Hi all,
Recently purchased my first FFRR and love it! Had a few little bits to do when I first got it but all done and running great, with the exception of one thing...
I had the water pump replaced and when I got it back I was getting "check coolant level" constantly even though the coolant level was OK. However the coolant looked a little thin, so got it drained and replaced the coolant 50/50. Now it doesn't come on constantly but if I push the car at higher revs, overtaking for example, it will come on. Again the level is ok, I also drained some coolant out so the level was indeed low and it popped instantly suggesting the sensor is ok.

Is it possible the mixture still isn't right? Or maybe the sensor is on its way out? Any ideas?

Thanks. G

Had this in mine mate. I filled mine to the MAX line on the res and it has never give me that message again. I think it measures the physical level of the fluid as well as the mix (which should be 50/50 as you know).

I didnt know what the mix was in mine so i topped up from the MIN line up to the MAX line with neat coolant...Fixed it. Jordan


'56 SC 4.2 ‘21-Current
'56 SC 4.2 ‘16-‘18

Thanks for the advice mate!
It's sitting a few mms below the MAX line just now, I'll try topping it up a bit more, maybe to just over the line and see if it fixes it.
Out of curiosity, what coolant do you use?

I had some left over from an engine build i had done. Think it was just halford pink OAT which is up to spec i believe. Jordan


'56 SC 4.2 ‘21-Current
'56 SC 4.2 ‘16-‘18

Development...
So topped up as suggested but still have the issue after running up to temp and giving it beans.
Had a mate rev the car whilst I watched the reservoir and seen this:



The level drops as I rev...
Best guess is that air is getting in? presumably since I am not losing coolant it's getting in via the reservoir.
The bleed screw was a little loose after I drained some, going to plug that with some sealant.
Failing that probably the cap?

Or you could have an air lock somewhere in the system from when you changed the water pump. Have you tried bleeding it?

Yeah thought of that Kezbo, but been running it now for a good few weeks after replacing the pump, I would of thought the air would be out by now?

The surging could just be low coolant level. Rev it with the cap off and see if the coolant stays down or comes back... Jordan


'56 SC 4.2 ‘21-Current
'56 SC 4.2 ‘16-‘18

Just a thought to throw in here , when you give it the berries and the engine is warm the auxiliary coolant pump kicks in and it is possible that this is causing your surge . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

Quote:

The surging could just be low coolant level. Rev it with the cap off and see if the coolant stays down or comes back...

Quote:

Just a thought to throw in here , when you give it the berries and the engine is warm the auxiliary coolant pump kicks in and it is possible that this is causing your surge .

Do I think it's normal ? no but the pumps are problematic and cars around your car's age are known to have the pump wired backwards and they do also fail quite easily . 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

I have the same problem when giving it the gun. The coolant level has been rock steady at the max mark for months. If it is the auxiliary pump wired wrongly, is this easy to find and change round? Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984

Quote:

Do I think it's normal ? no but the pumps are problematic and cars around your car's age are known to have the pump wired backwards and they do also fail quite easily .

Quote:

I have the same problem when giving it the gun. The coolant level has been rock steady at the max mark for months. If it is the auxiliary pump wired wrongly, is this easy to find and change round?

Might be similar to mine, air in the system? had any work done recently? Also check the dreaded screw I have been talking about.

I have let the level settle, PTFE taped the screw, screwed in and filled coolant back up.

If I rev the coolant still drops but I can see a air bubble in the bottle.
Guessing there is air throughout the system, going to run it for a few days, try to change levels (up and down hills etc) hopfully that clears it up...

Slight update.

Decided to go for a drive after work (in sport mode ) to try and dislodge the air and see how things go.
Got home and the level was still good and the air bubble had gone, also no warnings when I was out.
Only thing was the screw was leaking a tiny bit. When I removed the screw I didn't get the usual swooshing of coolant draining from one side to another it just let in a tiny bit air at the screw. So decided to use gasket silicone around the screw and over the join.
Let it cure over night and hopefully things are all good tomorrow.

The car should be run without the bleed screw for a long time. I did what I thought was a proper bleeding of mine (unscrewed the bleed screw for a couple of miutes), and the temperatur fluctuated because of the air in the system. I kept the car idling with the cabin temperatures on max for 20? minutes, while revving the engine from time to time. Revving without the bleed screw causes overflow so you need to do it somewhere where spilling is tolerated, and you need to keep refilling. Even after 10 minutes there were air bubbles escaping.

No problems after this.