coolant light?

[Black_Mamba]

I've driven my car hard before & I've never came across anything other than some axle tramp / wheel hop from a dig. A few months ago towards the end of summer, I peeled out & my coolant light came on. When I woke up the next morning obviously it was gone. So I thought its only when I spin my tires launching or peeling out it goes on.

Since then I have done a coolant flush.

Today, some a**hole in a toyota camry floored it and cut me off to get on the freeway. So being me, I punched it & got ahead of him & kept break checking him. He went to go around me like some cat and mouse horseplay & I punched it again & my coolant light came on so I let off & let him go on. I stopped driving hard for the remainder of my trip to school (20 min drive) & I coasted along at about 70 to 80 mph & the light went off. When I got to school I popped my hood while the car was running to notice my fans weren't spinning. On my way home I was cutting through traffic with 2 of my friends & my light came back on. I cruised at 80mph again for about 5 min or so & it went back off again. I got home, checked under the hood, fans off.

My temp gauge is always at half way or under half way so I know it doesn't over heat.

My main question is, is that red coolant light strictly for low coolant level, or could it be to warn me that something in the cooling system itself is faulty? If its faulty, then most likely it goes off due to the fans. But I wanna make sure.

*Attatched is an image of where my temp gauge sits on average. It'll never go ave that unless I'm sitting in my car letting it idle for 20 minutes. But normaly its like that or lower.

[JLw7123]

well did you check the coolant level?

[03glgold]

Start with his suggestion but for the fans not coming on could be a bad relay or bad temp sensor...I don't know where the temp sensor is on the 3400 though

[Black_Mamba]

I can't check the coolant level while the cars hot because it has a pressure cap for the resevoir. I don't have one on my radiator. But when I did the coolant flush I put in the exact amount the car calls for. The light only comes on when I drive hard or floor the car.

& as for the fans I gotta test the relays and electrics at work tomorrow. I'm just curious if the light has to do with the fans.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[a.graham52]

especialy at those speeds you wont see the fans come on. my fans hardly ever come on. these cars to a gread job of cooling with static air alone.

wiggle the coolant bottle so you can see fluid moving in it... put a light behind it if you have to
or
loosen that cap untill it starts to hiss. let it hiss for a while and when it stops take the cap off.
or
check it first thing before you leave today

red coolant light is for low coolant level.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by a.graham52

especialy at those speeds you wont see the fans come on. my fans hardly ever come on. these cars to a gread job of cooling with static air alone.

wiggle the coolant bottle so you can see fluid moving in it... put a light behind it if you have to
or
loosen that cap untill it starts to hiss. let it hiss for a while and when it stops take the cap off.
or
check it first thing before you leave today

red coolant light is for low coolant level.

Beat me to it.

Mine is doing that every so often too. Not all the time when I get on it. Raced at the track a few weeks ago, nothing, pulled out of my driveway last week, light came on. WTF. Coolant was full

You may need to replace the coolant reservior.
The coolant level sensor has a tendency to get gunked up in higher mileage motors, especially if the coolant mixture has broken down and left sediment in the recovery tank.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

Good luck with the coolant light, as everyone stated above, the light is for the coolant level. I'm sorry though, but nobody has pointed out it seems like you have an aggressive driving/road rage problem. That really added nothing to your question about the light so why brag about being a douche who has to be vengeful and brake check people. quite frankly, that kind of driving is what causes accidents and gets people killed. I'm fairly sure that NY law is similar to michigan law which states you are supposed to yield and let people merge on the freeway.

Originally Posted by TheEdgeofSanity

Good luck with the coolant light, as everyone stated above, the light is for the coolant level. I'm sorry though, but nobody has pointed out it seems like you have an aggressive driving/road rage problem. That really added nothing to your question about the light so why brag about being a douche who has to be vengeful and brake check people. quite frankly, that kind of driving is what causes accidents and gets people killed. I'm fairly sure that NY law is similar to michigan law which states you are supposed to yield and let people merge on the freeway.

^ Good point. Please drive safely for the sake of others.
Don't contribute to road douchebaggery.

