Coolant temperature light comes on

Good afternoon.

Was the heat working prior to the radiator repair?

Roy

no, it was not.

Okay with the Cadillac's there is a programmer that controls the movement of the blend door to glove heat and AC. when you switch from AC to heat, can you hear the mode door moving?

Roy

Hi Roy, this is the wife's car and she said sometimes it stalls on a red light or a stop, but starts right away.

Okay, that is a different issue. it has nothing to do with the heat.

The old Cadillac's have an idle control motor on the throttle body that fails and causes this exact issue. you can check it by going under the hood and seeing if it fully extends with the key on before you crank it.

Roy

Roy, the compressor for the AC has not been working for years. She said since the radiator was replace the light comes on and even before the replacement it was coming on a few occasion. she believes that was only when the coolant was low.

Okay, that is because there is a low coolant switch in the radiator to warn you when the coolant level is low.

Pnce you fill it, it may be air bound. try removing the radiator cap and running the engine about 1200 rpm. have someone watch the coolant level and keep it full. that will force the air out of the system. if the air is the issue, you will get heat.

beyond that it could be either the heater core being clogged or the programmer not working correctly.

Roy

Roy, until what time are you working as it seems to me that you are on the west coast as I am on the east coast? As for the radiator, do you not think that they will have done everything accordingly before giving the car back, unless they were not that qualified.

I am in central PA..

You would think so. a lot of shops are not as familiar with the old Cadillac's auto climate control systems. they are totally different than today's systems.

I will be on for about another hour.

Roy

Good to know as I will take the car for a ride and will get back to you tomorrow. Have a good evening.

You as well.

Roy

Hi Roy, you where spotted on for the heat as I did just like you said and it works well . Last night when I took the car for few errands it seems that the car was going to stall several times and it backfire just like if the mixture of air/gas was not properly adjusted. My belief was that there was a lot of humidity or condensation in the tank since she runs low on gas. What is your take on this?

Okay.

No, I do not believer it is bad fuel. I would have the plugs checked, timing checked and also that idle control motor checked. The distributor cap and rotor should also be checked for carbon tracking.

Roy

Anyway I added a deicer to the gas tank and looks like it is okay. A lot of white smoke comes out of the tail pipe , why ? Also, are you good with the with all the new technology of today's car as I have a problem with my car, Chrysler 300, 2011.

White smoke concerns me. it is an indication of burning coolant.

You have a all aluminum engine that had a history of head gasket failure and intake manifold gaskets leaking causing this white smoke. it needs to be checked to confirm.

yes I am up on the new stuff.

Roy

Roy : Thanks for the infos for the caddy . Now for the Chrysler 300-2011, I put a car battery 3 weeks ago and prior to that I had changed a relay ; this morning the car would not start at all plus the fob key was not detected and there was no power at all, could not even unlock doors and trunk. , battery for fob were changed approximately 3 months ago . Boosted the car but I suspect there is something draining the car battery.

Ok, The first thing I would do is to charge that battery. charge it until it is 12.6 volts. that is a full charge

then you need to check the charging system. with the engine running it should be 14 to 14.5 volts

once you get the battery charged, the key fob should work. right now you have low voltage and nothing will work

Roy

Roy: forgot to tell you that was the only thing that I've changed so far besides the regular maintenance . Just by driving the car , how long would it take to have it charged to 12.6 v

Use a battery charger. if you have a charging issue, it will not charge. also, the alternator is for maintaining the battery not for charging it.

Roy

O.K. Roy, I will charge the battery and get back with you tomorrow , have a good evening .

you as well

Roy

Hi Roy : Didn't have time to get back with you Friday, hope you had a nice Easter . So I charge the battery and got the system checked and was told everything is fine . However after explaining what had happened , was told they couldn't understand why the battery was dead, apparently it's a faulty relay and it will happen again . What do you think ?

ok, if everything is fine, how do they know it is a relay??? what relay??

Roy

The guy said my guess ,it would be a relay, as far of which one he can't tell but suggest have them tested. Would like to know if it's possible to test them myself.

can you do a parasitic draw test??

if you have a voltmeter, remove the negative cable from the battery. put your meter on dc amps. put the red lead on the battery negative post and the black on the battery cable. let it sit for about an hour for the modules to go to sleep and tell me the reading

Roy

Roy : unfortunately , I don't have a volt meter . Is there any other way of testing

no, we need to see the current draw. you can get a cheap one for about 10 bucks at a parts store

Roy

O.K. I will do that later on today and test it tonight or early tomorrow morning , than will get back to you. Thank you

your welcome

Hi Roy : Sent you an email last night but seems it didn't go thru . anyway my reading on the multi meter was 0.00, but I'm wondering if I did it right .

you checked amp readings, correct???

Was wondering because battery cable is not like back in the old days and battery located in trunk + small pig tail grounded to body while small wire carries current to the front fuse box. Is there any other test to be made ? Also what is the best way to turn off dome light when doors are open ? , since there no push button switch .

If it is in the trunk, close all doors. as far as the trunk light, remove the bulb. then remove the negative battery cable and put your meter in line. red lead to the battery and black to the cable. set your meter on DC amps and wait for 1 hour. then tell me the reading

Roy

This I did yesterday , however I could not open the trunk , had to reach from the back and when I opened the door the light came on , had to pull on a twine to pull the latch open . Will resume tomorrow as it's raining .

OK, keep me updated

Roy

I will , have a good evening . Around what time do you start ?

tomorrow will be around 9 am EST

Hi Roy : Yesterday was not a good day to do the test , so I'm keeping you posted as I did it this morning and the reading was - 0.00 after an hour and 10 minutes . Don't understand why the battery was drained about a week 1/2 ago , I didn't leave anything on to drain battery . Thank you for all you did to help me .

ok, if there is no drain, then the battery may be sorted and draining itself.

do you have an DC amp clamp??

Roy

No , I don't , the only thing I have is a multi meter .