2000 GA V6 LOW COOLANT light

[sohx801]

Hello,

New to the forums have a question to run by the pros;

I have a GA that has quite a few miles on it (140K)

This week I drove home from work (about 30 mile drive) and I noticed the add coolant light came on and stayed on, which usually it's a on then off reminder to add coolant/water once I get to a stop somewhere. I got just about to home when I needed to stop and get something to eat and at idle I glanced at my temp gauge and it read 215+ (hotter than usual) and immediately I looked forward and noticed the steam from overheating under the hood. I quickly parked it and gave time for it to cool down.

The overflow tube in the resevoir was pumping out about 1/2 gallon of coolant. I added water to the tank and drove it home and watched the gauge for any overheating, I needed to get about 1 mile to my home.

Got home and let car cool down before diagnosing. When I started it back up the temp took a while before it got to the norm temp range 180-200. Then it would start to get hotter than usual and start pumping more out of the resevoir.

I'm trying to think of what this could be. I swapped out the water pump 1 year about and the bearing shows no signs of leaking. I decided to swap out the thermostat, as I thought the symptoms of long times before temp warms up and gets super hot when idling gave me the idea the old thermostat was maybe stuck in the open position and needed replacement.

My main problem is the car doesn't seem to overheat like it did earlier when in idle, though the add coolant light stays on. The level is fine. I just don't want to run it to a bigger (engine) problem down the road.

I've heard of air in the system and dirty temp sensors..

Any ideas what could be making the system report LOW COOLANT still?


Thanks guys!

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF.

First check the wires and plug in. Then try tapping on the resivoir, sometimes an air bubble gets traped on the sensor and it'll kick on the low level light.

If its still pushing coolant out the overflo try bleeding the cooling system.
Thiers a coolant system bleeder valve, brass, right above the water pump. just slowly open it , if air comes out leave it open untill coolant comes out then close it.
Might repeat this a couple time, checking that the level doesnt drop to much in the resivoir.

If its still shootin coolant out the overflo, you might have a bad LIM or Head gasket(s).

Hope that helps