Coolant tank 1.2 bar (17.4 lb) cap upgrade

[Attacking Mid]

FCP to the rescue with a price drop...

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...62722764685312

AM.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

The caps are in stock after being out of stock for months. If everyone here orders new ones, they may sell out again.
Don't forget that brass plug too!

I'll admit it. I bought two. Ya see, I saw fluid in front of the E38 and I got a low coolant warning, so.. ya know.. And then there's the 4.8is. Well, with an upcoming roadtrip near 2k miles, I thought this would be a GREAT lil road test! Yes, the OE is in a side pocket.

So, What I HAVE noticed via I-Buss App is that my coolant TEMPS vary more than they did. I think this is because the fan may kick on earlier? But today on the road, I saw temps as low as 215 but never higher than the 221 I saw before normally.

Keep in mind, I've also replaced my plastic radiator with a Zionsville unit. My cooling system is such an afterthought, I have to remind myself when it's time to cycle coolant. I even put an aluminum unit (CSF) in my daughter's 128. And don't get me started on the F87.

I wanna do the next service with that Evans no pressure stuff. A guy I knew online did it like 17 years ago and still reports zero problems. What say the experts here?

[X5chemist]

Wow, Zionsville aluminum rad is tested to four times pressure.
A hot engine would blow out o rings and plastic connectors first. Today' GM motors run at 215F. So aluminum efficiency is run on the hot side of iron block normal ranges.

What is "Evans no pressure stuff"?

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Wow, Zionsville aluminum rad is tested to four times pressure.
A hot engine would blow out o rings and plastic connectors first. Today' GM motors run at 215F. So aluminum efficiency is run on the hot side of iron block normal ranges.

What is "Evans no pressure stuff"?

I think it's alcohol/glycol maybe? A guy did it in his E39 and has kept the car (and coolant type) the entire time with good results. Evans NPG

[X5chemist]

Very interesting hygroscopic coolant. I would like to know the liquid compounds used. Definitely a great use for long term maintenance. As long as sensors work correctly, the use could last as long as coolant components don't wear out. A back up coolant probe reading would make it perfectly usable.

[PropellerHead]

Welp, here's some completely unreliable data from the last 2,000 miles with the 1.2bar cap: The car does run cooler more often than not. One of the benefits of me comPLETEly boning my Android radio the night before I left was that I got to start all over again. I think I wrote ab this somewhere (was it in THIS thread?), but the BT OBD connects to Torque now just fine. I am committed to figuring out the data upload and analysis stuff. But it was the Tourque that seemed to give me updates more quickly than the I-Bus app. Which makes some sense. OBD being what it was made for and I-Bus being an afterthought for broadcasting the data.

So here we are at various times that I was particularly impressed by the data on the engine load, speed, and yet, consistently varying temperatures. Does the make ANY sense to ANYone? Well, I don't know why it does or does not, but I know that I got these pics along the drive. Do note the gauges. If I were to run 'er up over 80, I'm sure going to wait for a time to warm up.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

...the BT OBD connects to Torque now just fine. I am committed to figuring out the data upload and analysis stuff. But it was the Tourque that seemed to give me updates more quickly than the I-Bus app. Which makes some sense. OBD being what it was made for and I-Bus being an afterthought for broadcasting the data.

... I was particularly impressed by the data on the engine load, speed, and yet, consistently varying temperatures. Does the make ANY sense to ANYone?....

I've been trying to use four Android apps to give me reliable data that I can't get from my missing MID display, non-Android radio, and no I-bus interface (yet). I can get different combinations of PID's on each of the apps (Torque Pro, OBDLink, Bimmertool Pro, and Deep OBD), but connecting to each requires that I use an OBD dongle or a K-line/OTG cable plugged into a different Android device.

If that's confusing, I've been fighting this problem since I installed an electric fan, months ago. Using the

• 1) OBDLink LX OBD dongle, enables
• ....a) my dedicated spare phone (Samsung SM-J327A) to connect with the Torque Pro app -or-
• ....b) the 8" Lenovo tablet connects with the OBDLink app, while
• ....c) my personal phone (Samsung SM-G955U) connects to either; while
• 2) K-line/OTG cable enables only my personal phone to utilize the Bimmertool Pro app.
• 3) Nothing seems to let me utilize the DEEPOBD app, yet (I must've configured it wrong, somehow).

