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97 malibu 2.4L low coolant light


rcweston
06-26-2014, 01:52 PM
Just replaced the lower radiator hose. Added back in the coolant, it bubbled out air as it filled the radiator. Now when I start it , the engine low coolant light comes on. There is plenty of coolant in the reservoir.
After a couple of minuets, the car warms to half way from cold to red line ( normal temp) then the car runs really crappy, misfiring and then stalling!!
Is their a bleed port on this engine or something that needs doing after the coolant loop has been disturbed?
Any experience or suggestions on this.
Thanks
Rex

Tech II
06-26-2014, 02:33 PM
Take the handle of a screw driver, and lightly tap the sensor in the reservoir....they usually get "stuck" when the level goes low......that should put the light out.....

The misfire seems to be a totally different problem......was the misfire there before you had coolant loss?.....did the engine overheat due to coolant loss? If yes, you may have caused a head gasket problem....do you get exhaust bubbles in the reservoir?

rcweston
06-26-2014, 02:39 PM
Found on the forum that others had problems getting the coolant light to extinguish. One suggested using a rubber mallet and tapping the coolant tank near the sensor. Another had tried to clean the tank with little to no luck in cleaning.
I tried the mallet, but it didn't make any changes.
Thin I took apart the connector, cleaned it well, put some water proof electrolyte grease back on it and put it back together. The light has gone off. Started the car and ran it for 10 minuets. The miss fire is gone and no stalling. It runs smooth now, well as smooth as an old engine runs (it has close to 200k on the engine), not quite a new engine any more!
I hope this might be of help to someone in the future.
I'm still interested in knowing if there is a bleed port to remove the air from the coolant on this engine.

rcweston
06-26-2014, 03:01 PM
Take the handle of a screw driver, and lightly tap the sensor in the reservoir....they usually get "stuck" when the level goes low......that should put the light out.....

The misfire seems to be a totally different problem......was the misfire there before you had coolant loss?.....did the engine overheat due to coolant loss? If yes, you may have caused a head gasket problem....do you get exhaust bubbles in the reservoir?

Thanks for the info.
Yes their was a slight misfire before I started, you really had to listen to notice it. I could hear what sounded like a spark jumping to ground under the cover every once in a while. What was just happening was 100 time more intense, but the sparking sound was not present, just misfiring to the point it stalled.
It's an old engine but runs pretty good for having 200K on it!
As for the bubbles in the coolant tank, their are no bubbles as the engine runs and the cap is removed. The only bubbles were when the coolant was initially added back in the already drained radiator.
I was fearing the engine got hot from coolant not circulating due to an air lock of some type. I feared that the engine was hot but it didn't register due to no coolant flow. But as I started it a second time (after it had cooled), it ran for a while then cooling fans came on and their was plenty of heat coming out of them, so I conclude that coolant must be moving into the radiator to heat it up, at least now that is has ran a second time.
Is there something to keep an eye on just in case the engine did overheat, something that would show up as a problem?

Tech II
06-27-2014, 06:51 AM
Just keep an eye on the level in the reservoir(cold engine), to see if it drops....also watch the temp gauge to see if it goes past the midpoint......

As far as misfires go, usual problems are the coils, the ignition coil tower(what the coils are housed in), the boots, and naturally the plugs.....

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