure tester, you can check to see if you still have a leak somewhere. its basically like putting an air hand pump on the radiator. you pump it to the proper pressure and see if it holds. if not, then you most likely have another leak somewhere. if it does hold, and the car isnt losing any more fluid, then it is possible the sensor itself is going bad, to which you can have it checked or replaced
2007-01-23 10:20:51 · answer #2 · answered by john m 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would check the Temp. Sending Unit. Also, are you smelling water and antifreeze when you turn the car off? You may also consider the possibility of a faulty Water Pump, and/or Head Gasket. I have found through my own experience these situations to be true, and on the last (head gasket), even though it was blown, there was no sign of oil in the water.
You don't say what make of vehicle you have, but there is a possibility that you have an onboard computer. Check your manual, and if so, you should be able to pull the trouble codes to help narrow down the problem. Checking into this may save you quite a bit of trouble and labor costs.
Good luck to you.
2007-01-23 10:05:11 · answer #3 · answered by jmiller 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is the make and model of vehicle. These vehicles with aluminum heads are more prone to tearing head gaskets. OFTEN this leads to cylinder pressure leaking into the water jacket causing severe coolant system pressure. This will NOT show up any water in the oil.
I had several 4 cylinder motors and a couple of 6 cylinders that did this. Leaving the radiator cap loose can alleviate the pressure (temporary test). In addition, if it is a head gasket, you will usually find a large amount of bubbling in the radiator.
2007-01-23 10:18:05 · answer #4 · answered by Mark in NE Indiana 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't indicate your car make & model, but most recent vehicles have a coolant level sensor that is either located in the coolant reservoir or in the radiator itself. It's a simple on/off switch, activated by the presence of liquid. It turns on a light on the dash to alert you to a "low" coolant level.
Remove the switch and test it with an ohmmeter if possible. If not possible, then exercise caution and try testing it with the car running, but do be very careful. The switch may have coincidentally gone bad when your other cooling system problems cropped up. Easiest and safest solution is to just buy a new switch at Auto Zone or Advance auto, install it and see what happens.
Good luck...and BE CAREFUL! :)
2007-01-23 10:46:43 · answer #5 · answered by gtimandan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It would have been nice if you told us YEAR, MAKE, MODEL, ENGINE SIZE so I'll take a guess. On some cars, there is a level sensor in the overflow bottle that are intermittent. If you fixed the leak and the bottle is at the correct level, replace the sensor.
2007-01-23 10:02:04 · answer #6 · answered by Lab 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Malfunctioning coolant level sensor? The sensor is sometimes in the radiator, from your description it sounds like you got a used radiator that probably already had the old sensor in it. I would start there.
2007-01-23 10:01:44 · answer #7 · answered by Dave B 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check the sensor that tells you there's no water. I just finished dealing with this problem with my wifes car and it was the sensor in the rad that was causing the problem. Carefull if you have to remove it though, if you move the nut that is soldered into the rad, you have a huge problem on your hands.
2007-01-23 10:34:38 · answer #8 · answered by al b 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may want to replace the radiator cap anyway. They are not very expensive, no point in testing. Just replace.
2007-01-23 10:02:55 · answer #9 · answered by rbarc 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have ya ever thought that the light might be connected to a bad sensor ?
2007-01-23 10:02:44 · answer #10 · answered by wyzrdofahs 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