hey guys,

I have a 1997 camaro ss. Got my water pump replaced and after that, my coolant light came on and sat on for a while. Had the coolant re-flushed and during the flush, the coolant start shooting everywhere.. I was told by the tech it means my heads are bad but i've also heard lt1 head gaskets dont really go out.. The coolant light comes on after the car reaches 210*f and maintains that temp, doesnt go over, never has overheated. ALSO! my timing chain snapped(my luck) and when the water pump was pulled off i was told it was improperly sealed, if that helps.

thanks

 

Its been my experience that the coolant level sensor in these cars are touchy little buggers. Even with a new sensor mine will sometimes still come on when it shouldnt. If the guy didnt bleed the system properly it may cause it. If your heads are warped up from overheating your anitfeeze could be slowly going out the tail pipe... Which would cause low coolant level. Correct me if im worng guys but if your timing chain snapped I could see why you have bad heads. You probably have bent valves and may very well have a broken piston or two.

 

It has a bad oil leak from Oil pan. I've been tOld by multiple people it's not an interfearane motor. But my main concern was the coolant light.

 

And it's never overheated

 

How long have you had it? Has this always been the trouble with the coolant light?
These low-coolant sensors are pretty touchy. They are very easy to replace though and if you are certain that you are not loosing coolant, you can just ignore it.

Mine comes on anytime I restart my car after driving for 30 minutes or so. I know that I am not loosing coolant so I just ignore it (I check my coolant every few days).

How do you know that the timing chain snapped? I'm only asking because I have never, ever seen one snap on a stock engine. I've seen them stretched and seen the cam timing jump because of a very worn timing set. If you had damaged pistons for valves, the engine would be making some very bad noises.

 

It happened after I replaced my water pump, only comes on once the car warms up after 20 or so minutes. Coolant does occasionally come out the resivour..

A few techs at my work did a few tests and then ripped the car apart and found the chain to be snapped..

Car has 83k miles on it. Had it for almost 2 years now..

 

I have personally beat the living **** out of alot of motors and I have never seen a snapped chain. So thats a new one for me. As far as the sensor goes if your sure its completley full of fluid id just change the sensor. Its a 5 min fix and not that expensive.

 

It sounds like you were driving the car with a snapped chain? Or was the car completely dead when you had it looked at?

If it was running, go find some other techs. Your engine will not run with a snapped timing chain.

As far as the coolant sensor, that is basically what mine does. Comes on when I restart the car after letting it sit for 30 minutes or so. But it doesn't come one at all for the first engine cycle of the day no matter how long I run the car.

You can remove the sensor and try to clean it, but I personally wouldn't worry about it too much. Just keep an eye on the coolant level and if you see the temp spike, shut it down and check it when it cools off.

 

if the timing chain broke you will need to check your valve train to make sure valves or push rods are not bent. pistons going without valve timing can put a valve into a piston.

 

the chain snapped while I was driving.