[a.graham52]

Originally Posted by TheEdgeofSanity

Good luck with the coolant light, as everyone stated above, the light is for the coolant level. I'm sorry though, but nobody has pointed out it seems like you have an aggressive driving/road rage problem. That really added nothing to your question about the light so why brag about being a douche who has to be vengeful and brake check people. quite frankly, that kind of driving is what causes accidents and gets people killed. I'm fairly sure that NY law is similar to michigan law which states you are supposed to yield and let people merge on the freeway.

probably because no one wanted to start another argument lol. i do agree though. plus... ITS HARD ON THE CAR

[JLw7123]

Originally Posted by mfuller

^ Good point. Please drive safely for the sake of others.
Don't contribute to road douchebaggery.

ya saying that you past someone and start break checking that is a douchebag move and very unsafe. also you should not be doing 80mph.

[$hawn]

Assuming the coolant level is fine, either the coolant level sensor is dirty or you need to replace it, their about $9-10 at an auto parts store.

[Redog]

^^ I don't think you can just replace the sensor, it's molded into the tank.

My tank is only a few months old, my old one was cracked, but it didn't do this with the old tank. Me thinks I gots a bad sensor in me tank.

[xXManwhoreXx]

Sounds like you car also thinks you drive like an ahoe

[mmorello82]

Never had my coolant light come on *knock wood*. As for the other issue. Not touching that with a 10 foot pole. LOL

[[ion] C2]

yeah great driving, brake checking is for fags.

Originally Posted by TheEdgeofSanity

michigan law which states you are supposed to yield and let people merge on the freeway.

No, those entering the flow of traffic are to YIELD, up to fully stopping if necessary. Where the F is everyone buying their licenses?

level sensor is in the front, so naturally if the coolant is even a bit low, the coolant will slosh backwards and the sensor will see low coolant

I recently had this issue with my coolant light popping on and off...started by replacing my resiviour. Still kept coming on. Replaced the radiator, still kept coming on. My mechanic eventually found a leak in a "y" connection under the engine where the hoses connect to the engine. It was a 10 dollar plastic piece and a 30 dollar labor charge. Regardless, start with the resiviour, then start looking for small leaks. I know gm dealerships sell the coolant level sensor but they can be a bitch to replace.

[Black_Mamba]

- anyone know where i can find red coolant hoses?

right before i did my coolant flush, the color of it was dirt brown, so i asked a few of my teachers at school (Lincoln Tech) and they said to flush it out because thats rust and build up in the system, but if i flush it, i might develop holes in the system. so i had no choice but to flush it anyway, and the light stopped coming back on. then a few weeks ago, when i orginally posted this thread, it came back on. i added coolant and it hasnt come back on.

today it came back on and i popped the hood and squeezed the coolant hoses and there was very little pressure. so i have a leak somewhere but i dont know where.

The only thing i know is that after driving home from school at night and i shut the car off, i can hear a noise that sounds like "water going down a drain".

so im gonna replace the coolant hoses and i was thinking i might as well do red ones while im at it. i cant find any though. if no one has any ideas, can they recomend me some good hoses at least even if they're plain black?

[Thewolf]

Originally Posted by Black_Mamba

- anyone know where i can find red coolant hoses?

right before i did my coolant flush, the color of it was dirt brown, so i asked a few of my teachers at school (Lincoln Tech) and they said to flush it out because thats rust and build up in the system, but if i flush it, i might develop holes in the system. so i had no choice but to flush it anyway, and the light stopped coming back on. then a few weeks ago, when i orginally posted this thread, it came back on. i added coolant and it hasnt come back on.

today it came back on and i popped the hood and squeezed the coolant hoses and there was very little pressure. so i have a leak somewhere but i dont know where.

The only thing i know is that after driving home from school at night and i shut the car off, i can hear a noise that sounds like "water going down a drain".

so im gonna replace the coolant hoses and i was thinking i might as well do red ones while im at it. i cant find any though. if no one has any ideas, can they recomend me some good hoses at least even if they're plain black?

Wouldn't dirt brown coolant be oil getting into the coolant reservoir? Did you do your LIMG/Headgaskets yet? And does it make a "sloshing" sound, or do you hear any hissing when you turn off your car? If so, I think it's your headgasket(s) going bad...

[Black_Mamba]

Nahh no slushing. A few people have told me its either the head gasket going, the upper/lower intake mani. gasket, or I need to bleed the system since it was never done after the coolant flush. So I'm gonna bleed it tomorrow once I get to work tomorrow. If that doesn't solve it then intake gaskets will be done next