Was wondering if anyone could provide any insight into this. Apparently the car has had a water pump & timing belt done, as well as the head gasket before I bought it.
 

My red coolant light is flashing as soon as I start it up with the three audible dings. The temperature gauge always stays at 90 and no more, apart from one occasion where it went to maybe around the 3/4 mark but no higher than that (I stopped and let it cool down and it didn’t go above 90 again for the reminder of that drive). 
 

I’ve started the car with the coolant cap off and the temperature at 90 to see if water was being introduced into the coolant bottle but it’s not. We also spotted a slight ‘bubbling’ in the coolant liquid that’s in the bottle if you know what I mean, the odd bubble coming up through the liquid. 
 

The red coolant light stays on pretty much any time I’m driving it now. The very odd time it might not show but 9/10 times it’s there. Temperature gauge never goes over 90 though.
 

Coolant level is fine. I’m getting my mechanic to change the bottle and the sensor. He also mentioned looking at the thermostat. This is being done this weekend but I was wondering if anyone had any insight before he gets looking at it to perhaps narrow down the problem.
 

Any ideas what the issue might be? 

Clean the probes of the sensor, check the plug is connected properly, check and clean if necessary the contacts.

 

The temp warning light coming on from a cold start with the guage showing normal readings can only be a coolant level warning.

27 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Clean the probes of the sensor, check the plug is connected properly, check and clean if necessary the contacts.

 

The temp warning light coming on from a cold start with the guage showing normal readings can only be a coolant level warning.

That doesn’t explain the temperature gauge rising to 3/4 mark the one and only time that it did. 
And it also doesn’t explain the fact that there’s no water flow into the coolant bottle? 
Appreciate any help you can give buddy. 

Unless we have met and I am unaware of who you are then I am not your buddy.

2 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Unless we have met and I am unaware of who you are then I am not your buddy.

Yikes. I wasn’t expecting this reply anyway. 
Maybe you misunderstood my last reply. I wasn’t trying to be a know-it-all or ignorant, just pointing out that your initial reply wasn’t quite resolving my problem.

All the best anyway… pal. 

Water temperature guages tend to ( after the engine getting hot ) to just stay at 90 C irrespective of the actual water temperature.

Unless it gets very hot when it will rise. 

 

Do you have a MFD ( Multi Function Display ) that can show you the oil temperature.

I find this will show you the temperature of the engine better.

 

My Fabia will show 90 C water temp. within 3 miles of starting the engine.

But after 12 miles the oil temp. can be between low 80's C and low 100's C. depending on outside temp.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

1 hour ago, Matthew96 said:

My red coolant light is flashing as soon as I start it up with the three audible dings.

Odd time of year for this fault, but I reckon JR is probably right. I can't explain the one incident of the 3/4 scale, but I'll bet the master technician at your nearest Main Stealer can't either. What I can do is echo the advice you've already been given to clean the sensor prongs in the expansion bottle if they're accessible, and replace it if they're not.

17 minutes ago, AGFalco said:

Water temperature guages tend to ( after the engine getting hot ) to just stay at 90 C irrespective of the actual water temperature.

Unless it gets very hot when it will rise. 

 

Do you have a MFD ( Multi Function Display ) that can show you the oil temperature.

I find this will show you the temperature of the engine better.

 

My Fabia will show 90 C water temp. within 3 miles of starting the engine.

But after 12 miles the oil temp. can be between low 80's C and low 100's C. depending on outside temp.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

The oil temperature is always going to be higher than the water temperature though. And it doesn’t explain the absence of water flow.

Thanks for your reply, appreciated!

14 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

Odd time of year for this fault, but I reckon JR is probably right. I can't explain the one incident of the 3/4 scale, but I'll bet the master technician at your nearest Main Stealer can't either. What I can do is echo the advice you've already been given to clean the sensor prongs in the expansion bottle if they're accessible, and replace it if they're not.

I understand what he meant yeah, he does have a point. Like I said in the original post, my mechanic has already ordered and will be replacing the bottle and sensor this weekend. 
But I still can’t see why I’m having a lack of water flow. There’s no water flow at all into the coolant bottle. 
Thanks for your reply, appreciated!

9 minutes ago, Matthew96 said:

water temperature

When I want to find the real water temperature I use OBD11 not the dash gauge.

 

 

8 minutes ago, Matthew96 said:

There’s no water flow at all into the coolant bottle.

Pump not working / pipes blocked / thermostat not working?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

I did not mention the temperature readings because they were an anomoly that I don't have an answer for and may even be a red herring, the statement I made was correct and should be read as it was written, I was not aware that I was under an obligation to have an answer for all the symptoms that you percieve.

 

The expansion bottle is exactly that, for expansion, it does not form part of the water circulation circuit, I made no mention of it as it was irrelevant to your problem of the temperature warning light coming on immediately on first start up of a cold engine.

