Warning Light

[yaris_girl]

Hi,

When i started the car up this morning, the coolant light came on, and stayed on. Only after driving for about 5 minutes did it go off. When i started it up after work, it done exactly the same thing - whats going on?

Cheers

[GT4 BOOSTER]

put some water in the car , it wants a drink.

[n00bie]

Is this the blue light ?

Think I have seen this too...

Man I've driven Yari 11,000miles since April without giving her a drink.... WHERE the heck do I slap the water ? (what type of water ?) !

Taking Yari back down the M1 tomorrow so think I should be good to her.

Sorry for being such a NOOB :) Advice much appreaciated not for me but for poor Yari.

n b

[yaris_girl]

Yeah, thats the 1. The thing it, ive only had it just under 3 months, and its done less than 1000 miles - should it be needing 'a drink' so soon?

[GT4 BOOSTER]

erm try wet water outa the tap , there is a header tank under the bonnet , similar to that of the washer bottle. dont forget winter is nearly upon us and its time to have the anti freeze checked and topped up.

no yaris girl it should not need any yet , but just check it in the morning to see if it does.

[n00bie]

Confused

Is this the coolant overflow thingie ? from this thread ?

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...0254&hl=coolant

Or is this water tank seperate to the coolant overflow tank ?

help

I dont wanna :crutchy: down 2morrow !

[GT4 BOOSTER]

the bottle in question does both jobs, it holds fluids and is also the overflow tank.

[n00bie]

Thanks dude....

I'll look into this in the morning....

BTW How do I get the bonnet up...

JUST KIDDING LOL.

n :group-cuddles: b

[alanbradley]

Are you all talking about the blue light or the red light?

The blue light is normal!

[Chappers]

Blue light will come on mostly in the morning when it's COLD.. hence going off after 5mins. If RED comes on then, yep you guessed it, she's HOT..

Check water levels anyway.

[IceHz]

Hi,

On a cold day when you start the car blue temperature light will light up to indicate that coolent temperature is low, take it easy while the system heats up, when coolent temperature reach normal level the light will go off.

If the red indicator flashes while driving get it checked out immediately, continuing to drive with an overheated can cause engine damage.

About coolent... recommended is Toyota Long Life Coolent or equalant product with ethylene-glycol. Its best to use demineralized water or distilled water instead of plain tap water to mix the coolent.

As stated on an earlier post check the coolent level in the reservoir, it should be between Max and Min.

Cheers

[Red Yaris 54]

Check the level with the engine cold, and NEVER add tap water....always use demineralised or distilled water...available from good supermarkets (and bad ones ;))

[Viper_7]

I'm glad someone else said that! but...just to reitterate... NEVER use plain tap water! It's not as an effective coolant and your rad will rust away.

Vipes

[yaris_girl]

Cheers folks.

1 more quick question - i'd driven the car for about 10 minutes, and when i opened the bonnet as soon as i stopped, the top radiator pipe was warm, but the bottom still wasn't, is this normal?

[Red Yaris 54]

Quite normal.....laws of physics.... hot liquid rises.

When you have driven it for a lot longer than 10 minutes it will warm up properly.

Drive it carefully whilst it is warming up......and it will last forever (almost) :)

[GT4 BOOSTER]

yes its normal , it will get hot when the thermostat opens up.nothing to do with hot water rises at all.yaris girl.

why not put mineral water in from the french riviera , rusts the radiator my *****, water on its own will yes but you take it too far .if its got anti freeze , summer coolant it will be fine.cars have had tap water in since the dawn of time , now all of a sudden its no good for them.

do me a favour.next time you go into a Shell or bp garage ask the assistant what water comes out of the services hose they provide.oh forgot thats just for the washers right ???

[Red Yaris 54]

Do NOT use tap water as it contains minerals that will furr up your cooling system.

Please take the advice of the manufacturer seriously. Modern motor vehicle engineering needs to be looked after. The Yaris has a fine engine ....dont ruin it by not following good advice.

[T V O R]

What ever you do: Don’t mix the types of coolant!

Check this link and select the Engine Coolant Video (2.7MB)

[Blue84]

Yeah the blue light is normal - it's a bit like a thermometer in a way!!

Mine came on last night when I got in her after leaving her on the top floor of a multi storey for 8 hours cos of work...nothing to worry about.