Coolant Disapearing on a 1997

[aberk001]

I just bought a 1997 Bonneville and the low coolant light was on. I filled the reservoir and drove it for 2 days and the light stayed on. I checked the reservoir and it was about 1.5 inches low. I filled it back up last night and when I came out this morning, the reservoir was .5 inches low. I checked under the car and there was no coolant on the ground. I topped it off then drove 4 miles to school. The light never went off. I checked it when I got to school and the reservoir showed the correct amount of coolant.

It has not overheated but it is running at around 200 degrees.

I know that some of these engines have a problem with the plastic plenium melting and coolant leaking into the engine but I thought that was mostly with the 98s. Has anyone heard of that happening with the 97s?

Any Ideas would be welcome.

[kalafre]

Originally Posted by aberk001

I just bought a 1997 Bonneville and the low coolant light was on. I filled the reservoir and drove it for 2 days and the light stayed on. I checked the reservoir and it was about 1.5 inches low. I filled it back up last night and when I came out this morning, the reservoir was .5 inches low. I checked under the car and there was no coolant on the ground. I topped it off then drove 4 miles to school. The light never went off. I checked it when I got to school and the reservoir showed the correct amount of coolant.

It has not overheated but it is running at around 200 degrees.

I know that some of these engines have a problem with the plastic plenium melting and coolant leaking into the engine but I thought that was mostly with the 98s. Has anyone heard of that happening with the 97s?

Any Ideas would be welcome.

Really sounds to me like your coolant sensor is the problem. The first two times you "topped it off" the coolant went in to circulation in the engine, as it should. Now that everything is "equalized" (so to speak), you're not losing anything it sounds like.