Coolant Alarm HELP!

[Sharnay]

Hi there
I had a coolant alarm fitted about 6 weeks ago, when I had the radiator changed over and the coolant system flushed out. After about 2 weeks is started to squeal constantly. We took it back to the garage, and they changed the screw (sensor in the side of the tank) saying some were faulty. Now, 4 weeks later it's happening again. The garage have said it could be due to some sort of residue collecting around the screw, and we need to have a new coolant tank fitted so we can just see the coolant level (we can't at the moment due to the age of the tank - it's gone brown). Has anyone had this problem. It seems totally pointless having an alarm fitted - I assume that most vans that have had them fitted are pretty old, and would therefore have some residue in their coolant systems like I do. I'm thinking that it's therefore not due to a build up of residue??
Any thoughts would be appreciated....
Thank you!

[Northern Bongolow]

more likely to be a battery voltage problem! omo.is the motor starting ok,have you measured the voltage,is it wired up ok,with good connections,where is the live taken from.
need a bit more info really,if its what i think it is, ie a low coolant alarm from haydn,these units are very reliable.

[g8dhe]

Does it have a leisure battery fitted ?

[haydn callow]

Did they flush out all the old coolant ?? if not and they put in a differant type that could be the problem..
Changing the tank will not fix anything.....
Please contact me and we can sort this...
Whereabouts are you??
I would be very surprised if the alarm is faulty...
Next time it is screaming at you...
get a piece of wire...bare both ends.....dip one end in your coolant through the neck of the tank and touch the other end to the sensor screw....that should shut it up and prove the alarm is o.k.......if not try touching the wire to the screw and then to eartn....that should defo shut it up and again prove it is o.k.
The screw CANNOT go faulty...it can only get coated with gunge.....this gunge is a coolant problem.

was the alarm o.k. untill they changed the coolant...??

Please contact me

01458 270230
or PM

[Sharnay]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the replies.
I bought the van a couple of months ago and had the radiator changed along with the coolant, so the coolant is new - we had the alarm fitted at the same time. I'm assuming therefore it can't be covered in gunge?

Yes, there is a leisure battery. The van starts well and there don't seem to be any problems with this.I'm not sure where the live is from, I'll have a look now and let you know.

Should the alarm make a consistent noise? Ie - not takes 30 seconds to turn off some days and 3 seconds the next.

We're in Bristol so not too far, but off to France next Friday!
Haydn I will call you tomorrow - thanks!

[g8dhe]

It could be that the alarm has been wired into the L/B rather than the S/B and depending on how much use / charge its getting its giving varying results. Do you have any form of meter on the L/B a Zig unit for instance ? that will show the charge in the battery.

[Harry]

I had a similar persistant problem which only started a week or so after I had the alarm fitted. It got worse over time...starting with what could only be descibed as an intermittant mutter.

The solution was a bayonet style link under the dash which the fitter had not pushed fully home. It looked and felt ok but given a good push whilst looking for loose connections it clicked into place...end of probs.

good luck

H

[New Forest Terrier]

As the alarm has just been fitted, is it worth checking that the screw in the tank is tight and has not worked loose? Mine was fitted by a local garage who did not get the screw tight enough in the tank and I had various false alarms with squeaks and squawks on corners and speed bumps.

After much advice from Haydn I found the problem and a screwdriver fixed it. I'm lucky enough to have a clear tank, so no worry about non existent water loss. It has worked loose again once since, with the same symptoms and easy fix.

Just seen Harry's post looks like he had a similar problem.

[Sharnay]

Thanks guys, my boyfriend who's with the van will try these two things out this evening and see what happens. It's not doing it at the moment, so makes me think there is something lose/not quite in place.
Thanks again!

[haydn callow]

Well...come on....I'm in suspenders.....what was the result of your tests??

[haydn callow]

The alarm should Beep/flash for between 1&2 sec's (3 sec in cold winter) when you turn the key and probably again when you turn the engine to start.
If it is intermitantly sounding for longer periods and muttering when driving then there could be a fault in the connections or possibly the sensor has become coated in gunge from the coolant.......this should not happen and if that is the cause chemical flushing could be the answer.
In a clean cooling system these screws will not get coated...Some have been in Bongos now for more than 3 years and in Oz many years longer.

[haydn callow]

Peeps.... who have bought or had fitted a Low Coolant Alarm in the past couple of months.....If it is a "CUBE" shape........and IF it starts to go off and stays going off intermittantly and for longer periods.....Please contact me....we have produced a small add on modification kit which should take no more than 5 mins to fit (15 mins if you have a battery in front of the header tank) The kit consists of a 2nd sensor screw which connects to earth via a short wire....

We used to do it this way a couple of years ago in the early days but untill this "new" CUBE version it has been unnecessary.

Not everyone who has a cube will require to do this mod....only if the alarm starts playing up after being fitted a few weeks.

[Sharnay]

Hi Haydn,

Will call you this afternoon.

Dan checked the wires and that the screw was tight and all seemed ok.

Speak later!

[Distilled Waters Run Deep]

As the alarm has just been fitted, is it worth checking that the screw in the tank is tight and has not worked loose? Mine was fitted by a local garage who did not get the screw tight enough in the tank and I had various false alarms with squeaks and squawks on corners and speed bumps.

After much advice from Haydn I found the problem and a screwdriver fixed it. I'm lucky enough to have a clear tank, so no worry about non existent water loss. It has worked loose again once since, with the same symptoms and easy fix.

Just seen Harry's post looks like he had a similar problem.

would it be worth your while putting a smear of silicone or a twist of ptfe on the screw threads to stop it working loose?

[haydn callow]

As far as I know going by feedback that is only the 2nd case of a "loose screw" out of the many thousans's that have been fitted...the tank normally "grips" the screw very well