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Coolant Light on Dash

Old May 26, 2011 | 07:30 PM
  #251  
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It probably won't, or it will only help for a short time.
If you check it often(which EVERYONE should anyway), the just unplug it and go on with life.

Attached Thumbnails Coolant Light on Dash-coolant_sensor_locale.jpg  
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Old May 26, 2011 | 08:10 PM
  #252  
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There are 2 plugs by the coolant bottle.

Just to clarify, which one do you disconnect? The smaller grey plug on top, or the bigger black plug on the bottom?
Attached Thumbnails Coolant Light on Dash-coolant.jpg  

Last edited by van; May 26, 2011 at 08:19 PM.
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Old May 26, 2011 | 08:19 PM
  #253  
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Gray one!
Here, I circled it for you!


Attached Thumbnails Coolant Light on Dash-coolant.jpg  
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Old May 26, 2011 | 08:21 PM
  #254  
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Cool. Thanks!
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Old May 26, 2011 | 08:25 PM
  #255  
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New bottle is about $80.00 if your build date is after July 05 cause you don't need the sensor itself(you will use the old one) and 110.00 if you are before July 05 build date..............if you want to get one. Build date can be found on drivers side door jamb plate I believe.


http://www.finishlineperformance.com...cat=336&page=1


It's not the sensor that goes bad, but the float and that is inside the bottle with no way to get to it.

Last edited by Mazurfer; May 26, 2011 at 08:28 PM.
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Old Jun 11, 2011 | 05:13 PM
  #256  
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vibration on the car.

well my coolant light is on. i disconnect the sensor. now i have some kind of vibration on the car. is pretty bad. it vibrate like crazy. that happens after the car is warm. itr may be. because of the coolant light or what?
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Old Jun 11, 2011 | 06:20 PM
  #257  
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Ahh, Just thought I would let you know that disconnecting the coolant sensor has nothing to do with any kind of vibration, totally separate issue.
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Old Jun 12, 2011 | 08:29 AM
  #258  
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Originally Posted by darielon1
well my coolant light is on. i disconnect the sensor. now i have some kind of vibration on the car. is pretty bad. it vibrate like crazy. that happens after the car is warm. itr may be. because of the coolant light or what?
In addition to coolant sensor problems, I also have vibration - the mechanic I use said it was the motor mounts - they have slowly gone bad due to age of the car (8 years old this fall) and cause the engine to vibrate - mostly sitting at idle.
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Old Jun 12, 2011 | 11:23 AM
  #259  
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Originally Posted by darielon1
well my coolant light is on. i disconnect the sensor. now i have some kind of vibration on the car. is pretty bad. it vibrate like crazy. that happens after the car is warm. itr may be. because of the coolant light or what?
Nothing at all to do with it as Ash points out below.....unless you unplugged the wrong sensor?

Read more about this sensor by clicking below, but that's not your issue!
Search rx8club via Google
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 09:32 AM
  #260  
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I think this was previously mentioned, but you can simply put the car in neutral for 3-5 seconds, and the light will go away (at least it does for me). I'm assuming that if I was truly having a low coolant level issue, putting the car into neutral would not help the light turn off. I guess if you have an auto this might be a bit trickier / not possible, but at least for those of us with manual transmissions it's a simple fix. In fact, possibly even just pressing the clutch in for a few seconds may work - I'll try that next time.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 01:54 PM
  #261  
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Thought

i was haveing my same light come on get the codes for your car ran. can be a coil/spark plug or wire issue if u get the miss fire codes. i got P0302 miss fire 2 checked it fixed it and car runs fine no light poping up anymore
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 02:49 PM
  #262  
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Huh?
The coolant light has nothing to do with trouble codes.
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Old Jun 14, 2011 | 07:38 PM
  #263  
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Originally Posted by kiker14
I think this was previously mentioned, but you can simply put the car in neutral for 3-5 seconds, and the light will go away (at least it does for me). I'm assuming that if I was truly having a low coolant level issue, putting the car into neutral would not help the light turn off. I guess if you have an auto this might be a bit trickier / not possible, but at least for those of us with manual transmissions it's a simple fix. In fact, possibly even just pressing the clutch in for a few seconds may work - I'll try that next time.
Someone needs to do a little more reading!

