dtp

Working under the Z playing with my steering rack I noticed some orangish drops near the steering rack. I figured great my coolant pump is leaking dexcool again.

A week later, my coolant light came on. I check the reservoir and it has plenty. After letting the car cool off, I pop the radiator cap and fluid is an inch below the cap... Hmmm....

I pop the power steering cap and notice the fluid is orangish. I always had a Power steering leak, putting off fixing the steering rack.... Also inspecting the engine I could not find any signs of coolant leaks near the usual suspect areas.

But why the heck did my coolant light come on? Is there anything else I should check before deeming it the sensor?

Injuneer

Check the overflow hose, from the radiator neck to the reservoir. When the coolant heats up, it expands and the excess flows into the reservoir. When the coolant cools down, it contracts, and the resulting vacuum pulls coolant out of the reservoir, into the radiator, to keep the radiator full. If you have a pinhole or other leak in the overflow hose, the vacuum can't pull the coolant back out of the reservoir.

Or, the cap's "vacuum relief" function is not working. Check the cap.

dtp

Thanks, I'll give it a look. Cooled down both the radiator and reservoir had plenty of coolant so I'm suspecting it's just power steering fluid I'm seeing. But the coolant light coming on is alarming. Last time I did this I assumed it was the sensor until I checked the reservoir and found it bone dry, that time it was a leak in the water pump.