Low Coolant: DIC warning code 15

[JimW]

There are two rubber lines that run underneath the engine to/from the oil cooler. There are twin metal crimps that had a droplet of oil on each, I was told this is common.

No sign of any coolant loss, which is good.

[SupaStealth]

hmm, yeah, i just found the small crack in my radiator, it's right underneeth the top outlet on the passanger side of the radiator. i sealed it with some Epoxy, i'm hopin' that will work, since the stop leak didn't, i put a genorous amount on there.

[stevensolds]

Well if you have the original radiator, its time is coming to an end. Mine blew when i was going about 90 mph on the freeway. I heard a whizzing bubbly kidn of sound and then the DIC chimed. Got home there was only a tiny bit of green stuff in there. So much for flushing, it did that on its own.

[Rocketv8]

so, jim, did you end up replacing the coolant sensor, or did the "top off" keep the "low coolant" warning from re appearing? mine hasnt come on again since i had my coolant topped off, hopefully it wont happen again...how much $$$ does this coolant sensor and overflow tank cost ?

[JimW]

Like everything Aurora, its quite expensive, but not labour intensive, so, thats a bonus. No more DIC warnings, and a top off was all I needed as well.

So far so good

[MpWarrior21]

stevensolds said:

jim, my Aurora did that when the radiator was cracked, but the surge tank was still full. i thought it was just having a brain fart but the rad was split down the middle, almost all to the top and was leaking green stuff. You should get your coolant changed every 30k or 3 years, whichever first. New coolant also has an additive that helps the water pump...giving it extra life.

you should really change the fluid every 30,000 miles or 3 years? WOW Ive always heard every 100,000 miles. Thats a big difference of #'s.

MpWarrior21

[stevensolds]

lol, every 30k for the green *******. every 5 years or 150,000 miles for dexcool, which ever comes first. that means even if you put 10k on your car in 5 years, you change the dexcool. i would still do it every 3 years regardless if i had a 97. starting in 96 they used dexcool. mine uses the green crap.

[OldsMike]

Letitroll98 said:

The Dex Cool beotch is mainly with engines using an iron block and aluminium heads. The Dex Cool can cause a galvonic action between the two disimilar metals. The resulting electrical current eats away at both metals in a very destructive way. This electro chemical reaction is well known among boaters and in fact we have sacraficial zinc anodes mounted on our engines and drive units that eat away before the engine and lower unit metals. We inspect and replace these regularly.

No one seems to be forthcoming about what begins the process in GM engines, but I believe it to be a combination of aging fluid and gases (air) in the closed loop system. The reaction would be cascading, i.e. the more it corrodes the faster it corrodes.

In all aluminium engines like Premium V-8s, the only down side to Dex Cool is sludge build up from not changing it at the 5 year/50,000 mile service point. There's only one metal so no galvonic reaction. Woopee! Better living thru chemistry (and metalurgy).

I received the low coolant error code today. The S/O and I went out later on and all systems are now OK. I understand that the low coolant sensors are frequently faulty, they tend to build up with sludge from coolant that is either too old or very dirty. Keeping the coolant fresh and within normal limits of replacement (30K) prevents the buildup and helps the sensor from deteriorating or giving off false signals. I'll be changing the coolant soon and hopefully the 6 year old sensor isn't permanently damaged.

[JimW]

I may have posted this, but if the sensor goes bad you need to replace the whole coolant overflow tank, its all one unit. In my case (when I originally posted) I was a bit low on coolant. Everything was doing its job fine, I would top up the overflow tank and see what happens. Dexcool only tho...but you knew that

[96_Aurora]

I get that DIC error code 15 at least once a year. I just add a little dex-cool and Aquafina and the warning goes away. Never seen a puddle or other leak anywhere. I've simply put it down to "The Nature of the Beast."

Chris

[bLACk AurOrA]

you have to leave the car off for 8 miniutes then turn it on for it to say low coolant again. thats what it did with my "check oil level" DIC display and id hit the RCL(whatever that means) and it would say ok. but turns out my oil was low i havent really driven it since i added oil tho but i think this did the trick

[erw38]

96_Aurora said:

I get that DIC error code 15 at least once a year. I just add a little dex-cool and Aquafina and the warning goes away. Never seen a puddle or other leak anywhere. I've simply put it down to "The Nature of the Beast."

Chris

Aquafina is purified water. You should only use distilled water.

bLACk said:

you have to leave the car off for 8 miniutes then turn it on for it to say low coolant again. thats what it did with my "check oil level" DIC display and id hit the RCL(whatever that means) and it would say ok. but turns out my oil was low i havent really driven it since i added oil tho but i think this did the trick

RCL stands for recall ;D

[Gary]

;)Its the sencer in the resovor stiching in cold weather.
In a couple of years it will go out for good. Sorry

Gary

[ITGeek]

Or the sensor is sticking because of gunk in the reservoir. It is more common for the sensor to stick because of build-up. Before spending some dough on a tank assembly, I'd remove the tank and try to flush it out.

You need to drain the radiator fluid, at least enough so that the tank is empty. Then remove the tank. There are a couple of mounting nuts, as well as a hose on the bottom, and one or two hoses on the top (this depends on the year), plus the electrical connector to the tank level switch. Put the tank cap back on and put a couple of capfulls of the radiator flush into the tank through the bottom hose fitting. Then fill with water and swish around.

You have to be careful while doing this because the float for the sensor can get jammed in the process. Some of the fluid will leak out of the small hose fittings, but not enough to matter for this. After swishing, dump the cleaning fluid out and look for gunk. Repeat this process a couple of times, then jiggle the tank up and down and see if you can hear the float moving around inside the tank. If you can hear the float moving, then you are done. If you can't, repeat the process a couple more times. If it still doesn't work, well then you're out a jug of radiator cleaner and some time.

Rinse the tank out a couple of times to make sure that the radiator flush is completely out. Then hook the tank back up and replace the radiator fluid that you drained out initially. That should take care of the problem.