Coolant Level Indicator Lamp: Description and Operation

COOLANT LOW INDICATOR
A coolant low indicator is only found in the instrument clusters of vehicles equipped with an optional diesel engine. The coolant low indicator is located above the fuel gauge and to the left of the tachometer in the instrument cluster. The coolant low indicator consists of a stencil-like cutout of the International Control and Display Symbol icon for "Low Engine Coolant" in the opaque layer of the instrument cluster overlay. The dark outer layer of the overlay prevents the indicator from being clearly visible when it is not illuminated. An amber Light Emitting Diode (LED) behind the cutout in the opaque layer of the overlay causes the icon to appear in amber through the translucent outer layer of the overlay when the indicator is illuminated from behind by the LED, which is soldered onto the instrument cluster electronic circuit board. The coolant low indicator is serviced as a unit with the instrument cluster.

The coolant low indicator gives an indication to the vehicle operator when the diesel engine coolant level is low. This indicator is controlled by a transistor on the instrument cluster circuit board based upon cluster programming and a hard wired input received by the cluster from the engine coolant level switch. The coolant low indicator Light Emitting Diode (LED) is completely controlled by the instrument cluster logic circuit, and that logic will only allow this indicator to operate when the instrument cluster receives a battery current input on the fused ignition switch output (run-start) circuit. Therefore, the LED will always be OFF when the ignition switch is in any position except ON or Start. The LED only illuminates when it is provided a path to ground by the instrument cluster transistor. The instrument cluster will turn ON the coolant low indicator for the following reasons:

- Bulb Test - Each time the ignition switch is turned to the ON position the coolant low indicator is illuminated for about three seconds as a bulb test.

- Engine Coolant Level Switch Input - Each time the cluster detects ground on the low coolant fluid level sense circuit (engine coolant level switch closed = engine coolant level low) the cluster applies an algorithm to confirm that the input is correct and not the result of coolant sloshing in the coolant bottle. The cluster tests the status of the circuit about seven milliseconds after ignition ON, and about once every second thereafter, then uses an internal counter to count up or down. When the counter accumulates thirty ground inputs on the circuit, the coolant low indicator will be illuminated. The indicator remains illuminated until the low coolant fluid level sense input to the cluster is an open circuit (engine coolant level switch open = engine coolant level full), or until the ignition switch is turned to the OFF position, whichever occurs first.

- Engine Coolant Level Switch Input Fault - The engine coolant level switch also features a 3.3 kilohm diagnostic resistor connected in parallel between the switch input and output to provide the cluster with verification that the low coolant fluid level sense circuit is not open or shorted. If the cluster does not see a proper input on the low coolant fluid level sense circuit, it will suspend coolant low indicator operation. The indicator operation remains suspended until the low coolant fluid level sense circuit fault is resolved.

- Actuator Test - Each time the cluster is put through the actuator test, the coolant low indicator will be turned ON, then OFF again during the bulb check portion of the test to confirm the functionality of the LED and the cluster control circuitry.

The engine coolant level switch on the coolant bottle provides a hard wired ground input to the instrument cluster circuitry through the low coolant fluid level sense circuit whenever the level of the coolant in the bottle is low. For further diagnosis of the coolant low indicator or the instrument cluster circuitry that controls the LED, (Refer to INSTRUMENT CLUSTER - DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING). For proper diagnosis of the engine coolant level switch input to the instrument cluster that control the coolant low indicator, a DRBIII scan tool is required. Refer to the appropriate diagnostic information.