Coolant level low message, an error?

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Paxton C. Sanders - 23 Jul 2005 20:56 GMT

2004 9-5.

Every time I crank the car, SID reads "Coolant level low. Please
refill." But it's not low. I took it to the dealer, and they said
it's fine. They reset the message, but it keeps returning. Not a
big deal - just annoying. Any idea what's really causing this
problem?

Thanks!

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Paxton Sanders
pcsanders@yahoo.com

"The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the
palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."
-- H.L. Mencken

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Laura K - 23 Jul 2005 21:59 GMT

> Every time I crank the car, SID reads "Coolant level low. Please
> refill." But it's not low. I took it to the dealer, and they said
> it's fine. They reset the message, but it keeps returning. Not a
> big deal - just annoying. Any idea what's really causing this
> problem?

I had this problem with a 900SE. Someone in the group mentioned that the
level sender (or whatever you want to call it) can stick in the overflow tank
and the only way to fix it is to replace the overflow tank.
I thought about doing that, but a new tank was $80 or so.
So I went to plan B, which was to take the top off the tank when it was cold
and swish a chopstick around in there. Then gave it a couple of good whacks
on the side with a large pair of pliers.
Seems to have taken care of the problem.

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Martin Barnes - 24 Jul 2005 01:00 GMT

What could be happening is the coolant level switch has dirty high
resistance contacts.

If you remove the flying lead and put a shorting link in and run with that
for a few days

to confirm that its the coolant level switch. If this proves to be the case
you can clean

up the contacts by passing a few hundred milliamps through them.

You can do this by using a 21W indicator bulb.

Wire the bulb in series with the coolant level switch and the other ends

connected to 12vdc from the cars battery. Then poke something in the coolant
expansion

tank and make and break the switch several times. What this will do is the
clean up the contacts

as when in normal operation the SID circuit only draws a few milliamps.

Cheers - Martin (New Zealand)

>> Every time I crank the car, SID reads "Coolant level low. Please
>> refill." But it's not low. I took it to the dealer, and they said
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> on the side with a large pair of pliers.
> Seems to have taken care of the problem.

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Pooh Bear - 24 Jul 2005 03:10 GMT

> > Every time I crank the car, SID reads "Coolant level low. Please
> > refill." But it's not low. I took it to the dealer, and they said
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> on the side with a large pair of pliers.
> Seems to have taken care of the problem.

You're BAD !

Graham

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hippo - 24 Jul 2005 10:36 GMT

Laura K:

>I had this problem with a 900SE. Someone in the group mentioned that the

>level sender (or whatever you want to call it) can stick in the overflow
>tank
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>on the side with a large pair of pliers.
>Seems to have taken care of the problem.

Way to go Laura. Let it know who's boss! Love it.
Sounds like rubbish on contacts or stuck sender so that may be as good a
fix as any. I suspect that removing the tank then filling it with boiling
water and shaking it up with either a steam vaporizer cleaning tablet or
aspoonful of sodium bicarbonate may effect a permanent fix, but belting it
occasionally is probably more cathartic! Cheers

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Laura K - 24 Jul 2005 18:09 GMT

> Way to go Laura. Let it know who's boss! Love it.
> Sounds like rubbish on contacts or stuck sender so that may be as good a
> fix as any. I suspect that removing the tank then filling it with boiling
> water and shaking it up with either a steam vaporizer cleaning tablet or
> aspoonful of sodium bicarbonate may effect a permanent fix, but belting it
> occasionally is probably more cathartic! Cheers

I haven't noticed the radio chirping since I did that either. Probably
cowering in fear.

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Paxton C. Sanders - 24 Jul 2005 18:59 GMT

> 2004 9-5.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Not a big deal - just annoying. Any idea what's really causing
> this problem?

Thanks to all who replied.

Signature

Paxton Sanders
pcsanders@yahoo.com

"The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the
palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."
-- H.L. Mencken

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