Loss of coolant alarm

Thinking of over winter jobs on my 2003 TF. Apart from David's home made loss of coolant alarm (which is good but I'm not sure I'm up to it) I see B&G and Rimmers sell kits. These are £167 and £173 respectively. Are these the only options or are there alternative kits/options available out there that MG'ers know of.

Many thanks and Happy Christmas!

this looks like a good
on eBay.
ENGINE GUARDIAN EG3c WATCHDOG TEMPERATURE COOLANT SENSOR GAUGE OVERHEATING ALARM thing

From what I can deduce from the blurb, this uses a temperature sensor not a level detector.
Hence will not protect against no/low coolant level.

This new thread has pushed me into taking action that I was not quite ready for!

A while ago, Jaypay (I think that's the username) mentioned an elegant DIY solution using a contactless, non-immersion water level sensor. I messed around with this, built a prototype, which is on my MG TF and working well, and a second prototype, which is wrapped up as a Christmas present for my brother. The great thing about this alarm is that it requires no drilling and no cutting of wires. Apart from picking up 12v from the reversing light switch and making a ground connection, there is only the buzzer, which is mounted inside the car and the sensor which is Araldited to the expansion vessel. Fitting takes an hour or so.

In the new year, it is my intention to start selling these in kit form, probably on eBay. The price isn't set yet but I am thinking in terms of something around £25. So, much cheaper than the alternatives!

Before advertising them so widely, I was intending to offer a limited number here on The-T-Bar for just the cost of the parts in order to obtain some useful user feedback.

So, if anyone wants to be on the list for a late prototype, let me know. Price for these will be £10 including UK postage. Just 5 available, initially. Posting hopefully in January.

Bruce.

B&G, MGOC Spares and Rimmer all sell, what looks to be, the same low coolant alarm kit. Boys. has the price ever jumped since I installed one in my F. It was under £100 (w/VAT) back in 2011.

I can say that the low coolant alarm kit has saved my bacon in one instance in particular two years ago. We about an hour and a half from home, travelling on an Interstate highway (dual carriage way) in Detroit, USA, and the alarm went off. I was able to pull off at a safe location and discovered that one of the radiator's coolant hoses had failed right were it attaches to the SS coolant pipe. The hose was only two years old.

Nice one Bruce! if I hadn't already got a the B&G alarm I'd be happy to take up your kind offer.

I'm sure someone here would love to try out your alarm especially at such a low price. Well done :broon:

hi, you can put me down for one after Christmas if you will. my feedback should be of value to you. let me know please, also will there be instructions on how to fit it? thank you.

Hi Bruce,
Put me down for one, as you know I definitely want a coolant alarm and, will be more than happy to provide feedback etc.
Bob

This was my solution, a contactless sensor stuck to the outside of the coolant tank. No floats to get stuck over time and its worked faultlessly since I put it on last summer.
It fired up about 2 months ago when my coolant dropped just below the halfway mark, which got me worrying a bit, but everything seems ok for now.
I think the sensors are around the forty to fifty quid mark, I managed to blag a free sample from the guy who supplies us with many of these type of sensors at work.
The brackets are Marklin, a type of German Meccano, to clip the sensor on to the expansion tank. A bit of Sikoflex then held it in place.
I utilised the unused automatic gearbox lamp on my instrument panel as a warning light. A small relay is used to invert the sensor output so it triggers when the sensor does not detect liquid.
Seems unaffected by the high temperatures on the expansion bottle too.
Total cost of the whole system is about £70

Sundance

Sensor


Fitted to tank


The inverting relay fitted under the binnacle


Shown working on the instrument panel, the amber light to the right

graham1 wrote: hi, you can put me down for one after Christmas if you will. my feedback should be of value to you. let me know please, also will there be instructions on how to fit it? thank you.

Hi Graham,

OK. You are on my shortlist. Yes, there will be fitting instructions, of course. Currently, there are no pictures but I'm hoping to rectify this. Ensuring the clarity of the instructions is just one of the reasons I am seeking some feedback.

B