Please... PLEASE... someone help me...

[JayHoleinoneski]

So, I have a 93 Saturn sc1 and its got the 1.9 ltr i think ... standard push rod motor. Not the DOHC... and equipped with a injected carb on the intake.
A little History ; the car has 230,000 miles. We have replaced MOST of the engines external parts in the past several years. Most recently the Thermostat. (2nd time in 240k miles) and new radiator, the coolant temp sensor, the heater core... and most recently the throttle postitioning sensor and the air idle control valve... because i have 2 issues.
1) the radiator light on the dash has been on for months. Before and after all the swaps. All new parts. It gets great heat and the engine thermometer on the dash reads just under half way. So its NOT over heating and IS full with fresh coolant. - HOW do I get this light to finally see that everything is functioning? What sensor am I missing here? What is it's name? Thank you.
And 2) we have had a very poor idle so i did the tps and the acv and it brought it from a staggering low 200 to 500 rpms. The car shakes at 500 and is smooth as silk at right around 1k. Sooo I'm asking ; is there a throtle manual positioning screw on this carb/injected that I'm missing? Or an adjustment to the throttle cable? I need to have it at about a 1000 for optimum performance. It used to idle at around 900 and was fine... most of its life. This is warmed up idleing.
Can anyone help me get to the bottom of these two annoyances?
Thank you in advance and I will thank you afterwards as well. I have read some similar forums here... but all were for high idle and running too cool. I am running perfectly its the warning light which is reading wrong and i dont happen to know where that is? I though that would be part of that sensor next to the thermostat which has been replaced and the connector seemed very clean.
So please help me. I have had this car since day new. And only I work on it. But im JUST now having to start replacing sensors. Believe it or not.... and I have zero knowledge of them... thank you.

[Crvett69]

this video tells you how to clean the level sensor in the coolant tank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5814yr2p_Y

[Ruley73]

Originally Posted by Crvett69

this video tells you how to clean the level sensor in the coolant tank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5814yr2p_Y

^^^ This.

Obviously, make sure the coolant level sensor is plugged in. If the vehicle has ever had some collision repair in the front right corner check the wiring harness that plugs into the sensor for damage.

Lastly, if you need to replace the reservoir, I would strongly recommend using a new OEM replacement part (Saturn part # 21030881). I installed the Dorman part on a previously owned 2000 SC2. I found that the quality of the Dorman reservoir (Dorman part number 603-121) is inferior to the OEM part. The plastic they used seemed to be a bit softer, and the threads for the cap are molded just a touch too small for any cap other than the cap that comes with it. The OEM cap from the original reservoir couldn't be properly tightened on the Dorman reservoir. It felt like I stripped the threads, but they were not stripped.

[JayHoleinoneski]

Originally Posted by Crvett69

this video tells you how to clean the level sensor in the coolant tank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5814yr2p_Y

Thank you soooo much. I had no idea there was a sensor there. Thank you thank you thank you !!!!

[JayHoleinoneski]

Thank you soooo muchbon the video for the overflow tank. I had no idea that had a sensor there. I can not wait to get home and do this. Thank you thank you thank you