Active coolant monitoring and leak mitigation in vehicle cooling systems

A vehicle cooling system comprising:

• a heat exchanger;
• upper and lower coolant hoses extending between the heat exchanger and a vehicle power system for carrying liquid coolant to and from the vehicle power system;
• a coolant pump attached to the upper coolant hose;
• and
• an electronically controllable coolant flow shutoff valve in series with the lower coolant hose adjacent a lower coolant outlet of the heat exchanger, wherein the electronically controllable coolant flow shutoff valve is configured to be closed when the coolant pump is off and open when the coolant pump is on.

A method of operating a vehicle cooling system for a vehicle, the vehicle cooling system including:

• a heat exchanger;
• upper and lower coolant hoses extending between the heat exchanger and a vehicle power system for carrying liquid coolant to and from the vehicle power system;
• an expansion tank fluidly coupled to the lower coolant hose;
• and
• an active coolant monitoring system comprising a coolant leak sensor that detects leakage of the liquid coolant from the vehicle cooling system and a coolant contamination sensor that detects contamination of the liquid coolant, wherein the coolant leak sensor and/or the coolant contamination sensor is disposed at the lower coolant hose or the expansion tank, the method comprising:
• during operation of the vehicle, determining whether the liquid coolant is contaminated based on a first signal from the coolant contamination sensor, and generating a first alert in response to detecting contamination of the liquid coolant;
• and
• determining whether there is a leak in vehicle cooling system based on a second sensor signal from the coolant leak sensor, and generating a second alert in response to detecting the leak in the vehicle cooling system.