If you've read any of my post earlier about my air pump problems.. you know how poor my mechanical abilities are. I really should stop touching anything at all.. . I really think i must be sadomasochistic or something, because in some odd way I love to tinker and work through the problems I seem to create (solve 1 prob and create another in the process). Somehow I remember things being easier with my old honda.

Anyways thanks in advance to all for helping such a novice backyard mechanic. Sorry this is a bit long but I wanted to be detailed in my description.

Now to my latest problem...
I had broken a bolt earlier while installing my air pump (stupid torque wrench was out of whack)... But to get to the bolt and drill the thing out, I needed to remove the T-stat housing. I didn't want to do this (as I wanted to limit the number of parts I removed and put back - and ofcourse I was afraid I would create a leak in the process). However, I just couldn't find any way to get to the bolt with my drill without removeing the t-stat housing. Since I had everything around the airpump and t-stat housing off, it really wasn;t difficult taking the housing off - just 3 quick bolts - ofcourse some coolant leaked.. but there didn't seem to be that much. I covered everything up well (So I wouldnt get crap in there) and then proceeded to drill the bolt out. After having done that successfully I put the t-stat housing back on and the rest of the stuff in. I idled the car yesterday for a while, and for the car was fine (pretty cool day about 45 degrees F)... for about 10-15 mins (in my driveway). Then when the car reached operating temps (middle), the buzzer went off. I was sitting in the car listening and watching, so I shut the car off immediately. I waited a bit for the car to cool down a tad and then popped the radiator cap. I expected the coolant level to be low... but it wasn't. It was filled up to the top. The coolent buzzer has gone on and turned off for no reason in the past, so I went back and started her up. The coolant temp (on my powerFC commander) was showing about 80 degrees Celsius. Less than a minute after I started her up, the buzzer light went off again. I shut the car down again, and decided to do some research on the foum archives before anything else. Btw, the car had no problems at all before I started twiddling with the air pump - it has a brand new (almsot) koyo radiator, and before the air pump, it had been driven for about 3 hrs straight without any problems. The fan mods are done and set to come on pretty early.

From what I have found in the archives, I'm guessing these could be possible culprits:
1) Though I didn't touch the thermostat, I somehow messed it up when I took the housing off and now its not opening to let the coolant through?
2) I dont recall, but perhaps I needed to put a new sealant (sorry the right word isn't coming to me - but the stuff you put in between metal to prevent leaks) after having removed the t-stat housing?
3) At what temp does the thermostat open? Think I read in the archives it was around 175 degrees F or so? The original temp gauge WAS in the middle.. it wasn't creeping yet, but I didn't want to find out ... and 80 celcius is pretty close to that range right? Perhaps I lost more coolant that I had originally thought when I removed the housing and didn't fill up properly?

once again, thanks in advance to all for any thoughts and insights.

NYCRX7

 

Did you check the temps after the buzzer went off? The sensor may be bad or disconeccted. Coolant may have been flowing around it fine.

85°C is right around where it should be opening.

 

yup... when buzzer went off the water temp was 83 degrees according to my power fc commander...

 

I'm going for a bad sensor, but if you want to make sure, just leave the cap off, and look at the filler neck when the buzzer goes off. If there's coolant in the neck the sensor is reading wrong.

 

Bleed the system.

 

thanks... I will try it on Thanksgiving day when I have time. But when I popped the cap.. the coolant was right to the top. Wouldn't it have been full of air if i had air in the system?

Anyone have any thoughts?

tIA

 

It is probably air. Pump the hell out of the coolant lines and pop off the throttle body coolant line to get all of the air out.

 

Did you reconnect the water level sensor when you put everything back together?

 

Yes. But I'll make sure that it clicked in properly. What makes you think that could be it?

Btw... does getting coolant all over damage anything? Anything in particular I should cover up since I presume when I have the cap off, there will be quite a bit of spewing of cooland all over the place as air escapes?

 

Keep it off the belts, and wash your hand really, really well since it's so poisonous. If you have a hose, I'd just rinse off that part of the engine bay when you're done since water is arguably safer to parts than coolant.

 

When I changed my thermostat I didn't click it ritght in, and when I started the car it went off.
What I did to let the air out of the system was left the cap off and let it idle for a while then put the cap back on and rinse coolant off with water.
Just check the water level again when the car is complete cooled down.

 

yep.. thanks. From some of the helpful people on the board and from old posts - it looks like my sensor is on right - since the buzzing/low cooland light didn't go on for a good 5 to 10 minutes... and from what i understand, it is simply a matter of on or off - if the connection was broken or something like that, the buzzer light would go on almost immediately (perhaps a few seconds after startup), not 10 mins when the car is warmed up to 80+ degrees celcius. I'm definitely going to try to burp the car tomorrow... and hopefully its a simple solution like that... and I can have a wonderful turkey day.

Does that make sense?

have a good turkey day all.

 

I got your PM, but I'm not sure what to say. If it was a broken connection, then your low coolant buzzer should have gone off before as soon as turn the key to on (without even starting the engine).

If you're going to burp your coolant, then try jacking up the front of the car or parking it uphill. This way the air bubbles will have an easier time migrating to the coolant filler neck and the AST.

 

thanks. i'll move the car to a small slope in my driveway and burp her there.

 

ok just an update.

I'm not sure what the heck is going on... but seems like my sensor is dead ... that's the case if there is coolant and the buzzer is going off right?

Started the car up and no buzzing... warmed up for 10 mins, and at about 83 degrees, buzzer goes off. Shut her down, open rad cap, start her up again. Buzzer goes off about 10 seconds after start up. I see temp slowly climb, but not to worrisome levels, so i let her idle. At 86 degrees, coolant level drops, fans go on, and i add more coolant. Temp stays at 86 degrees the whole time... so I keep adding coolant and shut her down. Let her cool. Repeated this about 3 times, adding a bit more coolant each time. Finally on 3rd try, no more bubbles... so I shut her down, put her in the garage and go off to eat turkey.

Come back next day, start her up, and coolant light goes off after 10 seconds. Odd.. because it had always waited 10 mins before going off. I shut her down, and check coolant level. Its about 1 inch from the top of filler neck. Odd.. leave cap off, and warm her up. No bubbles... nothing, but coolant light now goes off immediately (10 seconds), and then stays on. Temperature does not go higher than 86 degrees.

Not sure why it now goes off right away... I didn't move any wires or anything from the thermostat housing... just added coolant.

Any thoughts?

1) its safe to run the car since temp says 86 degrees?
2) Would it be safe to assume I broke thye connection for the temp sensor when I removed the t-stat housing?

thanks.