Add coolant light/buzzer
 

My add coolant light popped on today on my way home from work, accompanied by a warning buzzer and the "charge" light. I let the car cool down and popped the radiator cap off, and the cooling system was full. The reservoir was also full to the top (even though the "full" mark is near the bottom). I checked it about an hour later, and it needed just a little coolant, maybe a cup. When I started it back up, the lights and buzzer came back on for a minute or so, then went off.

The temp gauge never read higher than normal the whole time, and there was never any smoke. Does this sound like something shorting out? I know it can't be a blown head gasket, obviously, but these are the same symptoms. I understand the rotary engine pretty well, though this is my first one and I haven't gotten to learn it 100% yet.

sounds like You blew a BELT..the main pulley/water pump/alternator pulley belt.

fix your profile..it says you drive PROTEGE..(Chuckle!)

The belt is still intact. When the cooling system gets pressurized, it pushes the coolant into the reservoir/overflow tank. That tank is full now, so it just sprays out all over the ground. I'm trying to find both "radiator" caps just in case one or both is bad.

Is there a way to disconnect the buzzer? It's extremely annoying having it on any time I'm not moving.

Yea, I sold the protege last summer. Now I have the FC and an 88 323 GTX.

The flat cap on the engine doesn't have a pressure relief valve and it wouldn't allow coolant to escape into the overflow bottle so there is no point throwing money at it right now unless it is leaking.

The pressure cap could have gone soft and is allowing coolant to escape under normal operating pressure.

It could also be bad water seals. Remove the pressure cap while the engine is cold and run the engine. If coolant comes bubbling out of the cap opening before the engine warms up (you don't need to warm it up to normal operating temperature for this test) then you have a serious problem.

Is the charge light still illuminating with the add coolant light? Or is it just the add coolant light now?

1st guess is the Rad cap that goes into the overflow. It sounds like its letting the water bubble into the overflow but NOT back into it.
2nd guess is that the overflow hose isn't connected (or has a hole) properly, this lets the vacuum out of the hose so it can't suck the watter back in.
3rd. This one isn't it but the coolant buzzer sensor at the top of the rad is letting watter escape, but again it won't let the water back in from the over flow.

Good luck

Is the pressure cap the on in the very front of the car? If so, I can't remove that one. I can only get the one off that's on the thermostat housing.

All hoses are still connected. I started the car and let it warm up with the cap off and nothing came out.

It's still the charge light AND add coolant light that come on with the buzzer. They only come on when I'm not moving.

Sounds like the problem with the coolant escaping is with the pressure cap. Remove it and check that the rubber seal and the surface it seals against are both clean, make sure the ears are bent such that it is held tightly in place, and if all of that checks out and the problem persists, try replacing it.

I assume you have checked the battery voltage with the engine running?

If the pressure cap is the one on the thermostat housing, then yes, it is clean and sits tightly in place. I'm starting to think that the previous owner threw a regular radiator cap on it instead of a rotary one, causing it to open too soon.

The battery isn't a week old yet, so I hadn't thought to check voltage. I'll do that next.

Is there a way to unplug the buzzer? I really don't enjoy that thing.

New pressure cap fixed everything so far. Thanks for the help guys.