Riviera Low Coolant Warning

[Guest EDBS0]

My 96 supercharged Riviera started to give me an intermittent "Low Coolant" warning light 18 months ago and then stopped after a couple of weeks.<P>No the coolant is/was not low.<P>The warning started last week. I flushed and changed the fluid. Now the light is on most of the time. It does flicker off.<P>I have the shop manual and there is very little info. To locate the sensor I had to do a lot of reading and only stumbled on a reference that said before removing the rad unplug the low coolant sensor.<P>Having found it I cleaned the contacts with a contact cleaner and exercised the plug. No results light continues to be on more than off.<P>Help and ideas please. Is it likely the sensor at the rad, wiring or the "box" that controls the light?<P>How do I remove the sensor?<P>Thanks in advance, Robert

[Guest]

Probably have a bad sensor. Not uncommon to replace these at the dealership I work at.

[NTX5467]

Most of those sensors screw into the radiator tank and others might clip into the tank (I believe there'll be an external hex on the outside of the sensor if it screws in). The typical method of sealing is with an o-ring on the sensor. The sensor can only work off of continuity of a particular circuit, if I understand those things correctly. <P>If you go to the trouble of removing it, you might as well get a new one to replace it with. That way, you save doing some work twice and save some time in the process. <P>Hopefully, you put in a new DexCool mixture of coolant at the correct concentration.<P>If the sensor is working correctly, it could be a malfunction of the instrument cluster itself. Could also be a problem in that particular circuit of the wiring harness. If you unplug the harness at the sensor and connect the two unplugged terminals in the harness, will the light go out?<P>If you change the sensor or remove it, be sure to drain the cooling system to the appropriate level before hand.<P>Just some thoughts on that deal . . .<P>NTX5467

[Guest EDBS0]

Thanks to J, Rackov & NTX5467 <P>Used just over a 50/50 mix of DexCool. The 50/50 only went to -34 not low enough for Ottawa.<P>Also put in <a href="http://www.redlineoil.com/products.htm"> Red Line Water Wetter </a> to keep the heads a bit cooler.<P>Only GM would put 3 wirers on a low coolant switch. The danger of doing damage by shorting out the wrong two is too great so I will just replace the sensor.<BR>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<P><BR>1996 black-cherry Riviera, Supercharged, 3.4 pulley, Gatorback <BR>Poly V-Belts 9 inch K&N, home made cold air intake, 3 inch Cat, <BR>Bosch Platinum +4, Magnecor KV85 plug wires, B&M 24,000 GVW <BR>transmission cooler, Energy Suspension polyurethane end links and <BR>Sway Bar Bushings, Cross drilled rotors front and back, <BR>KVR carbon metal fiber pads, Debadged and depinstriped.