Car Question... I need help

So I was out last night and around 10 pm or so when I turned on my car which was parked on this steep hill my low coolant light came on.

I got scared that my car was going to blow up or something so I went home immediately.

There was no steam. The gauge for the heat of the car was like halfway between cold and hot but it was also like 90+ degrees outside as well.

I got my fluids changed for the car on Wednesday so I don't know why I would have low coolant already.

I look at the receipt and it says "36 below 0" on the radiator.

Does this mean it needs fluids or what? Is 0 where it needs to be and it's 36 below that?

I don't understand what that means.

Can anyone help me?

Sorry I don't know anything about cars.

my guess would be that you were parked on a hill, sometimes it will cause the coolant to shift to one side, just let it run and it should work itself back to normal, no big deal, or if you really want to be cautious , open the hood, and the first huge black hose you see, squeeze it a few times, check your coolant level and squeeze it a few more times.

what kind of car do you have? as long as you are not running hot you are fine. could be a bad floater or what cyrusvirus said.

99 chevy malibu

probably just air caught in the system and it needs to be bled out. I would take it back to the technician who did the work and tell them about it.

Either the level needs to be corrected or there is air trapped in the system because they didnt bleed it properly when the flushed it.

but as long as the engine temperature doesnt run hotter than usual you could theoretically drive forever like that


the "36 below 0" is probably something someone just wrote on there who did the engine coolant flush to say that the engine was protected to "-36 degrees"

The "36 below 0" means that the coolant they used in your car can tolerate temperatures as low as -36 degrees F. So it's just the type of coolant they used and has nothing to do with the level of coolant in the reservoir. The coolant reservoir should have two marks on it showing where the level of coolant should be. The lower mark is where the coolant should be when the car is cold, and the higher mark is where the coolant should be when the car has been running for awhile (coolant expands with increasing temperature). Wait until the engine has cooled fully (5-6 hours), then pop the hood and check the coolant level. If it's below the "low" mark, then add more coolant (again, make sure you do this when engine has cooled). Seeing as how you just got coolant but the coolant light is coming on, there may be a problem. Check the coolant level first, and if that's where it's supposed to be, then there may be an issue with the sensor.

ok. do you have the 3100 or the quad four motor? the quad four's are notorious for bad head gaskets.