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Low coolant light


Laurabuzz
10-13-2007, 08:47 AM
I have a 96 Lumina that has had an intermittent problem with the low coolant light coming on. Especially when going around a corner!?!? We add about a half of cup of coolant and the light goes off. However in the last week or so the low coolant light comes on more often and once in while the temp gauge starts climbing up to the red very quickly but then seems to go right back down to where it should be. the heat works great sometimes and then all of a sudden no heat. Last night when I was coming home from work the temp gauge was where it should be but no heat and all of a sudden the temp gauge spiked all the way to the red and then a red heat warning light came on. I pulled the car over. let it cool off and then started it, the temp gauge went promptly back to where it should be and I managed to make it home. It seems like the old days (1970's) when I would have a sticking thermostat problem, replace the thermastat and all was well. however reading some of these forums I'm concerned it may be something more serious. My husband is a good back yard mechanic so I'm hoping it is something he can fix.

jeffcoslacker
10-14-2007, 05:07 AM
That behavior is typical of air trapped in the system.

There should be two bleeder screws on the cooling system, one at the top of the vertical black pipe coming up from the water pump, another at the thermostat. You have to open them and fill through the radiator until coolant flows from both.

Then close it up and run to operating temp (thermostat open, radiator and hoses warm). Then shut it off and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. Carefully open the radiator and bleeders again and fill once more.

Close everything up and road test.

If there's a bunch of sludge in the coolant tank that's a whole 'nother issue. That would be a bad lower intake gasket, most likely.

If a fill and bleed solves the problem, the next question would be where did it go?

You'll get air in the system any time it goes below the level required to empty the tank...until you figure out where the coolant went you need to carry a gallon of premixed coolant and water with you so you can top off the tank before it empties out and sucks in air, or you'll be right back where you started...

Laurabuzz
10-16-2007, 08:21 AM
Thanks for the reply......well we tried the bleeding thing after I got home from work last night. I made it home and the temp gauge was fluctuating all over the place. Once he bled the system the temp gauge seemed to even out at about the half way mark although it has always stayed right around the 1/4 mark and the heat was cranking(it's getting cold in my neck of the woods and heat is MOST important). On the way to work this morning (4 miles) the temp gauge went up to the red with the coolant light on and the heat light on and no heat. I'm afraid of causing more damage, so I pulled the car over and let it cool down and then proceeded to work. The temp gauge was all over the place it goes very quickly up to the red and sometimes stays there or then just as quickly goes down where it should be and the low coolant light would go on and off. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot the temp gauge went right down to the 1/4 mark and the heat started working!!!! I'm afraid to drive it at this point.

jeffcoslacker
10-16-2007, 09:39 AM
You may have a bad head gasket pushing compression into the cooling jacket at higher speeds or something...think it's time for a professional look...

Laurabuzz
10-16-2007, 02:21 PM
I think you're right on this one because I noticed an awful lot of what I thought was smoke this morning coming out of the tail pipe. But my husband feels it is steam because it dissipates, is not blue and doesn't have any odor. So he feels that water is getting in the engine. The car has over 140,000 miles on it, the A/c hasn't worked for 3 years now and I'm not sure how much the repair would be or if it's even worth it. It just seems so strange because until last week this car ran beautiful. We have always changed the fluids on a timely basis and all of a sudden bang car runs real rough when you first start it but smooths out pretty quickly and all the problems with the overheating. And it seems there are an awful lot of posts about some sort of lower intake gasket problem with these motors. So I'm afraid I'll have to nurse it to one of those dealers that promises 3,000.00 trade whether you push, pull or tow it in. so wish me luck. And thank you soooo much for your help.

Laurabuzz
10-17-2007, 01:07 PM
Well after doing some more research it seems the wonderful people at GM have designed a coolant for these cars that ruins the gaskets. There is an online petiton that has almost 16,000 signatures to GM for the problems with the intake manifold and gasket as well as head gaskets and various engine problems caused by the gex? coolant. After speaking with my mechanic he is going to look at it and feels that he can fix the problem for about $500-600. Does that sound like a fair price? I trust my guy but you never know. here is the link to the petition. It is pretty interesting to read all the complaints and a good amount of them sound like mine! Just cut and paste and read away. Thanks again for all your help. All the info has helped me decide to keep my car and fix the problem.

www.petitiononline.com/GMcnsmrs/petition.html

jeffcoslacker
10-17-2007, 01:28 PM
What you said about it running rough first thing in the morning goes hand in hand lotta times with a compression to cooling jacket leak like I said...compression pushes into the coolant when running, coolant is drawn into the motor while sitting.

I bet if someone pulled the spark plugs out after sitting all night you'd find one wet with coolant.

Dexcool is blamed for a lot of things, but the lower intake gasket was the cause more often than not, and folks kept driving them with coolant in the oil, leading to secondary problems with bearing and such...

If he can assure the repair for around that cost that's not bad at all....Personally I wouldn't give any price range until I've seen the car at least....make sure he understands everything it's been doing so he comes to the right conclusions...

