Coolant ?
 

I bought my balt back in march and drove it around for a week or two and my dash started to say "low coolant" i looked under the hood to see if the coolant was low, and it looked like it was on the money to me. I took it to chevy to get the power stearing recall fixed and told them to look at it. I came back that night to pick it up and they said that it wasent low on coolant...like i said, and that it might be the coolant sensor. I decided to go buy some coolant and put some in there to see if it worked and guess what, IT WENT OFF!!! now its been a month or two and its back on and it looked like it has gone down very little in the coolant resivour. It has been 98-110 degrees where i live, would that have any effect on it? I topped it off this morning and it didnt take much at all. Im just worried about a blown head gasket, im not over heating, my car RARELY reaches 196 degrees.. thats when my fans cut on..and im not loosing any oil. Thanks for your help in advanced! I really need to be on top of any problems with this car bc i sold my other daily and this is it! Anything to worry about?!? :red:

Air in the coolant system?

bleed the system?

^^ This system is a self bleeding system. There should be no need to bleed anything, and there are no bleed screws to be found on a ecotec.

head gasket

I doubt very much it's a head gasket. If it were, there would likely be coolant in the oil, or if it was a compression leak into the cooling system it would push a large amount of the coolant out of the reservoir cap and cause overheating. Sounds like a coolant level sensor if the level is right, and the light is on anyway.

I'd go with that.

Or if its not a sensor and the coolant IS low.

I've had this problem for over a year. Periodically have to fill my coolant tank with more coolant. I've never noticed any coolant in the oil (never milky). No noticeable coolant leaks under the car. Its been a mystery.

your right but yet your wrong these engines hide all the evidence in the head under the valve cover op you got a hg leak

In all likely hood, for a leak as small as what the OP is describing, it would be very unpractical to asume it's a head gasket. Yes head gasket leaks can be funny, but as OP states "month or two " at a time? I'm going with either a very small leak, even a reservoir pressure cap problem, or that the coolant level sensor is malfunctioning. Small leaks can be very hard to find, best bet is to have a real close look for coolant trace (a very light shade of red residue) that coolant leaves behind when it evaporates. Head gasket leaks never get any better they only get gradually worse. So to OP if you start going through coolant noticeably and can't account for a leak, That's when i'd start looking into whether or not it's a head/gasket problem. The best thing would be is to pressure test the cooling system to 15Psi (spec) and let it sit for a while. If you see any leaks repair as necessary. Basically as long as the pressure gauge stays at 15Psi for a considerable amount of time, the cooling system is functioning as it should. At this time it would also be a good idea to check your reservoir pressure cap.

Keep in mind that the coolant level in reservoir fluctuates as engine temperature changes. The coolant level is supposed to have to drop a considerable amount before the level sensor trips a low coolant light. I'm still leaning towards the sensor with what OP wrote.

i went for a month somtimes 2 months before i would have to add coolant sometimes it was just a matter of days in between. the coolant system held pressure when it was tested, now the coolant level shouldent fluctuate so much to trip a light unless you have a leak as the op has stated he has to fill his tank Periodically over the past year no leaks shown on the ground or anywhere under the hood and i doubt the sensor is bad considering when he adds coolant the light goes out

porous block? This is fishy

no i doubt that it is a porus block been quite a few people with a very simular problem and i had the exact same problem and a hg was the fix

We have had a lot of LNFs with porous blocks. LSJ I guess didn't do it at much.

I could see the HG being a possible cause too.

I retract my previous statement, as I was pointing to the overflow tank attachment point :lol: coulda sworn there was a nipple above the upper rad hose.

idk about a head gasket quite yet, the car dosent leak ANY oil or coolant, there is no sign of any residue around the head. It only does this when the car is cold (right on start up) Then it will go off as the car warms up. This happens RARELY and the light went off when i put coolant in there once. The "cold fill line" was almost right on the dot. I only had to add about 1 or 2 cups to the coolant and i accidently over filled it :X urgh. if its a HG im going to shoot myself..

P.S.-

The car runs amazing and has no signs of any problems once so ever. How could i check if its the hg..? The only issue i have is the CEL light comes on for a o2 sensor sometimes.. i think its because i had to put a cat on the car. not sure.

i bought that test to see if it turned the blue liquid into yellow, and it had no reaction. STILL BLUE! good thing i suppose?

My low coolant light went off a couple times right when i started it would never show up again for literally 6 months only when it was freezing cold out. no loss of coolant or anything. I'd replace a sensor before i started taking the head off.

bump for more info, having similar problem