Quote:
Originally Posted by TheStig
1. Small Coolant leak: from "transmission thermostat" the medusa looking like thing, that has like 5 hoses hooked up to it.
2. there is a rattle from the engine bay. it only happens when i start it for like a second then its fine. seems like a start up thing.
3. there seems to be wind noise coming in from the rear driver corner window.
- the exact location is the bar in between the main window and corner window.
- i've redone all the seals. and it doesn't go away. the only thing i can think of is, it's missing a screw that goes behind the plastic covering the rear corner shade. on the bottom right above the door panel.
maybe thats it? 
5. a light engine knocking. mechanic says nothing serious yet but keep and eye on it .
is a little knocking normal on the 4.4i? i know some other V8s do this naturally or at least it sounds normal. |
Hi there and welcome to X5 ownership and the board. I edited your post to answer some of your questions with what little knowledge or experience I have.
1/. Do you have a picture of the "medusa" looking thing you mention? I have never heard of a transmission Thermostat. Only things I can think of that have hoses attached would be Overflow tank, Auxiliary water pump, etc.
2/. Your car has the well known M62TU V8 engine. One of it's weak points is the plastic timing chain guides that fail over time. The rattle you hear in the morning might be indicating a weakening Timing Chain Tensioner which sits on the passenger side in front of the engine. Right beside that bank of cylinder heads. It's a 30 minutes or less job to fix / replace it. It's worth replacing it as it will extend the life of your timing guides.
It might also indicate the type of oil that has been used in the car. Some people put heavier oils in high mileage cars in the hope of extending the life. However, I have learned that this does not really help - especially with this engine. You are better off with something like a full synthetic 5W/30 or even a full synthetic like 0W/40 which flows better especially during start up.
3/. There are indeed screws behind the trim piece you mention. If the screw is missing, it would indicate someone has either worked in that area before or tried to fix a similar issue. I would say recheck all the seals first - both on the inside and outside. They have been know to warp and cause such noise at times.
5/. The light knocking you mention sounds indicative of the infamous VANOS knock. The engine has the VANOS system and over time, the seals wear out and cause that dull knocking you might be hearing. It won't kill the engine, but as your mechanic rightfully said - keep your eye and ears on it.