Water coolant light

[Quickie]

Howzit guys

My wifes 318ti auto has a bit of a problem.
Few weeks back the water level (orange light) came on. The mackie indicated that we change the radiator and expansion bottle/tank. common problem i rad and decided to have it done. Car going well (no light) for the next few weeks.
Then yesterday she indicated that the light came back on again. I told her to just watch the temp gauge and cruise the car home.
When she got home, she told me the gauge did not move pass the half way mark (that good), but went on to say that the light went off again after like 2 minutes. and back on again when she went up a hill and off when going down hill.

I left the car overnight and checked the water level this morning, it seemed fine no top ups.

Any advice on what this could be. Can the floater level thing within the expansion bottle be the cause of the light coming on?

Please help dont want her to break down and be left by the side of the road.

Thanks

 

[Nic_s]

Kinda sounds like the level sensor packing up. Should have been the first thing to check. You might be able to get a Febi replacement from Masterparts or any parts place that stock Febi.

 

[Coisman]

Also check the cap, it has 2 rubber rings, and the plastic holding the bottom rubber ring tends to break, and the ring fall out, then it leaks from there.

Also, the moment you put on the heater, and the level is just a bit low, the light will also come on due to the water being circulated through the system, but when you check the level when the car is cold, it will look ok.

Concerning the sensor Nic is refering to... its at the bottom of the expansion tank, and I would think on the 318 easy to get to. On my 325 you have to take out the entire airbox, and the radiator fan... :facepalm:

If you suspect the sensor, the one in your water bottle for the window washer is the same, so take the one out the radiator, and swop it out with the one in the water bottle, and see if the light goes out.

Good luck! :thumb:

 

[Quickie]

Guys thanks alot for the replies.
I will check the possible issues mentioned the weekend and hope its not a huge issue.

If there is anything else i should look at while removing all those things then please let me know

:ty:

 

[Quickie]

Okay so over the weekend the problem seemed to have dissapeared.
Saturday morning, beofre starting the car i opend the expansion bottle tto check the level. Antifreeze came pouring out- it seemd to be overfilled. anyways i started the car with the cap off and and let it idle for a while and then took the car for a drive- so 20kms. No light.
didnt wanna mess with things so left it like that. drove the car in total for over 100kms thereafter still no light.
So im hoping that the problem is now fixed.
if it comes back on then i will investigate further.