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Low radiator indicator is on.


lovemythunderbird
11-28-2006, 05:52 AM
Hello all,

Decided to join Automotive forums as there was a lot of vital information on my 93-Tbird and its issues. Anyhow got the following situation.

- had my head gaskets fixed for a pretty penny about a year or so ago.
- now the radiator indicator is displaying, "Low".
- 1st time filled it up with some coolant, very small amount just to top it off and the the indicator no longer indicated, "Low".
- now, about 2 weeks after, it again displayed, "Low".
- took it to my mechanic and asked him to check it out.
- he said there was nothing they can find (on the job they did last year on the head gaskets) and that there was no visible leaks.
- after looking it looks like small amounts are dripping from the rad cap.
- Anyhow the coolant tank is at level and it still displays, "Low".
- Could there be a sensor issue perhaps?
- Could the problem be with the radiator?
- mechanic said for me to test it out and most likely they swap out the rad as there was no other choice.

Help!!!

Rob

Loaded NightraiN
11-28-2006, 07:45 PM
did you search the forums here?? I remember reading a sensor gets dirty, and you have to clean it carefully with a q-tip... Not positive it was here tho!!

Good luck!!

lovemythunderbird
11-28-2006, 09:51 PM
Thanks for the tip! I did a lot of reading on these forums however never really found an exact suggestion to this but I talked to my mechanic and we're going to run a computer diagnostics on the car. Hopefully it will tell us which sensor is shot, they'll clean it/replace it and we're good to go..... I hope! I don't want to live the leaking rad fluid nightmare again ;-( Anyways thanks again!

97Bird
11-29-2006, 06:49 PM
Possibly your radiator cap isn't sealing since you say it looks like some coolant is dripping from it. Add a little coolant, clean the top of the radiator where the cap seals and install a new radiator cap. Some garages can test your cap to see if it leaks. Much cheaper to try then replacing the radiator!

lovemythunderbird
11-29-2006, 08:31 PM
Hey guys, thanks for the responses however I believe we found the issue today. Summary of events,
- mechanic starts looking around the coolant tank.
- takes the sensor cable out from within the tank (long rod).
- sensor may still be at the bottom of the tank as he was not sure exactly how the sensor rod should look.
- anyhow the issue was that there was a short circuit in the wiring leading up to the sensor cable.
- he unplugged it and wow, it was burnt out of recognition, out of the 3 pins inside the plug 2 were missing.
- anyhow he told me that the cheapest way to fix this was to go to a scrap yard and cut out the plug from the wiring harness and grab a sensor rod from an old car.
- once I get those babies my mechanic will reinstall them.

Well we know one thing, the indicator for low rad fluid is now gone (after he unplugged the sensor). Hope that's all it was. Anyhow thanks guys for the suggestions, much appreciated.

Rob

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