I am having trouble with my cooling system. I am a little worried to drive it anywhere. I have been leaking a little coolant everywhere i got for the past month or so. I havent been able to locate the source because it was a small leak and a lot of tubes got wet. I believe it has to do with my pump or thermostat because there is a lot of stuff directly on the connection directly underneath.

Well, i got the low coolant light yesterday and i filled the car up with a lot of water temporarily so it would be full. I bled the system like normal and added more until i was pretty sure it was full. I am now getting the low coolant light still. I think that i am not able to pump anymore. I was wondering if theres any way to test my pump and thermo to see if they are still working. last time i drove the car, the temps were 170 as normal and stayed there but i am a little worried because this is the first time igot this light.

 

The low coolant sensor always go bad. If your level is ok then try unplugging the sensor. If the light goes off when you unplug it, but comes on when plugged in and the level is good, then replace the sensor.

As far as finding the leak, just put in some dye and use a UV flashlight to find it. You may need to disable the fans so it will not blow the coolant and confuse the leak location. If you have the original mechanical water pump, it's not likely that it is not pumping. It is likely to be leaking from the weep hole.

The only sure fire way to test the thermostat is to put it in water hot enough to open it and monitor the temp of the water when it opens. Sometimes, you can monitor the flow of water through the radiator after the thermostat opens by watching for flow past the filler neck. If you see flow, you know the thermostat is open.

Dave