Coolant light won't go off

[Lani]

I have a 1996 Mazda Protege DX and the check coolant light came on the other day. I added coolant mixed with water to the plastic tank thinking that this would help but the light is still on. I checked the radiator and there is plently of coolant so I know it's not leaking. Any idea on what to do? What to check? The hoses seem fine. There is no smoking..

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[peajay]

bad sensor. you may just need the sensor or it might come with the resivoir or where the sensor is located on those.

 

[TheMAN]

check coolant light? wtf? I never heard of this on a protege!

 

[Lani]

check coolant light? wtf? I never heard of this on a protege!

I don't know what else to call it.. it's that little orange light with the faucet. Haha.. I'm having a total blonde moment.

 

[peajay]

Sensor

 

[mp5van]

u have to change the coolant sensor......imo

 

[Lani]

I am total newbie with this kinda stuff so I apologize before hand but..

Can a bad coolant sensor cause the car to break down?
Is a coolant sensor expensive?
How can I replace it?


Thanks!

 

[bazooka joe]

mel, on your car the sensor may be built into the tank..if it's bad you may have to replace the tank itself...not sure...how many miles ahve you run since you filled it? oh, did you reset your ecu?? if not disconnect the neg battery cable for a min and put it back on...that's all i can think of?? let us know how you make out!

 

[TheMAN]

I don't know what else to call it.. it's that little orange light with the faucet. Haha.. I'm having a total blonde moment.

if you don't have an owner's manual, get one and read it so you know what to do when the car is telling you something is wrong! it also makes you appear smarter to others too

 

[TheMAN]

mel, on your car the sensor may be built into the tank..if it's bad you may have to replace the tank itself...not sure...how many miles ahve you run since you filled it? oh, did you reset your ecu?? if not disconnect the neg battery cable for a min and put it back on...that's all i can think of?? let us know how you make out!

dude, if your OWN protege doesn't have a coolant warning light, what makes you think an older protege will have it?

 

[bazooka joe]

dude, if your OWN protege doesn't have a coolant warning light, what makes you think an older protege will have it?

you crack me up!!(headbang)

 

[Lani]

mel, on your car the sensor may be built into the tank..if it's bad you may have to replace the tank itself...not sure...how many miles ahve you run since you filled it? oh, did you reset your ecu?? if not disconnect the neg battery cable for a min and put it back on...that's all i can think of?? let us know how you make out!

I had the coolant changed in November at Sears and they said it was fine. I don't know how to reset the ecu but I will try disconnecting the negative battery cable.


Thanks for the help.

 

[TheMAN]

did you even look at that chart of warning symbols I posted? looking at it may give you an idea what light you were looking at

 

[Lani]

did you even look at that chart of warning symbols I posted? looking at it may give you an idea what light you were looking at

Like I said before it's an orange warning light with a picture of a faucet. You seriously need to get over this.

 

[Kansei]

Like I said before it's an orange warning light with a picture of a faucet. You seriously need to get over this.

So just to confirm.. it's not the low oil light, right?

 

[Lani]

So just to confirm.. it's not the low oil light, right?

I checked the oil (to be on the safe side) and it's fine. If anything, it could be the check engine light now that I think about it. This just goes to show how clueless I am about cars..

 

[whitemp5seattle]

I'm pretty sure the check engine light actually says "check engine" IIRC...I saw mine light up last week...

can you take a picture of it?

 

[whitemp5seattle]

just went out to the car to check on a few things...and saw the CEL light up for a sec...I guess it kinda looks like a faucet.

Is this your light that lights up Mel?

 

[Lani]

just went out to the car to check on a few things...and saw the CEL light up for a sec...I guess it kinda looks like a faucet.

Is this your light that lights up Mel?

That's it!!!! Darn thing won't go off..

 

[Kansei]

I dunno if they're like that on the second gen proteges though, who knows.

edit: Mel beat me.. go to autozone or advance auto and have them check the check engine light code, then you'll know what's up.