Radiator warning lights

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Richard811
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Radiator warning lights

Post by Richard811 »

Hi All

I made the error of driving back from Bristol on my own in a lightning and thunder rain storm.

Of course the radiator lights came on, well the STOP sign and the light 3 down from there looking like a flat plug on 3 waves.

Ofcourse better still before I pulled in at a KFC the yellow oil temp light came on too.

Radiator water was a little low but topping it up made no change even after letting her sit and cool off.

Luckily the heating still worked so must confess I drove on all be it very slowly with the heating on super high..as it was still working
Yellow light didn't come back.
Not sure what to look for?

Thanks
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by rutter123 »

The Stop light may also come on when your LHM level is low.
Faulty water level sensor
Leak in water system
Leak in hyd system
Possibilities are endless best to get it up on ramp and have a good look bearing in mind most of the pipes are 30 odd years old and do perish/split/rust
Last edited by rutter123 on Sun Feb 09, 2020 7:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by rutter123 »

The Stop light may also come on when your LHM level is low.
Faulty water level sensor
Leak in water system
Leak in hyd system
Possibilities are endless best to get it up on ramp and have a good look bearing in mind most of the pipes are 30 odd years old and do perish/split/rust
Your oil light should only come on if you are loosing oil pressure thru lack of oil in the engine or the oil itself has degraged too far
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by Jaba »

Sounds like an odd combination of warning lights, water level low and oil over temperature without the expected also water temperature too high light. I would expect this to come on as well or even come on before the the others so it would be worth checking out that these lights are still operational.
Check as well that the radiator gets hot from top to bottom by feeling down the inside of the rad when the engine is fully warmed up. The rads do sludge up from the bottom upwards restricting the cooling capacity.
Are you sure it was the oil temperature light on and not the water temperature ?
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by Kaapelimies »

What's an oil temperature light in BX? As far as I know there's none, it's the "you'll blow up the head gasket soon"-light that's next to the "you just blew your head gasket"-light that's red.
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by Richard811 »

Thanks guys. All very true.
I shot an email over to Tony westons boys (cam n dursley) and hes asking..

could be dodgy wiring, airlock or blocked radiator, were the cooling fans on, was the heater blowing hot?

I will check the radiator top down for heat at some point but just to confuse things I've noticed I get cracking heat...only when the car is facing up hill!
Cold as ice going downhill moments later!
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David
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Re: Radiator warning lights

Post by David »

I don't recall a yellow oil temp light on any BX models. The yellow light in the top right corner isn't connected unless, as I understand, it's a TD, which has a turbo over pressure warning, and that's where I understand it to be connected.

If it's the yellow light in the section below that then it's the water temp light.

Have you checked the thermostat? If it's stuck shut or not opening properly then the car will overheat and, as you've said, it wouldn't affect the function of the heater & running it on full would stop the engine getting as hot.

The low water warning light could just be a corroded contact and it's just a coincidence that it's come on when something else has.

I would suggest checking the thermostat first & checking for corroded contacts on the wiring. If the thermostat and wires check out, I would suggest removing the radiator and flushing out the complete cooling system, even if there are no obvious cold spots, just to ensure that it's working as it should.

The thermostat can be checked by putting it in a pan of water with a thermometer on the cooker and heating it up.

When you put it back together make sure that you get rid of any air locks. Sometimes they can be tricky to get out.

Hope that helps.
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