Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Coolant light is still coming on? Can anyone help.

Can anyone help me out here? I have a 97V6 that about 4 months ago my buddy changed out the thermostat and then the water pump.

The water pump's impelers blew apart. As if you guys haven't heard that one before ..

Any rate, he flushed the system, and the car is running fine. The temp is remaining in the same place it did before so I lucked out there...I heard of others having thier cars either running to hot or to cold. Mine stays on the "N" all the time except in trafic. Then it moves to the "O and R"...

OK, my issue because from here everything seems normal. OH yeah my heat is just fine as well..

MY coolant light comes on and off all the time. Its on when I start the car and in a half hour ride it comes on and off about twice...

The coolant resivoir is filled to the line where it should be?

Someone told me that there could be a sensor in the coolant tank that lets you know its low ever? Could that be bad or dirty? If so where is this sensor and can it be changed? Are the expensive?

Also has anyone ever gone thru this as well??

Thanks for your time. Have a great holiday this week...

Spankey

The coolant sensor is very sensitive and the 'Max' line on the tank is about a 1/2" lower than it should be. Put some more anti-freeze in to fill it 1/2" above the line.

I currently have the same problem with the coolant light; it comes on and off sporadically. When I had full coverage on my 1998 Ford Contour (v6), I had the dealer check it out and they said it was the sensor in the coolant reservoir (I guess it's in the cap or something) that wasn't working well. They replaced it and everything was fine for a while, but now I have the same issue again. The dealer is willing to fix it but I'm not willing to pay for such a stupid repair so they said that as long as I keep an eye on the fluid level and make sure it is where it should be, everything should be fine.

Someone replied that the sensor is sensitive and will come on if the coolant is even slightly below the max line. If that were the case, wouldn't the coolant light stay on all of the time? It comes on at start-up and then magically turns off after a while, and may or may not come back on after a little while. Makes little sense to me.

BTW- Check out this link:
http://www.contour.org/FAQ/FAQ.php?s=probs&displayid=21

It basically says:
"A common occurence. Apparently the sensor in the reservoir is at little too sensitive. Adding a cup of 50/50 water/coolant or a bottle of Redline Water Wetter should fix the problem. The sensor wants the level to be about 1/2 inch above the MAX line."

The sensor is in the front of the resovoir, so going up an hill or parking on uneven ground can cause it, I have filled my bottle up above the fill level and then when the engine was hot checked it again and as long as it hasn't rose to the overflow pipe top it up a bit more, It would be interesting to know how often you have topped this up , I have just topped mine up the first time in 3 years. (This was after buying a new sensor £25 and realising that it wasn't the problem )

Neil

Eventually my light would stay on no matter how much coolant/water was in the resovoir. I replaced the resovoir and sensor, and that took care of it. (Yep, its a dealer only item. Yep, its over priced.)