Each connection using whatever combo took 15-30 minutes, usually, until I added an automation app called Macroid to the dedicated (to the X5) phone. Now, it connects within a minute, so I use Torque Pro exclusively, to monitor as much as I can, on several different screen dashboards. Primarily coolant temperature, fuel trims, MAF, and throttle on one screen, O2 sensors, vacuum, speed, load, rpms, etc, on two others, with a running live data feed on a third, and emission monitors on anither. The coolant temp is a must have over all others, IMO.


I've been using Torque Pro for nine years, but only now am I tryingto troubleshoot problems using it, not as a code clearing device and emission monitor, which I mostly had done all that time. I got my first smartphone just to use that app (otherwise, I'd still be using my flip phone).

Of course, the Ibus app/Resler interface combo gives a nice way to monitor parameters, and modify/code your BMW to perform cerain activities; Torque Pro (and the other apps mentioned) does not.The display screen is quite nice, readable, and customizable, no matter what Android device it's installed on.



Until I actually get the Ibus/Resler setup for my tablet (which usually serves as my "offline map/driving conditions monitor"), I'll keep using the Torque Pro app as my go-to, unless I find a Foxwell-type scantool thhat I can read while driving.

[workingonit]

Two days ago, I was preparing my HHR Panel for inspection (it passed), and went ahead and did the winter preparations for the other four cars & trucks, too. Tire pressures, fluid levels, wipers, etc. I'll admit I skipped testing coolant status on three of them (the HHR, Chevy 2500HD, and the X5) since 2021, just doing a visual check of overflow/expansion tanks. I did check the GMC's coolant, back a few months ago, when I noticed the upper hose leaking. All were about a cup or so low (though the quality of the coolant was still good, testing below 0 degrees F), which brings me to the subject of radiator caps leaking when old.

I've never renewed the caps on any of my vehicles if I didn't first observe a problem (though I probably replaced caps a half-dozen times on my old Chevelle, every time I repaired or replaced the radiator). If it ain't broke....

But, I wonder if it's normal for an E53 expansion tank to lose about 6-8 ounces of coolant in just over 3.5 years, and only 1300 miles (not counting countless hours of stationary testing the engine/cooling system/etc.). I expected the other vehicles to lose that much, but not the X. The X is always parked on a plywood sheet, and no leaks of any kind have ever appeared. And, none of the vehicles have misfires or tailpipe signs of internal coolant leakage, either.

All have their original caps: [email protected].&188?k miles, Chevy [email protected].&140?k miles, and [email protected].&167?k miles. And I assume that the X5's cap may be original too, so it is @23y.o.&212k miles (though my neighbor, the PO that traded it to me, did replace the expansion tank and hoses, he probably didn't buy a new OEM cap to seal it with).

So, I'll add a 1.4 bar cap PN 17137639023 (as suggested by Clavurion and Bmwe5320023.0), and a brass bleeder as well, to my "X"Mas list. I can replace the other caps at any time, locally, but at least I can visually check the levels in their overflow tanks, without having to grab channelocks to unscrew the expansion tank cap, like on the X. it's a tight 'bugger.

[X5chemist]

The 1.2 bar cap does burp. I find residue on the tank top. Summer temps are hot here. I check coolant at least once a month. I'm not worried since the tank level sensor is working correctly. It took me a while to find a bad connector wire.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

The 1.2 bar cap does burp. I find residue on the tank top. Summer temps are hot here. I check coolant at least once a month. I'm not worried since the tank level sensor is working correctly. It took me a while to find a bad connector wire.

I'd like to get the 1.2 bar cap for the hot weather here in DFW, but I think that there might be system leaks by dropping the pressure by .8 bar (about 11.6 psi); I figure that BMW's complicated O-rings and clips require some high pressure to stay on place, so my compromise will be to get a 1.4 bar cap (I assume that the 1.2, 1.4, and 2.0 bar caps are interchangeable).

I filled the expansion tank when I first got the X in early summer '21, and followed some procedure I found on XO to burp it. I could smell hot coolant that summer, so I tightened the bleeder screw until I could barely detect any smell at all, and have neglected the tank until this week. I've never seen any sort of coolant leak anywhere, since. I've driven it even one day when it was 111F (in stop & go traffic, with no problems (of course, my 3000cfm aftermarket fan was the hero that day), but if my cooling system was going to fail, it should've happened then.

Now, having topped it up, with 6-8 ounces, will I need to burp it again? or slightly open the bleeder? I don't want to crack the tank.

Is there a test to confirm the tank level sensor is working? on a Foxwell? or on the dash computer?