Coolant Light?

[Shaun95z]

Hello all.. I bought a 96 Saturn SL2 w/dohc 16v 4-cyl. it has a lot of miles on it (174k) its my Daily Driver. but anyway to the point. almost every morning when I go and start the car the Coolent light Blinks on and off light 20 times. I have checked the Coolent level and its not low and there is no leaks anywhere. my Driveway is on a hill so I started parking it on the street and now it hasn't came on for like 2 or 3 months. until this morning. not sure what the problem is. any ideas? I have had the car scanned and no codes are popping up. my temp gauge does get high but drops to I have changed the thremostat. and flushed the coolant.

[dripman]

My wife's '96 SL1 with 107k just started to do the same thing. As in your case, temp stays in normal range, coolant level is fine, no leaks, etc. Does ANYBODY know what is going on????

[sierrap615]

i had a problem a LITTLE like this last year after i flushed the ratiator. for me it was an air bubble in the line. i can't say this is your problem. what i did was took the resivour cap off(NOT the radiator cap), turn your a/c off, and let you car idle until it heats up the fluid(get the temp up in the red zone,or until the cooling can comes on), any air in the lines should be let out of the resivour. then make sure the fluid level is up. these direction are perfict, don't do this unless you know what you're doing. and stay away from under the hood if/when you do this.

[friedcircuit]

i also have a radiator problem, i have a 92 sl2 and you guys mentioned a radiator cap, my car is 4 yearsolder and does not have a cap on the radiator just the resevoir? what's up with that also my temp gauge fluctuates kinda like its on the fritz but my car is not hot and i have full fluid can anyone help me?

[miamisl2]

it is most likely the cts ...coolant temperature sensor on the side of the engine by the egr... intake ect...

could also be air in the coolant if your temp fluctuates a lot...but just replace the sensor since its pretty damn cheap (under $10) and go from there.

[disco192]

Mine does the same thing, i have a bone stock 98 SL2 w/ a buck 30 on it.

[sickcallawayc12]

My SL2 does that about a minute after i start it and doesn't stop flashing. Coolant level is good and doesn't overheat so I don't really care, maybe another Saturn defect.

[sierrap615]

i have looked in to this a little more and my problem was a bad ECTS. the old design was prone to failure, but the redesign all-brass ECTS is much better. if you have a bad idle its a good sign your ECTS is shot, replacing may even give you better gas mileage. Sickcallaway, does your car overcool? (i know it sounds stilly but it can be a problem) if it does, or takes a long time to warm up, that sounds more like a Thremosat.

[sickcallawayc12]

Don't think it overcools, I mean it fluxuates as I drive. When the car is sitting, the coolant rises just a little after halfway then the fan kicks in and the temp falls down, seems like pretty normal operation to me.