Read Lights - (Keep getting flashed) + Coolant!

[liver-red]

Hey chaps,

Good to see the forum back up.

2 things really..

1) I got flashed by 2 people the other night... 1 pulled up and said my lights where out - I stopped.. checked them, they worked... got my partner to do the brakes + drive while I could look at them... they worked :-/

(attached is picture of lights... should they be brighter?)

-

2) Temperature seems to be around 90degree's (all weather). The coolant light flashed on... (kept flashing). I pulled over and to my horror - there was NO coolant left... not a drop!

I drove to my nearest halfords with great care, stopped the car - bought some new stuff. Lifted the bonnet - but the coolant had "come back" and was half full?!?!

I swear - I checked it several times and there was nothing in it! I topped it up, the lights not come back on yet.... but how strange?!


:edit:

I did edit the post title - but for some reason duplicated the thread without the right title? :-/

 

[Toxic]

lights look ok to me. as to the coolant, you need to make sure the coolant level is correct when it is cold first of all and keep track of it then. make sure the coolant is the correct stuff (G12 spec I think)

 

[liver-red]

I thought the lights where fine too... the 1st guy who flashed and told me (at red lights)... was in a chaved up old beemer... sped off... maybe he was just being a twit.

I'll check the coolant again first thing in the morning. Yeh it is G12. 60 / 40 mixture.

 

[chrisash32]

be careful to monitor the coolant as thats how mine started when it became a g12-a-holic...

now she is drinking a litre a week....

 

[IbizaAlex]

If its using that much coolant then you have an issue somewhere!

 

[chrisash32]

If its using that much coolant then you have an issue somewhere!

yep, know i do...
Its a crack in the head, water getting into the cylinders when cold.
Just cant afford the few thousand quid the stealerships want to fix it.

 

[andyj]

just a thought on the lights.... I think they're a combined stop/tail bulb, so they've got 2 filaments, 1 for braking and 1 for side lights.

The braking filament is brighter than the side light one, hence why brakes lights are brighter....

If the bulbs have been fitted reveresed, then the side-lights will be bright, and the brakes would be not as bright.....

So, if you've got your lights on, and you brake, the lights won't get any brighter....

Have a play, and get your misus to have a look when you've just got the lights on, and then when you brake as well.......

 

[liver-red]

Already checked that. Everythings how it should be... I think they guy who told me was just being a twit in his cr@p car

Drove past a Police car other day though, he never flashed... unless he was just being lazy...

 

[andycupra]

if the coolant was non-existantin the expansion tank then appeared again, id suggest that there is an air lock. also potentially a leak..

id im agine its self bleeding so id tkae the cap off the coolant, when the car is cold. then start it and run it for a while with the cap off. if you are lucky this may remove any airlocks. you may find the level is low.
so also check for any leaks.

as for the lights, have you checked that the brake light comes on if you press the brake pedal only gently.. there has been a bit of history with the brake pedal sensors being set up incorrectly on seat, it may just need adjustment.

 

[liver-red]

I'll try the tip with the coolant.

Brakes lights n everything are fine... got my other half to sit in the drivers seat while I watched outside. drove a few meters... tapped the case to see if any loose connections.. all ok :-/

 

[Big Ejit]

The stop and tail bulb is unusually a single filament with the ECU controlling the brightness to differentiate the two functions. If both your rears are going out intermittently, I would guess at an ECU problem at the other end of the wiring to the light clusters. If the bulbs were dodgy, the dash warning light would come on.

Both rear lights out and no dash warning light suggests the ECU is doing its own thing!