Hot Coolant?

[Grex101]

Last night my sister and I had this sudden craving for Chinese food, so around 11pm we decided to satisfy our hunger. She complained that it was a little chilly in the car, so I put on the heat, and annoying the coolant light came one 1-2 mins after the heat. I turn off the heat to see if it had to do anything with the light, and to my surprise, it vanished 1-2 mins after turning off the heat . I did service in my car a week ago, and they definitely replaced the coolant. I haven't used the heat since then, because New England being blessing us with some great temperature (besides this stupid tornado). Anyway, have anyone experienced this issue? is it serious? How can I fix it?

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Moving this thread to mechanical/troubleshooting.

[Grex101]

Oh sorry about that, thank you.

[danewilson77]

They prolly didn't bleed the coolant system properly. Bleed the system and add as necessary until at proper level,,,but do not overfill.

Droid + Tapatalk = FTW!

[kayger12]

Yep-- not enough coolant in there, so as soon as you put on the heat and the core opened up, it lowered the level enough to set off the light.

[billschusteriv]

Oh sorry about that, thank you.

Not a worry. Boss was just letting you know. Sometimes I'm not sure where to post.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Oh sorry about that, thank you.

Oh, not a problem. I say that any time I move a thread. It creates a new post so that people will see it (especially the thread starter). I also do it so that people realize where they are posting (which forum). I can't tell you how many times I have been on other sites and thought I was posting in one forum -- when I was posting in another forum.

All good.

[billschusteriv]

Last night my sister and I had this sudden craving for Chinese food, so around 11pm we decided to satisfy our hunger. She complained that it was a little chilly in the car, so I put on the heat, and annoying the coolant light came one 1-2 mins after the heat. I turn off the heat to see if it had to do anything with the light, and to my surprise, it vanished 1-2 mins after turning off the heat . I did service in my car a week ago, and they definitely replaced the coolant. I haven't used the heat since then, because New England being blessing us with some great temperature (besides this stupid tornado). Anyway, have anyone experienced this issue? is it serious? How can I fix it?

It can be serious. I definately would not drive the car for any period of time without addressing. Watch your temperature - if the needle starts to creep up towards the red, it's already too hot.

They prolly didn't bleed the coolant system properly. Bleed the system and add as necessary until at proper level,,,but do not overfill.

Droid + Tapatalk = FTW!

Do you have any questions on how to fill?

Turn off the car and let the car cool after driving or fill before starting. Open the hood and locate the coolant fill cap near the front of the engine compartment. Remove the fill cap. There is a float that should provide indication of your level. An attached indicating plate tells you how to read the float.

You have a screwdriver in your toolkit in the trunk. Use the phillips end to open the bleed screw near the fill cap. Just a few turns should be necessary.

Commence filling the system. Do not overfill. Remaining air should leave through the bleed screw.

Once it indicates full, replace the cap and close the bleed screw. Be sure not to overtighten or strip out the bleed screw.

Start the car and crank the heat. Let it run for about ten minutes. Repeat fill and bleed procedure as described above.


Moved writeup and added detail in Filling and bleed coolant DIY (BMW E46 generic) thread

[johnrando]

Nice Bill. Perhaps that deserves it's on DIY. John

[MasterC17]

Bleeding the coolant isn't exactly a quick task, you need to keep adding coolant over and over. I'm sure the shop just didn't finish it completely and so it still needs coolant added. Check the level, I'm sure it's low. Now add coolant until it is within the appropriate range (little black thing on the right will show you), let the car run for ten minutes, check again, it will probably be lower, add coolant, repeat until the coolant level stops changing.