SO, THE FIRST TIME COOLANT APPEARED IN MY MSG CENTER I STOPPED AT AUTO ZONE TO GET SOME, THE MAN WANTED TO CHECK THE LEVEL BEFORE I SPENT MY MONEY SO WE WALKED OUTSIDE, CHECKED WHAT HE SAID WAS THE COOLANT RESIVOR WHICH WAS FULL. SO MY FIRST QUESTION IS, WHERE IS THIS THING LOCATED UNDER THE HOOD???? I AM MECHANICALLY INCLINED SO I DO KNOW WHAT IM LOOKING AT BUT THIS IS MY FIRST SATURN AND MY FIRST STD CAR, I LOVE BABY BELL AND WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT ER.

NOW, THIS HAS HAPPENED OFTEN SINCE BUT THE LEVEL IN (WHAT THE MAN SAID WAS) THE RESIVOR HAS HELD STEADY, HE ALSO SAID THAT I DIDNT HAVE ANYWAY TO PUT IT IN MY RADIATOR, WHICH STRUCK ME AS ODD, SO I THOUGHT MAYBE ITS A SENSOR GOING BAD? THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON FOR ABOUT A WEEK OR TWO THEN WENT OFF AND THIS COOLANT MSG THING STARTED THE NEXT DAY! RELATED AT ALL? I NEED SOME INSIGHT YALL! THANX IN ADVANCE!

 

1) go get the codes read at autozone or similar.
Codes that are "pending" will not turn the light on until the car's computer confirms if there s really problem. If the autozone person says the light must be on to pull any codes, they are theoretically 100 % incorrect. It is a longshot but one worth taking,

2) where on the temp gauge is the temp reading when warmed up and driving, warmed up and idling sitting in the driveway, and does the temp needle keep swinging back n forth with time?

3) Thermostat may be stuck open and the car may be complaining that the coolant temp is too LOW when the car is running, though this condition will almost always throw a code that sets the service engine light. do you get any heat out of it once warmed up?

4) Coolant temp sensor may be defective
5) coolant reservoir level sensor may be defective

Please stop typing in all CAPS. It is hard on the eyes. Thanks

 

Derf's on top of it. IF it were mine, I'd probably pull the reservoir and try cleaning the sensor in it. They can get funky if regular coolant changes have not been performed.