Low Coolant Light Blinking- Part III

[rkvons]

Originally Posted by 00GTP4ME

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.

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.

[00GTP4ME]

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!
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?'

[grandprixgtx00]

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

[rkvons]

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.