Low coolant indicator 00' Regal Ls 139K

[STONEBOSS1]

My Low Coolant indicator comes on from time to time. I had the car just winterized with fresh coolant (flushed and replenished), just a couple of months ago. Is the sensor going bad on me. Or can I just remove and clean it. Plus where is it located.

[BNaylor]

Try cleaning it first. Located about 3 inches below the radiator filler neck passenger side of car. Easier to get to if you remove the right headlamp assembly. See pic.

What brand coolant was used? Was it Dex-cool or an aftermarket brand?

[STONEBOSS1]

Hi BNaylor, as always "THANKS" for the quick reply. Not sure of the brand of coolant used when I had the radiator flushed/refilled. I did notice that the old coolant was of an orange color as well as the new coolant added. Is that the color(orange) of what you refered to as Dex-cool. Is it a better coolant than the green colored antifreeze e.g. Prestone. What are the differences in coolant. The low coolant light is pretty intermittent, at first chance I
get I will clean it. Is there a proper way of cleaning the sensor. I'm guessing just plain water would be ok. Again thanks for the reply and "Happy Holidays". Btw can you take a look at my post for the sway bar package from GMPP and give me an opinion or suggestion on that matter.

[BNaylor]

You're welcome. It sounds like you have the Dex-cool but was it the GM labeled or an aftermarket Dex-cool. Getting the low coolant light is common after doing a coolant replacement and flush. Various reasons or possible solutions but cleaning the sensor is the best starting point. Also, make sure any air is bled out of the cooling system.

I used regular soap and water with a small brush. The sensor shown in the pic was covered with Dex-cool sludge as you can see. This low coolant light came on after switching out to the Prestone green extended life anti-freeze. I wound up leaving the sensor disconnected and just rely on checking the level of the reservoir and radiator.

I'll check out your other post.

[STONEBOSS1]

Well I can tell you that when I took the car in for coolant flush/fill at a local Castrol quick oil/lube center. The car was hooked up to a machine that does this process. As far as the brand of coolant I cant say whether it was GM brand or aftermarket brand. I'm pretty confident that no air entered while it was in the process of coolant exchange. Again thanks for the really quick reply.

[irbf]

This is interesting. Naylor I did the same with my 2000 Buick...just jumped out the sensor and regularly check the fluid level. I hear gurgling sounds lately especially after start so I need to check the level. I replaced the Dex-cool orange stuff with Prestone green stuff a couple years ago as I heard there were problems with the Dex-cool stuff. The sensor failed well before that shortly after I bought the car.

The 2000 has had many issues. I have a 2001 nearly identical and have not had any issues...knock on plastic here.

[Marnav1]

Our 98 does the same thing at 48k miles. Cleaning and changing af did not help long term. Bought one sensor at $57 and six months later the light was on again. Now the harness is unplugged. Poor design IMO.

[eccs19]

Mine is in the same situation. Cleaning didn't help. Never thought about just disconnecting it. Dealer wants almost $100 for a new one. Joys of being up in Canada I guess. Dealer was actually cheaper than aftermarket to boot. When you take your out to clean it, make sure to re-bleed the system to get air out of the system.