I own a 1981 dodge diplomat salon. Within the past 3 or 4 days ive been having a problem where after starting my vehicle from cold and letting it warm up to the regular temperature ive experienced complete loses of power while driving. The vehicle will lose all power during acceleration and die completely though this does not happen every time I try to accelerate, it is rather sporadic for the first 10-15 minutes of driving then seems to go away.

At first I assumed this was just because I hadn't let the car warm up enough because it only happened in the mornings from absolute cold. However, ive also noticed the small red light next to my temperature gauge has turned on indicating that my engine coolant is low or over heating.

I have topped up the engine coolant as it was rather low and the engine is not running hotter than normal. So far i've only driven the car once since topping up the fluids and it seemed to perform like normal without any of the weird power failiure however I added the fluid in the afternoon at school after the car had already been driven to school a few hours prior. The engine coolant low/overheated light is still on and wont turn off, I even tried idling my engine for about 20 minutes to see if the coolant just needed time to fill the system. Could the coolant sensor be the problem? Is there even a sensor in a car this old? It is a 33 year old vehicle.

Were my strange power problems due to the coolant being low? My father suggested that the engine may have thought its coolant was dangerously low and turned itself off while I was driving to avoid damage Is that the case?

Will my coolant light turn off after driving normally a couple times?

That would be pretty neat if the slant was complex enough to turn itself off if the coolant was low. The light you are seeing s the coolant temperature "idiot light". It only comes on if your engine is overheating. You need to stop driving the car NOW. Do not drive it until you find out why the temp light is coming on. Loss of power is a typical sign of an overheating engine.

The things to check are:
(1) the coolant temp sending unit
(1.5) the coolant level
(1.75) the coolant temp thermostat
(2) the clutch fan (make sure it actually engages and doesn't just freewheel leading to no cooling at idle)
(3) the water pump belt
(4) the water pump

If all that checks out, you should check the condition of your choke on the carb. Verify it is set properly, the vacuum choke pulloff is working, and the choke thermostat is connected and operating correctly. Also be sure the electric choke assist is connected or the choke will stay on too long.

But the choke has nothing to do with the coolant temp light, so fix the temp light first.

Thanks for the reply! Im a pretty big newbie to this kind of vehicle (and vehicles in general) do you have any idea where I might be able to find some good diagrams or picture aid type things that would help me locate all this stuff? Ive tried looking for diagrams and sort of tear-down manual type stuff on the web but ive been fairly unsuccessful.

You absolute best choice is the factory servide manual. HERE is a set for $27 US plus shipping, a real bargain. The factory service manual will tell you how to do anything on your car.

Since you are new to older cars, and cars in general, you'll also want to get at least some of the three books described in this thread.

Read these books until you understand what they are saying.