texlaw

I have a 2004 MT with 34,000 miles on it. I have had very few problems with the car. Lately I have noticed the coolant warning light coming on if I keep the RPM above 5k for any extended time. If I shift to a higher gear it goes out. When I check the coolant level either hot or cold it is full. Anyone experience anything like this? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

zoom44

add coolant.

caribbean_spice_boy_73

omg i guess this thread is closed.. :D

mikeschaefer

Why add coolant if it's full?

Texlaw check the owner's manual and see what it says about the 'coolant warning light' verbatim.

Does it mean that the coolant is too hot?
Does it mean you have low coolant?

I would go check but my car is in the garage and I'm too lazy :p

beachdog

There is probably an air blockage between the radiator and the overflow. That would allow the level to look the same whether hot or cold.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

Interesting - I have an '04 MT also, and am at 32K on the OD. I had for the first time, yep you guessed it, the coolant warning light blink a couple of times. I also have had zero problems. I added 1 cup of water to the tank. I have not had the light come on since.

JonsToy

In my experience it's awfully hard to tell at what level the coolant is in these cars.

Add coolant!

texlaw

I did the same thing and it appears to have gone away. Thanks to all for your advice.

Sea Ray

My light came on around 14,000 miles, and it was low. I had it checked for any leaks, none. Level has stayed the same since and no light. I was concerned it may be an internal leak but maybe it was a bit low from the factory, I hope.

KYLiquid

thats what i was thinking, in my dads 94 vette we had a air bubble traped in the water pump inlet...the car would never over-heat, although it would run about 10*F hot...but no major problems, when it would idle the coolant light would sometimes come on, when moving it would go out.....could be similar here....drain/flush the cooling system then fill it up or take it to a shop so they can hook it up to the vacuum pump thing to suck the air bubbles out.

zoom44

that's why vvv

KYLiquid

coolant will disapear over time, it evaporates, burns off...overflows, ect

texlaw

Not to belabor the point, but as Nemisis8 and I can attest, the light can come on when the fill indicator shows that your coolant is at the full level. It sounds like we both ended up adding coolant over the full level to get the indicator light light to turn off. So even if you check your level on a regular basis and the indicator seems to be OK you could still need some additional coolant to keep the warning light off.

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

Correct - mine showed full also when cold.

crimson-rain

This just started happening to me too. I'm at 26K miles. It comes on and stays on when I start it up, but when I get to moving it goes off. I checked the coolant level and I would have to agree, it's not particularly easy to read. Gotta add coolant though. Looks low to me.

Sea Ray

And yes I also overfilled mine slightly to keep the light off.

crimson-rain

say, stupid question, but what brand coolant is everyone using?

JonsToy

I've just been adding distilled water whenever I run low on coolant level. Here in Florida I'm not too concerned about maintaining the proper percentages of coolant and water.

Go48

Freeze prevention is not the only function of the coolant in modern cars. Most modern cars are designed to run hotter than the boiling point of water and the boiling point of the coolant mixture under pressure is higher than just plain water. So, it's important that your coolant be a correct mix of "antifreeze" and water (50/50 is good).

Feras

iTrader: (1)

this happenned to me in the winter (coolant light) my levels looked good, so i went bought some antifreeze mixed it up with some distilled water and wabam no more light.

RX-8Mania

It happened to me too. The light flashed up some times. I just ignored it after I check that I have full coolant.

Parz

I have 14,000 miles on my car and the low coolant light came on for about 10 seconds and then when i moved it went away. When I started my car later it didn't do it. I know I should check the coolant, but has anyone else experienced this?

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Mine Coolant light came on twice b4, and notice the first time it came on I think I only had 4K miles on my 8 (Second time was around 6K miles or so)

First time I ignored it, and it went away like after a few blocks. I was chicken and I still checked, everything is fine (I let the car sit for like 3 hours before I check, so Its accurate I think)

sEcond time I just add it till it almost overfilled.

and its running fine since then.

I dont know.

Nubo

So, is there any downside to just filling the damn resevoir to near the top? Since it's a pressure vessel the plastic is very thick and you need a tactical flashlight to get enough light to see the difference between full and low, since they're only like a finger's-width apart. Other than an occasional overflow, why not fill it closer to the top? It would be much easier to see as well.

Go48

Shouldn't be a problem as long as you leave enough room for expansion of the coolant. However, you don't want the coolant to overflow because it can mess up any paint it comes in contact with.