My coolant level warning is going a bit "funny"

In the past I have got warnings in extremely low temperatures despite the level in the ball tank being between the max and min fill lines. Once the car had been driven for a few miles a quick on and off of the engine would clear the warning.

It has happened the last two mornings despite the level being comfortably between the two lines. Thing is I can't blame the cold anymore! Again - run the engine for a minute, turn off, restart, no warning. If the level was genuinely too low it wouldn't matter how long the engine had been running surely? Only seems to happen first thing too when the car has sat overnight.

I will monitor the level in the tank to see if I'm slowly losing coolant. Does the sensor measure this? E.g, level change between being turned off and on indicating something wrong? Car was serviced about a month ago and I assume they would fill to the midpoint rather than the max to allow for expansion so I'm not convinced I'm losing coolant.

Any thoughts? Car now out of warranty so no horror stories, right?!!

Niall

My coolant level warning is going a bit "funny"

In the past I have got warnings in extremely low temperatures despite the level in the ball tank being between the max and min fill lines. Once the car had been driven for a few miles a quick on and off of the engine would clear the warning.

It has happened the last two mornings despite the level being comfortably between the two lines. Thing is I can't blame the cold anymore! Again - run the engine for a minute, turn off, restart, no warning. If the level was genuinely too low it wouldn't matter how long the engine had been running surely? Only seems to happen first thing too when the car has sat overnight.

I will monitor the level in the tank to see if I'm slowly losing coolant. Does the sensor measure this? E.g, level change between being turned off and on indicating something wrong? Car was serviced about a month ago and I assume they would fill to the midpoint rather than the max to allow for expansion so I'm not convinced I'm losing coolant.

Any thoughts? Car now out of warranty so no horror stories, right?!!

Niall

The coolant level sensor will only measure the level, not rate of change. Sounds to me like the sensor's playing up if you aren't actually losing any coolant - could just be a dodgy connection. Doesn't sound like anything serious to me.

Bob

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Common problem, sensor is faulty.

You can try to clean the sensor. Just open the reservoir (blue cap) and look inside. There are two pins sticking inside the ball, I just cleaned them with a toothbrush and the problem (indicating low level when outside temps bleow zero) vanished.

Common problem, sensor is faulty.

You can try to clean the sensor. Just open the reservoir (blue cap) and look inside. There are two pins sticking inside the ball, I just cleaned them with a toothbrush and the problem (indicating low level when outside temps bleow zero) vanished.

Sweet. My kind of repair (Cheap and easily done!)

Will give it a go this evening.

Thanks,

Niall

I also keep mine topped up to the maximum line. Easier to check if there is any coolant loss. Still plenty of room for any expansion.