Pontiac grand AM coolant light...

@tyf1112 (153)
China
August 23, 2007 11:40pm CST
I just bought used, a 96 Pontiac Grand AM GT about 3 months ago .got a good deal on it with a 90 day warrenty on all major stuff. Since I bought it I had to put a battery in (the car wouldn't start one day) & a hose to the power steering.(one day I drove it to work, no prob & by days end, couldn't turn the steering wheel... all the fluid was out) Now I just noticed the coolant light on the dash came on. First time I saw it... I don't know what I did, but it went off, & didn't see it again. I checked the overflow & saw there was no coolant there, so put some in.(I have a closed radiator system, so I can't actually check the radiator). My gauge on the dash is right in the middle all the time, but even after I put some coolant in last week, when I first noticed the light go on, I don't see any fluid in the overflow now, since I put some in last week. There is no leaks... outwards anywhere, hoses look fine to my eye, as much as I can see. So........ what could be the prob? My dash lights in my other grand am I owned before this car, never proved themselves wrong. I told my mechanic to look it over good when he had put in the battery to make sure there were no major probs with it. He said from what he saw.. I had a good car here. Now... I don't know when the last time the radiator was flushed....but I don't think this would resolve the prob, or could it? I was told I don't really need to flush it till Spring. How can I tell since I can't see into the radiator. Oh.. I also was told that a new water pump was put in before I bought the car from the dealer. Everything looks great & it runs like a champ with only 91 thou miles on it for a 96... pretty good! So... whatcha all think bout this coolant light? Is it something I should just ignore & go by the temperature guage? That says the car is running in the middle?
1 response
AD11RGUY
@AD11RGUY (1265)
• United States
2 Oct 07
Couple of things to check here. The V-6 that GM uses is notorious for coolant leaks between the lower intake manifold and cylinder heads due to a cheap plastic intake manifold gasket. Have you mechanic check closely at the front and rear of the engine in this area. It usually looks like oil, but careful inspection will show it to be coolant. The second common problem on GM's of this era is the coolant temperature sensor located in the radiator, on the passenger side of the car. Not only will the sensor go bad and turn on the light, but the gasket and/or housing rots away causing a slow leak. A thorough check should also be made there. Lastly (and most costly), there could be a very small pinhole leak in one of the head gaskets. A cylinder leak-down test would reveal whether this is what's going on. Your mechanic can do all of these test for you. Hopefully, it is only the temp. sensor. Good luck!