I smell coolant

[BeemerUser]

After car is warmed up and I driving down street I smell the coolant. My coolant level is little lower in tank but I cannot find the leak anywhere. No place on ground, nothing anywhere I can see. I smell it a little then it goes away. I can drive 50 miles, smell it a little bit for a few miles then it all goes away.
Help please

[upallnight]

uh oh!!!

[andrewwynn]

It's the weather. Are you in a cold climate? I've seen several coolant reservoir leaks in the past few weeks including myself.

It's a good sign you can smell: it means not likely internal leak into engine/oil.

Take a dry paper towel and run around all sides of the reservoir and hoses (wear gloves you want to do when hot and pressurized)


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[BeemerUser]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

It's the weather. Are you in a cold climate? I've seen several coolant reservoir leaks in the past few weeks including myself.

It's a good sign you can smell: it means not likely internal leak into engine/oil.

Take a dry paper towel and run around all sides of the reservoir and hoses (wear gloves you want to do when hot and pressurized)


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Yes it has been colder somtimes at 20 degrees in the mountains where I stay. So you saying the reservoir needs replacement?

[scourtaud23]

At the very least it needs checking, ideally when you can smell it, park and run the paper towel (with gloves)

[andrewwynn]

Often can be a simple o-ring. The problem with x5 is the metal plate catches all drips makes it hard to find leaks. Use a UV flashlight coolant is florescent.


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[electricalserv x5]

Hi , I have been chasing my coolant for over 3 years with shops and dealers misleading me left and right.............that being said, Its most likely the seal behind the timing chain , which is a lot of work to repair or. it's the coolant tube going through the valley pan.........You have a great shop in SD ALL GERMAN AUTO. they are really good and should hood You up.............good luck. and ask questions about your repair before they start.

[bcredliner]

I would refill to the proper level and drive it 50 miles.

If you only smell the coolant for the first 50 miles the time to check for a leak is after that 50 miles and engine has cooled. Check the reservoir especially the bottom, heater hoses including the ones at the back of the engine, the water pump and the alternator if yours is water cooled. Sometimes a slow leak collects on the reinforcement plate or the plastic cover under the engine and doesn't show on the ground. If you don't find a leak looking from the top of the engine then check the bottom of the engine for an indication of a leak and trace it up to the leak. I always search using a very bright small beam LED flashlight to focus on a small area and leaks show up better under white light.

If the leak is internal you should be able to see some white smoke in the exhaust on startup or be able to smell it in exhaust fumes.

[DougPEX5]

I had a similar issue, and found the o ring on the bleeder screw was missing. It took me months of ownership to find it.


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[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by DougPEX5

I had a similar issue, and found the o ring on the bleeder screw was missing. It took me months of ownership to find it.

Yes, rule out the simple stuff first. I once had a very similar and common problem on mine - the coolant bleed screw had simply cracked. It is made of plastic, and is easy to crack with over-tightening. You can buy brass ones to prevent that problem in the future if you want.

A pressure test would be a good thing to do if you can't easily find the leak just by looking.