On a road trip and sprung a leak-HELP please!

[taosx5]

I am looking for guidance from any of you out there. On a road trip on our vacation in an 03 X5 4.6is with a 126K miles on the clock. We did a 11 hours across Colorado, Wyoming and half way across Montana. Car ran flawlessly.

Got to our daughters place in Big Sky on Friday evening. Car ran great, cruise on 80 all the way across WY and MT with AC on. Never got hot. Went to start it up next am and saw a puddle underneath. It was definitely coolant leaking from left side of engine. I drove it up on wheel ramps and cannot see much with out removing the aluminum engine pan cover. Start it and after a minute begins to leak again but stops after things have cooled down.

Since I am on the road I don't have tools to trouble shoot/repair this but from what I have read in the threads it is most likely a heater hose leak. Since it was a weekend no shops are open so I will have car towed to Bozeman MT. Anyone on the threads with a lead for a good mechanic shop in Bozeman? Any thing I can tell them that will help diagnos the problem and get me back on the road?

I have owned this car for 7-8 years and do a lot of the regular maintenance things myself so I know a little bit. Replaced the expansion tank on it already, done coolant flush a couple of times just to get rid of the old and put in new. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[electricalserv x5]

wow good luck with the 4.6is................is it the driver side? I would always drive with duck tape as a last effort

[jspdr]

If its a heater hose you might want to try the FiberFix

[taosx5]

jspdr, never heard of fiberfix, what is it?

[X5only]

Originally Posted by trader4

Fiber fix is a new product that was on SharkTank a couple years
ago. If you know how fiberglass cloth and epoxy works, it's
kind of like that, except the glue is water based. You mix it
with water, it has some kind of fiber cloth that gets embedded
with the glue, then wrapped around whatever you want to
mend. Can be used for rake handles, pipes, etc. I think Lowes
sells it, if not then HD, for sure I've seen it in one of those.

There are also epoxy mend kits that could probably be used
as a temporary patch. I'd probably use those for around town
until I could get it fixed, whether you want to use it for a long
trip, is up to you. Also obviously depends on what exactly the
leak is.

I just looked at their website- https://www.fiberfix.com/ Appears to be a great product to have in the car and house to save the day!

[admranger]

This is what you need, sold in a lot of places including amazon. I have a roll in every vehicle. Rescue Tape

[crystalworks]

Originally Posted by admranger

This is what you need, sold in a lot of places including amazon. I have a roll in every vehicle. Rescue Tape

That stuff sounds amazing from their descriptions. LOL sounds like Billy Mays (RIP) should have been hocking the stuff on late night TV. Maybe his buddy Vince should start selling it.

Might have to pick up a roll. Even if it isn't as good as they say (emergency fan belt???) it looks like it would have some good uses. Might help the OP out depending on where his leak is. Heater hose (the 3 on the firewall) might be hard to wrap though depending on where the leak is.