205 - what's this light mean?

A warning light is coming on and I don't know what it means! (lost the manual). It's like a lid with water waves under it. My radiator is full, but this bloody warning light comes on as I go 'round corners. any suggestions? many thanks

Yeah, its a solution you mix with water. You shouldn't put just entirely water in the radiator. It's available at any car-related shop, garages, petrol stations...

-- Ryan Gillett Peugeot 205 XS 1.4 TU3S Carb

It could be, however.. the sensor might be broken, or dislodged (never worked with the sensor, so not too sure?) Might just be a loose wire or it touches against something when turning right which sets it off?

There may be a blockage in the hoses, not allowing the coolant to get through? You might want to flush the system to check for blockages and hopefully clear any.. and then fill the system with a decent coolant solution (follow the directions on the bottle for dilution).

If that doesnt work then hopefully somebody on here with more knowledge will correct me, or take it to a garage (preferably an independant Peugeot specialist..)

-- Ryan Gillett Peugeot 205 XS 1.4 TU3S Carb

There may be airlocks in the cooling system so at least in XU engines the water (or coolant..) must be filled (after change of cooling liquid) with so called "Peugeot top feeder" i.e an upside down plastic bottle without bottom to fill also those parts of cooling system, which lie higher that the cooling fill cork. Eric

so its check the wires and connections and if it still comes on then you need a new sensor. hmm, that could be fun.

scott

The water level is okay, but what's this 'coolant' - isn't that just water? I'm feeling really thick here, please help. Is coolant different to water?

Thanks Ryan. Will do. Do you think the light would come on because there isn't enough solution in, even though the water is up to level? The light comes on mostly when the car is turning right. I assume it's some kind of float related indicator somewhere in the tank?

Eera:

I have only had to use the upside down bottle on Pugs without the header tank. My 205s have a header tank, so all that you have to do is unclip it & suspend it higher up. Perhaps a bottle in the header tank where it is also works, I don't know.

dixiefried:

If the light illuminates, yet the header tank has coolant to the right level, then either there is air in the cooling system or else the sensor is faulty.

The sensor is on the side of the radiator at the top, it can be unscrewed to examine it. Likely failure modes would be a leak into the float or else deposits blocking its movement. Once the sensor has been removed some coolant will get out & air get in, so you would have to bleed the system. But if the light is occasional & associated with movement of the car, then to my mind it is far more likely air in the system - so you need to bleed it anyway.

Bleeding the system means filling it with more coolant while letting any trapped air escape. To do that you need to fill it with a little pressure. You do that by taking out the header tank bottle & raising it. The bottle is fixed by a thick elastic band. You may need to remove one or two clips to free enough of the pipe the tank it is attached by. Then either hang the tank from the raised bonnet or just have a friend hold it up for you.

Then you need to open each of the bleed screws to let any air escape. When the air changes to coolant then close each. There are usually two screws, one metal one on the engine near to the thermostat housing that you open with an Allen key, the other at a high point on a rubber hose, that you open with your fingers. Once both screws are closed, try squeezing the thicker rubber coolant pipes, to move any air bobbles left around the system to a bleed point. Repeat until no air comes out of the screws when you open them. All of this time do not let the header tank become empty, or else you will have to start again!

When I had this problem & tried this it did not work! I was then able to find that the problem was that the header tank was blocked with sludge at the bottom, I cleared that, did it all again & all was well. Yours may be simpler than that.

Good luck

for what I've been told, from the last 10 years or so, most cars' radiators no longer use water but a special coolant (with different temperature tolerance). a friend of mine filled a alfa 33 radiator with water and after a while he had some sort of "mud" in it... if you want to keep your car for some more time I do advice you to get the proper coolant - it's not expensive and it's easy to put in your radiator.

cheers, Jean-Jacques

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"Mud" ? Are you sure it wasn't oil that's been forced to mix with water? The water could have overheated and burst a hose (because of the lack of coolant in the solution), overheating the car and blowing the head gasket.. allowing the two to mix.

You use a coolant and water solution, unless he bought a ready-diluted solution(?)

-- Ryan Gillett Peugeot 205 XS 1.4 TU3S Carb

I don't think the 205 is "intelligent" enough to tell you if you've got the right mix in your radiator - I'm sure it's just telling you that the level of the liquid (ie. the coolant, be it water-and-something, or even neat beer) is not right. (Or it's incorrectly telling you that, if the sensor is broken, if you see what I mean).

From what I remember of my late 309, the chap who serviced it used to put different strengths of solutions into the rad for summer and winter. And the only time the light that you describe came on was when the radiator sprung a leak once.

HTH

Jo

Hello,

Nope, sometimes, on old blocks which have used tap water for some time, there is a deposite at their bottom, like mud. This likely happens when you don't use proper coolant.

Regards, G.T snipped-for-privacy@worldonline.fr snipped-for-privacy@ironmaiden.com