Intermittent "low coolant level" warning

[Entwood]

Hi all, posted about this on another forum and getting no help, so asking here as I'm out of ideas..... throughout this problem the actual coolant level is "max" when cold and has not changed.....

A couple of months back I started to get intermittent "low coolant level" warnings ... would last between 5 seconds and several minutes before going out, I tried to narrow it down to uphill/downhill; braking/acceleration, left turns/right turns; and even temperature variations .. all of which failed. I was then informed that the "tank/sender" had been modified due to inaccurate warnings so I got a local independent to fit a new tank .....

All was fine for a while but then returned and has slowly got worse... until recently being "on" more then "off". The garage that did the work refuse to countenance a "faulty on fit" tank and say they need the car in to investigate "the wiring fault"... but won't give a price as "wiring faults take an unknown time to find, might be minutes might be hours" ... appears they want an open cheque from me.... not good... 😞

It might be my imagination, but it appears to me that "fiddling" with the wires at the plug appears to make a small difference, so "might" be a fault at that point. To check this out I'd like to do some measurements, but have a small problem .....  so can anyone answer the following questions please ...

1. How does the plug disconnect from the tank ?? I've tried a straight pull but it doesn't move

2. What is the voltage across the 2 wires at the plug with the plug disconnected and the engine running ?

3. What is the resistance across the sensor pins a) tank full (light should be "off" and  b) tank empty (light should be "on"

4. Is there anywhere I can get a wiring diagram for the coolant tank sensor or would I have to purchase through ErWin ?

Any help/advice/thoughts gratefully accepted

Regards

E

 

[Stevey Y]

3 hours ago, Entwood said:

Hi all, posted about this on another forum and getting no help, so asking here as I'm out of ideas..... throughout this problem the actual coolant level is "max" when cold and has not changed.....

A couple of months back I started to get intermittent "low coolant level" warnings ... would last between 5 seconds and several minutes before going out, I tried to narrow it down to uphill/downhill; braking/acceleration, left turns/right turns; and even temperature variations .. all of which failed. I was then informed that the "tank/sender" had been modified due to inaccurate warnings so I got a local independent to fit a new tank .....

All was fine for a while but then returned and has slowly got worse... until recently being "on" more then "off". The garage that did the work refuse to countenance a "faulty on fit" tank and say they need the car in to investigate "the wiring fault"... but won't give a price as "wiring faults take an unknown time to find, might be minutes might be hours" ... appears they want an open cheque from me.... not good... 😞

It might be my imagination, but it appears to me that "fiddling" with the wires at the plug appears to make a small difference, so "might" be a fault at that point. To check this out I'd like to do some measurements, but have a small problem .....  so can anyone answer the following questions please ...

1. How does the plug disconnect from the tank ?? I've tried a straight pull but it doesn't move

2. What is the voltage across the 2 wires at the plug with the plug disconnected and the engine running ?

3. What is the resistance across the sensor pins a) tank full (light should be "off" and  b) tank empty (light should be "on"

4. Is there anywhere I can get a wiring diagram for the coolant tank sensor or would I have to purchase through ErWin ?

Any help/advice/thoughts gratefully accepted

Regards

E

 

Hi I don't know about voltage expected or otherwise, if you can post a picture of the plug on the sender that would be good then we can get a good look at the release mechanism, I think the plug may have corrosion within its connection holes so if you can get it off the smart and cheap way would be drown it in contact cleaner and try again.

Steve.

[Entwood]

Hi, many thanks for the prompt reply, appreciate it.

Attached a photo of the connector, wth the wires "bent" to the position that appears to give the least number of warnings !! Still happen , but just not as often !

Your idea if cleaning up the pins was in my mind, but I'd also like to check the readings via a meter if possible.

Thanks again

E

[Stevey Y]

4 hours ago, Entwood said:

Hi, many thanks for the prompt reply, appreciate it.

Attached a photo of the connector, wth the wires "bent" to the position that appears to give the least number of warnings !! Still happen , but just not as often !

Your idea if cleaning up the pins was in my mind, but I'd also like to check the readings via a meter if possible.

Thanks again

E

Hi give it a good soak in WD then using a small electrical screwdriver under that square tang at the front next to the pink square and prise it gently out whilst pulling it away from the tank, once you get it going give it a wiggle and it should fall off, don't be surprised if the tang snaps off but thats no major drama as its  a tight fit anyway and you can put a good quality ty wrap on it just to give it a bit of extra squeeze.

Steve.

[Entwood]

Brilliant, many thanks ... will attack it tomorrow !!  I might take meter readings anyhow and publish them just to see what the "hive mind" thinks !

I'm starting to think that - as the frequency of the warnings changes with the bending of those two wires - that the problem is probably in that plug somewhere... be it corrosion, a bad connection or a nearly broken wire ...  be interesting to see whats inside it !

[Stevey Y]

58 minutes ago, Entwood said:

Brilliant, many thanks ... will attack it tomorrow !!  I might take meter readings anyhow and publish them just to see what the "hive mind" thinks !

I'm starting to think that - as the frequency of the warnings changes with the bending of those two wires - that the problem is probably in that plug somewhere... be it corrosion, a bad connection or a nearly broken wire ...  be interesting to see whats inside it !

Hi worse case scenario is get another plug from the breakers with a suitable amount of wire left on it at cut and shut the wiring and solder it together.

Steve.