 

A less adversarial posting style and not calling people "buddy" or "pal" will be more appealing to those who have the knowledge to help you.

1 hour ago, Matthew96 said:

There’s no water flow at all into the coolant bottle.

As I already said it's an expansion bottle, with only one inlet/outlet point. Get why there's no visible flow through it now?

When did you last count the number of hoses going to an expansion tank chaps?

Looks like two connections @KenONeill

Definitely 2 hose connections to the coolant reservoir sphere, 1 supply, 1 return.

 

Coolant being pumped around a cold engine is impeded by the thermostat to enable a fast warm-up and you should see a stream of bypass coolant flowing to the reservoir, as the engine heats up the thermostat opens allowing coolant to flow through the radiator and lessening the bypass flow.

 

Any excess pressure in the system is vented via the reservoir sphere cap valve.

 

As previously mentioned, check the coolant level prongs in the reservoir sphere for contamination, an old toothbrush is good for giving them a scrub, also check the wiring connector and any relevant fuses.

Edited 23 May, 20224 yr by MicMac

14 hours ago, AGFalco said:

When I want to find the real water temperature I use OBD11 not the dash gauge.

 

 

Pump not working / pipes blocked / thermostat not working?

 

Thanks, AG Falco

That’s what the initial suspicions are. We will know better after this weekend when it gets properly looked at. 
 

Thank you for your reply! You’ve been helpful. Appreciate it. 

13 hours ago, J.R. said:

I did not mention the temperature readings because they were an anomoly that I don't have an answer for and may even be a red herring, the statement I made was correct and should be read as it was written, I was not aware that I was under an obligation to have an answer for all the symptoms that you percieve.

 

The expansion bottle is exactly that, for expansion, it does not form part of the water circulation circuit, I made no mention of it as it was irrelevant to your problem of the temperature warning light coming on immediately on first start up of a cold engine.

 

A less adversarial posting style and not calling people "buddy" or "pal" will be more appealing to those who have the knowledge to help you.

Understand that where I’m from we call everyone man, buddy, pal, mate and lad. It’s part of our everyday language. I’ve no idea why you’re being a little bit toxic in a forum if I’m honest. 
 

Thanks for your input and all the best to you. 

I’m not clued up on this engine, so excuse what may be me barking up the wrong tree…. But does this car have a vacuum box sat just above the drivers strut in the engine bay, just above the expansion tank?? (Like the below, top left of the pic)
 

 

3 minutes ago, Titanium_Man said:

I’m not clued up on this engine, so excuse what may be me barking up the wrong tree…. But does this car have a vacuum box sat just above the drivers strut in the engine bay, just above the expansion tank?? (Like the below, top left of the pic)
 

 

 

Yes that is a vacuum distribution box 

2 minutes ago, nige8021 said:

 

Yes that is a vacuum distribution box 

If the op has one also I’d be checking the underside of the screws holding it in place as it’s not unheard of mechanics leaning on the box and the screws cut through the wiring running underneath. Thai bunch of wires feed the wires to the expansion tank sensor, at least it does on my asz engine. 

Edited 24 May, 20224 yr by Titanium_Man

On the Mk1 Fabia/9N Polo platform, the level warning circuit can be tested by simulating the tank resistance to check the circuit and potentially see whether the problem is the tank or the measuring circuit.

Working from memory, a 56k Ohm resistor plugged into the loom connector does not cause a warning state, a 62k Ohm resistor does.

If something of the lower value or less still causes a warning, the problem is likely in the circuit (like a wire break), not the tank.

 

Exact values may differ between models.

 

 

I don't think it needs to be that fussy, a simple check with a screwdriver shorting the pins in the reservoir sphere worked for me.

 

You could disconnect the sensor connector and measure the resistance at the reservoir, higher values than expected could be tested by scrubbing the pins inside with a toothbrush to see if it helps.

Edited 24 May, 20224 yr by MicMac

I'm sure you're right, but I didn't want to suggest shorting the loom connector without having tried it myself on a similar car to the OP's without damaging anything.  

I also remember having to cycle the ignition to clear a warning state, even after putting in a resistor that wouldn't trigger it.

On 23/05/2022 at 23:08, Pete_Ex-Wino said:

When did you last count the number of hoses going to an expansion tank chaps?

I cant remember, nor how many there were! 🤣

 

My go to excuse for my senility!

 

I have never seen flow through the expansion reservoir in the way that you used to see flow through a radiator header tank, at best its just a little rippling on the surface, however I remove the smaller upper hose and run the engine to remove coolant when I want to top up the antifreeze concentration (I for got to add it a couple of years ago) and under those circumstances (a leak path) there is a slow but steady flow