Coolant Level??
- Thread starter Alpine_325IS
- Start date
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Open your radiator cap first thing in the morning and fill it with clean water. that should take care of your coolant indicator problem. If it continues popping up, then you may need to check your thermostat, water pump or check for radiator leaks.
If the "check your coolant" level warning is on only after you shut your engine off and not constantly when you are driving it, that means that your cooling system is just lacking a litter or so of fluid. So since the radiator coolant is a mixture of water and coolant, topping it up with just some water won't cause any damage. To the contrary excessive amount of coolant solution may cause some ![[drinking]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_drinking.gif "Drinking Pals [drinking]")
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I had the same issue. Every time i turned my car off it said check coolant level. I would check it when it cooled and it was full. It turns out the regulator was bad and somehow the radiator melted and some of the plastic melted through the hose and all of the coolant leaked out. I had to replace the radiator and hose. However, I think it started out as a sensor problem because it still does it occasionally.
I changed the coolant sensor and to my delight it was defective. ![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
I hate to spend money for nothing.![[?|]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_banghead.gif "Bang Head [?|]")
The original was corroded inside and the reed relay was detached. It was an original part from 1992 by TRW. As you can see from the attached photo the corrosion entered the area where the reed relay is and ate the connections hence no circuit. If yours is bad change it....
I ordered mine through my local autoparts store, who buys from altrom.com and they are OEM suppliers although they have their own part numbers.
dark_islight
I hate to spend money for nothing.
The original was corroded inside and the reed relay was detached. It was an original part from 1992 by TRW. As you can see from the attached photo the corrosion entered the area where the reed relay is and ate the connections hence no circuit. If yours is bad change it....
I ordered mine through my local autoparts store, who buys from altrom.com and they are OEM suppliers although they have their own part numbers.
dark_islight
hi guys, i have a problem with my cooling system too. i recently flushed my coolant system and topped it up to the kalt/cold level. the next morning i checked the level and it was low again. so i topped it up again. the next morning was the same scenario. its continuosly dropping to low since i flushed the system. dispite the low level the temp gauge is always in the cold (blue) region. when i turn on the fan the temp gauge needle goes to the middle warm. anyone got any ideas? btw i have a 93 318is. any help will be greatly appreciated.
Welcome!
Did you bleed the system properly? If not, your are experiencing a common problem.
From Pelican Parts:
Remove the small plastic bleed screw to the right of the radiator cap. On M3 engines, this screw is located on the thermostat housing. Using a large funnel in the expansion tank, slowly fill the car with new coolant. Use a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and distilled water. Do not use tap water or spring water, as these have impurities that will contaminate your system. Distilled or ionized water is 100% H20, and does not contain any minerals, additives, or impurities. Fill the system very slowly, as it will take a bit of time for the coolant to get to all points in the system. On 4-cylinder cars, you will need about 7 quarts (6.5 liters). For the six cylinder cars, you will need 10.6 quarts (10 liters). M3 motors require 11.1 quarts (10.5 liters).
When the system is full of coolant, you will need to bleed air out of it. This applied only to the cars that have the expansion tank attached to the side of the radiator. Other BMWs with a separate, external expansion tank are self-bleeding. The procedure for bleeding these cars seems somewhat sloppy and not too slick. With the bleed screw removed, fill the expansion tank until fluid begins coming out of the bleed screw. Continue filling until there are no more bubbles coming out, as shown in Figure 13. This, of course will mean that plenty of coolant will spill all over your radiator, and down onto the ground. Have a catch pan ready to capture this coolant spill. When no more bubbles exit out of the bleed screw, tighten it to 8 Nm (71 in-lb).
Now, run the engine until it reaches it's operating temperature. Turn off the engine and let it cool down. Then, top off the coolant in the expansion tank to the appropriate level, if necessary.
Did you bleed the system properly? If not, your are experiencing a common problem.
From Pelican Parts:
Remove the small plastic bleed screw to the right of the radiator cap. On M3 engines, this screw is located on the thermostat housing. Using a large funnel in the expansion tank, slowly fill the car with new coolant. Use a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and distilled water. Do not use tap water or spring water, as these have impurities that will contaminate your system. Distilled or ionized water is 100% H20, and does not contain any minerals, additives, or impurities. Fill the system very slowly, as it will take a bit of time for the coolant to get to all points in the system. On 4-cylinder cars, you will need about 7 quarts (6.5 liters). For the six cylinder cars, you will need 10.6 quarts (10 liters). M3 motors require 11.1 quarts (10.5 liters).
When the system is full of coolant, you will need to bleed air out of it. This applied only to the cars that have the expansion tank attached to the side of the radiator. Other BMWs with a separate, external expansion tank are self-bleeding. The procedure for bleeding these cars seems somewhat sloppy and not too slick. With the bleed screw removed, fill the expansion tank until fluid begins coming out of the bleed screw. Continue filling until there are no more bubbles coming out, as shown in Figure 13. This, of course will mean that plenty of coolant will spill all over your radiator, and down onto the ground. Have a catch pan ready to capture this coolant spill. When no more bubbles exit out of the bleed screw, tighten it to 8 Nm (71 in-lb).
Now, run the engine until it reaches it's operating temperature. Turn off the engine and let it cool down. Then, top off the coolant in the expansion tank to the appropriate level, if necessary.
Is the coolant level visually full in the expansion tank when this happens? If so, it may be a bad float sensor. There is a wire that attaches to the bottom of the white recovery tank on the left side of the radiator. This is attached to the float sensor. Check that the wire is attached.
The float sensor does fail and while it is a tight area to work in, they can be replaced by a DIY mechanic. It unscrews from the bottom of the recovery tank. There is a picture of it a few posts above. They cost about $25 or so.
The float sensor does fail and while it is a tight area to work in, they can be replaced by a DIY mechanic. It unscrews from the bottom of the recovery tank. There is a picture of it a few posts above. They cost about $25 or so.
Sorry for the newbie question.
But where is the coolant level sensor
My 1992 325i is doing the same thing.
When I start the car, it would say check coolant level but go away after about 10 seconds.
Then, when I shut the car off it'll say the same thing for about 10 seconds
The first time I saw it, I let the car sit overnight and topped off the coolant level in the morning. It was a little low and I assumed that would take care of the problem, but unfortunately it didn't.
But where is the coolant level sensor
My 1992 325i is doing the same thing.
When I start the car, it would say check coolant level but go away after about 10 seconds.
Then, when I shut the car off it'll say the same thing for about 10 seconds
The first time I saw it, I let the car sit overnight and topped off the coolant level in the morning. It was a little low and I assumed that would take care of the problem, but unfortunately it didn't.