[lemansblue90]

Hey all,

I'll start by describing the issue and everything that's been going on, then I'll get into why I think its the water pump

So starting a week ago, I've been getting a low coolant warning on the dash, uh oh. So I check the engine bay to see any of the crusty white stuff indicative of a coolant leak and I get nothing. I attempt to top off the coolant level and it's full. After attempting to top it off, the light persists.

Now why I suspect the water pump:

Not long after the light came up, my cooling fan has been working double time, becoming audible over my (fairly loud) music and temps have been jumping up to 250 F within 15 minutes of driving on cold days and within 5 minutes on hot days.

I would really like for this to not be the coolant pump as I don't have a spare $400 lying around at the current moment, but I didn't think that would cause a low coolant light.

So two questions:

Can a faulty water pump cause a low coolant light to appear?

AND

Could it perhaps be a faulty coolant sensor sending the wrong signals causing the fan to crank it up to 11?

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated and I will check this thread periodically to answer any questions, comments, or concerns.

[SlowE92]

Originally Posted by lemansblue90

Hey all,

I'll start by describing the issue and everything that's been going on, then I'll get into why I think its the water pump

So starting a week ago, I've been getting a low coolant warning on the dash, uh oh. So I check the engine bay to see any of the crusty white stuff indicative of a coolant leak and I get nothing. I attempt to top off the coolant level and it's full. After attempting to top it off, the light persists.

Now why I suspect the water pump:

Not long after the light came up, my cooling fan has been working double time, becoming audible over my (fairly loud) music and temps have been jumping up to 250 F within 15 minutes of driving on cold days and within 5 minutes on hot days.

I would really like for this to not be the coolant pump as I don't have a spare $400 lying around at the current moment, but I didn't think that would cause a low coolant light.

So two questions:

Can a faulty water pump cause a low coolant light to appear?

AND

Could it perhaps be a faulty coolant sensor sending the wrong signals causing the fan to crank it up to 11?

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated and I will check this thread periodically to answer any questions, comments, or concerns.

It could absolutely be either or. When you turn the car on, did you take the coolant cap off the reservoir and see if its cycling? You can also do a self bleeding on your vehicle and see if the pumps working.

[lemansblue90]

Originally Posted by MakoB96

It could absolutely be either or. When you turn the car on, did you take the coolant cap off the reservoir and see if its cycling? You can also do a self bleeding on your vehicle and see if the pumps working.

I did verify the coolant is cycling, we’re all good on that end. The bleed might be a later date thing as I’m just a broke college student with very little time.

I’ll see about replacing that sensor first, a $15 30 minute fix sounds a helluva lot better than a $400 3-5 hour fix.

Thanks for the help man!

[SlowE92]

Originally Posted by lemansblue90

I did verify the coolant is cycling, we’re all good on that end. The bleed might be a later date thing as I’m just a broke college student with very little time.

I’ll see about replacing that sensor first, a $15 30 minute fix sounds a helluva lot better than a $400 3-5 hour fix.

Thanks for the help man!

The coolant system on your car is self bleeding. It's actually fairly simple and its $free.99 But you did mention that your temps do reach 250 fairly quickly? So your coolant isn't cycling or your pump isn't pumping quick enough? I'd use a scanner and check the voltage to the water pump should be over 12V. Could also be a thermostat.. If you have access to a code reader and can pull codes that would help narrow it down better.

[mainbearing]

If the coolant level is correct in the reservoir and the water pump is moving coolant, then besides that coolant level sensor, you might want to get a new tank cap. Maybe the cap is not holding pressure, causing the coolant in the system to boil over.

An old factory cap can disintegrate with pieces falling into the tank. I used a new Uro cap off Rock Auto. The reservoir tank can develop a crack as well because of the trapped heat on that side of the engine.

Coolant reservoir cap:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...rvoir+cap,2067


https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1195331