Mediaman67
10-17-2007, 05:43 PM
there is a great product that will seal a cracked head or gasket, and would save you from them having to pull the intake off - check out Steel Seal (google it) for $70 it's worth a try... but for best results, you have to find which one was leaking, and pull that plug, so the product can work it's way into that area...

jeffcoslacker
10-17-2007, 05:51 PM
there is a great product that will seal a cracked head or gasket, and would save you from them having to pull the intake off - check out Steel Seal (google it) for $70 it's worth a try... but for best results, you have to find which one was leaking, and pull that plug, so the product can work it's way into that area...


Yikes.:uhoh:

Laurabuzz
10-29-2007, 08:17 AM
Well I brought the car to the mechanic and he says that there is a problem with either the intake manifold gasket or head gasket and possibly both. He quoted me in the neighborhood of $1200 to $1400. Yikes to that. I had already ordered and received Thermagasket but had not opened it yet (I know you're rolling your eyes) until I got the word from the mechanic. They have a lot of testimonials on their web site and some are from shops. I checked on one in my area and they are actually a reputable shop so I figured why would they let their name on a website if they didn't approve. And what do I have to lose at this point? I have been unable to drive the car because the temp rockets right up to the red within a few miles. No heat and the hot warning light comes on. My husband put the Thermagasket in yesterday after talking to the tech who told us to put it in and leave it in for about a week. The directions included were totally different. Which was kinda strange. Well anyway guys so far so good. My husband took it out yesterday and again last night as your supposed to drive it a few times with cool down in between. This morning it was pretty cold out here....in the 20's. So I had the normal white smoke from the cool weather but nothing like what was pouring out last week. The temp stayed right at the 1/4 mark where it always used to and the heat worked!!!! Right now I have to say I am shocked that it actually seems to have worked!!! Made it to work no problem. I will not be keeping the car but at least I can get around to find a new one. I will keep you posted on the car's progress with the Termagasket sealant.

Laurabuzz
11-07-2007, 08:28 AM
Just an update on my car......well so far so good. I can't believe it but the Termagasket seems to be working. My car is running great, the temp stays right around the 1/4 mark and fluctuates up to under the halfway point but then goes right back down. The heat works perfect and no more coolant loss:) I've put about 200 miles on it so far. We'll flush out the Thermagasket on Saturday and fill with 50/50 coolant mixture and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.:)

Laurabuzz
12-31-2007, 12:19 PM
Just an update guys. I did buy a new car 'cos I really needed one anyway. But I gave the Lumina to my 23 yr old son and he is still driving it with no problems at all. I will say from my experience that Thermagasket is well worth the money to try it......you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. I was skeptical but the stuff worked like a charm. Every mechanic I talked to said it wouldn't work....they don't want it to because then they can't charge you 1500.00 to replace an inexpensive gasket. I would think they would hate the stuff and I now know why.........it works!!!!!!!

Mediaman67
12-31-2007, 04:36 PM
yeah - Yikes - She saved the value of the car - no one would spend $1500 to repair a 12 year old car... since these chevys are worth only about that at this point...

Laura, I would LOVE to hear your story on the Thermogasket too, since the people that I have heard about that use it, love it, untill they go back to 50/50 mixture - in other words, if you live somewhere where you can run water only forever (like CA or FL) - Thermogasket is great....

I'd love to see if changing it back to 50/50 "wears away" the thermogasket product... also, how warm is your heat in that car? sometimes, this stuff can plug up a heater core.

I like Steel Seal, because it is designed to work 100% all the time in Antifreeze, and being that it's winter here in NE - I can't run the car with just plan water right now.... so the T-Gasket stuff is out until spring.

Did you find them helpful at T-gasket?

Laurabuzz
01-03-2008, 12:40 PM
I did check into the Steel Seal also, but the directions on their web site were pretty involved with jacking the car up to a certain angle and running the car at certain RPM's until reaching 210 degrees repeat and then repeat again and replacing the Thermastat plus some other stuff about checking all the plugs, if your familiar at all with the set up of the Lumina engine that is not an easy task!!!! And my Lumina has no tach nor a temperature gauge :) also my husband had already replaced the thermastat which was a total pain in the butt and he did not want to go through that again. So we ended up going with the Thermagasket. It was just starting to get cold here when he did it, so we were a little concerned about the stuff freezing in the radiator. The tech people were great they told my husband some different instructions regarding the 50/50 antifreeze mixture. They said to leave the Thermagasket in for about 2 weeks and then put in the 50/50 mixture. And we didn't use the orange Dex stuff that Chevys use we just used regular antifreeze. They did have a tech number which we had trouble reaching anyone on because of call volume so we called the main number and the man who answered spoke with my husband and advised him what to do. They were very helpful we found. And my son is still driving the car, as far as I know the heat works fine for him. I'm sure I would have heard 'cos man it is freakin' freezing here now!!! He did have a problem not too long ago with it but my husband bled off some air and it seems to be fine. We've probably put about 1,000 miles at least on the car since using it. I'm sure the Steel Seal is just as good, it just seemed the Thermagasket was easier to use. My e-mail is lgsev@comcast.net if you want to contact us direct for any questions you might have. also I sent an e-mail to someone on this site who has used it a few years back and he replied that it worked then and is still working now!

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