Low Coolant Light Blinking- Part III

Hey my coolant light starting blinking today for the first time ever. The light blinks randomly and all my gauges are the same as before. I called my mechanic and he said last week when I brought him the car he connected a coolant sensor. My question is nothing is really wrong with my car right?, and the low coolant sensor is from him connecting it last week?

I dont understand. He connected it? Meaning it was disconnected?

What brand coolant are you running?

I dont understand. He connected it? Meaning it was disconnected?

What brand coolant are you running?


I'm not sure what type of coolant I am running. Yeah, he connected it without me knowing. I then called him and told him about the blinking coolant light and he said, it was dissconnected and he connected it. I checked the coolant and it's full. It must just be blinking because he connected it?

You probably have a bad coolant level sensor. It's mounted in the passenger side radiator tank just below where the transmission cooler lines screw in.

Mine kept going off too. Replaced the sensor and it's fine.

I'm not sure what type of coolant I am running.

Many of us leave it disconnected. We need to know what brand coolant you are using? If you switch from Dex-cool to regular or extended life aftermarket antifreeze getting a steady or flashing low coolant light is a common problem.

No low coolant light on my GTP with regular GM dex-cool, the I switched over to prestone dex-cool when OI changed my LIM gaskets, and my low coolant light came on immediatly after I started my car. It was on steady for about 2 months then I got sick of it, pulled the sensor out, cleaned it, and put it back in. It was off and on for 2 days, and now its pretty much back to normal.

It's a horrible design for a sensor; it's in a "normal" state when disconnected! That is soooo stupid! Also, it gets sludged-up easily, which causes it to turn-on the Low light.
I battled with mine for a while, bought a new one (probably didn't need to), frequently cleaned it, I even successfully cleaned it by bending a wire hanger and poking it around through the radiator filler neck (Didn't want to keep removing the sensor, anymore)
I finally allowed the dealer to replace my LIM gasket, all hoses, thermostat, and flush/fill system, and it's been off for a few months now. It appears that the little bit of brown sludge in the filler neck area was being caused by the LIM gasket, because now the filler neck stays very very clean. Too bad I got completely ripped-off by the dealer, for the cost of the LIM gasket job, but that's another story.

It's a horrible design for a sensor; it's in a "normal" state when disconnected! That is soooo stupid!

Wait a minute, am I understanding this correctly? If you unplug the coolant sensor, the default with no reading or voltage is OFF??? :confused:

Does the sensor communicate anything to the vehicle's computer, or is it's sole purpose to tell you when the coolant is down (ideally)? No other sensors or readings react to it?

If that's the case, if it ever turns on again, I'm chopping that wire real fast!

Yes, I believe so; if the sensor is unplugged, there will be no annoying light on your dash, and I don't believe it interfaces with anything else. I recall many people claiming that they simply unplugged theirs, and leave it unplugged just to keep that annoying light off.
If I am wrong, someone can correct me.

Yes, I believe so; if the sensor is unplugged, there will be no annoying light on your dash, and I don't believe it interfaces with anything else. I recall many people claiming that they simply unplugged theirs, and leave it unplugged just to keep that annoying light off.
If I am wrong, someone can correct me.

thats what i did. never did find out why mine was blinking. tried just about everything and just said screw it.

That is SO good to know!!!

If I am wrong, someone can correct me.

All the sensor does is supply a ground to the IP Cluster idiot light when coolant level is actually low so you are correct. No adverse affects by leaving it disconnected, however, if disconnected it would be a good idea to manually check coolant level periodically at the reservoir or even direct at the radiator.

I wonder if the sensor is really accurate anyways Bob.

My G/f's LIM gaskets in her 3100, the first time around would leak a whole radiator out in about a months time. When it was low, it would never set the Low Coolant Light.

I wonder if the sensor is really accurate anyways Bob.

I've noticed the same thing. I'd happily forgo the $60 sensor, the irritation of the inaccuracy and sporadic nonsense in trade for just checking the coolant level myself every so often. I replaced mine a year or two ago and while it's gone off a time or two (erroneously), it hasn't been too irritating yet (knock*knock); I'll definitely unplug it when this one goes. :shakehead

just checking the coolant level myself every so often. I replaced mine a year or two ago and while it's gone off a time or two (erroneously), it hasn't been too irritating yet (knock*knock); I'll definitely unplug it when this one goes. :shakehead
I think the sensor is good for two reasons. One is for those who never open their hood. They need something to let them know about potential problems that are going on under there. But the other reason, and more important for me, is the one where a hose bursts. You may not know about it while cruising down the expressway, but your sensor will tell you. I will try to keep mine plugged in and working.

I definitely see your point and the intention is definitely a good one, it's just that it's obvious it's not the most well-designed or high quality tool they've come up with.
My experience with people who never open their hoods is that most of the time, they ignore the lights that come up on their dashes anyway with maybe the exception of the check engine light. I can easily see one of these "never pops hooders," thinking low coolant is better than no coolant! Drive on! :lol2:
I had a radiator hose blow on the freeway when I had my camaro and having the temperature gauge shoot off the chart, smoke coming out from under my hood and half my dash lighting up didn't put me at any disadvantage by not having a low coolant light.

Bottom line- if your sensor is working fine and isn't bugging you; great. If not- it's nice to you know can unplug it and not be out anything as long as you don't ignore what's under your hood for too long. Can I get an 'amen?'

its really not too big of a deal for myself. i always do a pretty good inspection every time i do an oil change.

I had a corvette from 1977 to 2006. 40k miles. I always maintained it and checked under the hood. It started overheating on me. At first, it would cool back down. But over time (years) it got worse and worse. I finally decided to change out the thermostat. So I take off the upper radiator hose and guess what. No coolant in it. What the ..! The overflow was full, as always. After investigating, it turns out that the hose that goes from the burb tank cap to the bottom of the burp tank fell off. It was laying at the bottom under that perfectly clean coolant. If only there was a low coolant light back then.