As prompted by another member, I´d like to share with you my car´s problems and symptoms and see if anyone can offer any advice...
I own a 1996 Escort LX 1.9L 5-speed manual transmission. It has over 200,000 miles on the original engine.
For about a week now, the "Check Coolant" light has come on intermittently. I pay very close attention to my car, I notice every little change because I drive it so much. When the light came on, I looked at my temp. gauge and it was normal. The fans are running, and the vents blow warm air. So it has never overheated. The light comes on sometimes right as I start it up, sometimes after it is driven over varying amount of miles. Sometimes it comes on and off within the same trip. Since the car showed no other symptoms of overheating or overcooling, I thought maybe it was just the sensor. I also have checked the coolant levels everyday and the overflow contains (good-looking) coolant at the full cold level when cold, and at the full hot level when running at normal temperatures. The radiator cap was having problems with pressure last summer, but that was resolved at that time. I get my coolant flushed every other fall and have my engine oil changed every 3,000 miles (which is about every month for me) and the coolant is always checked at those times.
The new problem is this: Last evening I drove home (in a blizzard
) which was a trip of about 45 miles. 5 miles from home both the "Check Engine" and "Check Coolant" light came on at the same time. I checked the temp gauge - normal. It was cold outside and I had the heat on and the vents were still blowing warm air. I also did not notice any change in the engine performance at all. The last time the "Check Engine" light came on, it was traced back to the catalytic converter, but instead of doing work on it, they turned off the CE light and it hadn´t come on since, and the car runs perfectly fine.
I´m not taking the risk of driving it long distances when the CE light is on. I need to get this resolved ASAP. Better safe than sorry. I was wondering if anyone had any input to help me direct any mechanics I may take it to.
Thank you very much!!
I own a 1996 Escort LX 1.9L 5-speed manual transmission. It has over 200,000 miles on the original engine.
For about a week now, the "Check Coolant" light has come on intermittently. I pay very close attention to my car, I notice every little change because I drive it so much. When the light came on, I looked at my temp. gauge and it was normal. The fans are running, and the vents blow warm air. So it has never overheated. The light comes on sometimes right as I start it up, sometimes after it is driven over varying amount of miles. Sometimes it comes on and off within the same trip. Since the car showed no other symptoms of overheating or overcooling, I thought maybe it was just the sensor. I also have checked the coolant levels everyday and the overflow contains (good-looking) coolant at the full cold level when cold, and at the full hot level when running at normal temperatures. The radiator cap was having problems with pressure last summer, but that was resolved at that time. I get my coolant flushed every other fall and have my engine oil changed every 3,000 miles (which is about every month for me) and the coolant is always checked at those times.
The new problem is this: Last evening I drove home (in a blizzard
) which was a trip of about 45 miles. 5 miles from home both the "Check Engine" and "Check Coolant" light came on at the same time. I checked the temp gauge - normal. It was cold outside and I had the heat on and the vents were still blowing warm air. I also did not notice any change in the engine performance at all. The last time the "Check Engine" light came on, it was traced back to the catalytic converter, but instead of doing work on it, they turned off the CE light and it hadn´t come on since, and the car runs perfectly fine.I´m not taking the risk of driving it long distances when the CE light is on. I need to get this resolved ASAP. Better safe than sorry. I was wondering if anyone had any input to help me direct any mechanics I may take it to.
Thank you very much!!