Click here
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Old Jun 19, 2011 | 08:08 PM
  #264  
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Having the same problem as we speak. Temp. OK, coolant OK, but light comes on & off. Just one more thing.........
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Old Jun 20, 2011 | 06:58 AM
  #265  
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Originally Posted by bstumer
Having the same problem as we speak. Temp. OK, coolant OK, but light comes on & off. Just one more thing.........
Hopefully you've read enough to know you can just unplug it and check coolant often?
It's either that or get a new bottle. Depending on year, you may or may not have to but the sensor.
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Old Jun 20, 2011 | 07:25 AM
  #266  
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Or you can leave it alone, then enjoy the light show or make up tales like I do.

Ken
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Old Jun 21, 2011 | 11:46 AM
  #267  
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Detaching senso

Excuse the ignorance here, but is there a trick to disconnect this sensor? For the heart of me I cannot pull it apart and don't want to force it and cause more damage.

Thanks.
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Old Jun 21, 2011 | 06:29 PM
  #268  
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Originally Posted by bstumer
Excuse the ignorance here, but is there a trick to disconnect this sensor? For the heart of me I cannot pull it apart and don't want to force it and cause more damage.
There is a lock tab on all connectors to prevent it from sliding out. Using a small flat-head screw driver, push the tab outwards (inside the connector), and it will slide out easy.


.

Last edited by van; Jun 21, 2011 at 07:01 PM.
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Old Jun 21, 2011 | 07:36 PM
  #269  
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Take your time until you find the tab. You must push in(as said) while pulling on the top plug............and you don't really need a screwdriver. Once you do one................look at both parts of it as nearly every damn plug in the car will be some variation of that.


If I'm not mistaken, the tab is on the portion of the plug that will stay attached to the bottle and will be at the bottom outside of it of that bottom plug. Sort of looks like an upside down "T" when looking at it and it has what looks like grooves or slots in it, just push that in while lifting on the top plug. I hope that makes sense?

Last edited by Mazurfer; Jun 21, 2011 at 07:44 PM.
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Old Jul 24, 2011 | 06:48 PM
  #270  
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All you people pulling the plug to turn the low coolant light off be sure to post here when you water pump fails, the car is spewing coolant, and your notification is steam from under the hood, okay?

It happened to me while my sensor failed in the dead of winter before I had a chance to replace it.
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Old Jul 24, 2011 | 07:08 PM
  #271  
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By the time the sensor goes off your engine is already over heated.

Not sure it would help in your case.

Anyhow, sorry to hear what happened to your car.

Especially in the winter!
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Old Jul 24, 2011 | 07:31 PM
  #272  
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mine does the same thing ,if I am taching over 7k rpm coolant light comes on
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Old Jul 24, 2011 | 08:29 PM
  #273  
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Originally Posted by Razz1
By the time the sensor goes off your engine is already over heated.......
I doubt that .

If the low coolant sensor was working, I would have known the level was low getting low. When water pumps go bad, they usually start dripping slowly first.
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Old Jul 25, 2011 | 08:19 PM
  #274  
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Originally Posted by rx8cited
I doubt that .

If the low coolant sensor was working, I would have known the level was low getting low. When water pumps go bad, they usually start dripping slowly first.
Then it's just like the old days......nothing new.

We always warn people about that and tell them to check the level frequently if they are going to unplug the sensor and not buy a new bottle because they are too cheap, don't want a new one, can't afford it, or can't be be bothered. It then becomes more of your responsibility rather than relying on something else to do your job for you(so to speak).
In your case, yes, the light would've gone off..........let's assume it was a weep at first. You probably would've filled the bottle back up and went on your merry way. Hopefully you would've noticed some coolant on the ground over a few days, if you didn't then......oh well.
Now........when and/if it turned into a major leak, it would've overheated pretty fast which would've been evident not by that sensor, but by steam, lots of coolant on the ground, or the dummy gauge in the car. The car should be been turn off immediately until the problem was rectified.
In some ways.........this is akin to somebody waiting until the TPMS comes on for them to check the tire pressure, or waiting until the oil light comes on to check the oil.

Last edited by Mazurfer; Jul 25, 2011 at 08:23 PM.
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Old Jul 26, 2011 | 08:36 AM
  #275  
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Originally Posted by Mazurfer
.....
We always warn people about that and tell them to check the level frequently if they are going to unplug the sensor and not buy a new bottle ......
.....
How frequently (in hours, days, weeks, miles, etc) do "we" recommend checking the coolant level for both cases of the coolant level sensor working and not working/disconnected?

Originally Posted by Mazurfer
.....
In some ways.........this is akin to somebody waiting until the TPMS comes on for them to check the tire pressure, or waiting until the oil light comes on to check the oil.
Please answer the same questions for frequency to check air pressure and oil level related to TPMS sensors and oil level sensor working and not working.
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