Coolant LEAK or Sensor Problem??? - Page 2

findog · #11 09-09-2008, 10:14 PM

Stop by your indy and buy an hours worth of his time to pressurize the system, it's cheap insurance. There are so many connections on the V8's cooling system your leak could be almost anywhere. The most common suspects are the expansion tank, valley pan gasket and heater hose's at the rear of the engine block.

Call BMMNA and they will probably pay for a new MID (pixels) if you pay a dealer's service charge. They should not charge you more than 1 hour.

Good luck.

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jammer310 · #12 09-09-2008, 10:18 PM

Okay so funny story...I spent ALL DAY researching this issue and finally feel comfortable tackling some of the problem...my husband comes into the garage and my five year runs into me...I drop our phone into the engine bay and now the phone is stuck...RINGING INSIDE MY X5!!!! It has been THAT kind of a day...but wait it gets worse...so my husband who is NOT SO PLEASED that the phone is inside the x5...rescues the phone and I start to explain to him what I think the problem with the expansion tank maybe and he grabs the little water hose on top of the expansion tank....yeah you know the one...and as I am saying DON'T TOUCH THAT...I of course hear it SNAP!!! Okay so we ordered the expansion tank, a new water line and a coolant sensor...we figured sooner or later these componenets were going to go bad anyways so why not start with the simple obvious things and work our way up to the big fixes...While my low coolant level light was coming on the interesting thing is the first time I added about 10 ounces of distilled water and the second time I added about 6 ounces...would the loss of this small amount of coolant trigger the low coolant level light??? Looks like I am stuck waiting for parts for the next few days, but I am plan to keep reading so I hope you all will keep making suggestions...THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!

jammer310 · #13 09-09-2008, 10:25 PM

Thanks Findog and FSETH...I am going to pursue the threads on the Dead pixels...it is a bit irritating to look at but at least it does not affect performance...

This is our fifth BMW and unfortunately we have had a horrible time finding an INDY to service them...we live in the burbs of Pittsburgh and there are three dealers within 50 miles of each other, but two of the three have not so good reputations...Man I wish I was a BMW tech as I think you could make a bundle in our area...I have noticed more and more bimmers in our area in the past few months...I wonder if just ANY indy could pressurize the cooling system or would it need to be someone very familair with BMW??? Thanks guys...I am sooooo ticked that I cannot drive my x5 unitl next week...

bmwe53fan · #14 09-09-2008, 10:40 PM

After you have added the coolant have you bled the system? It's a simple thing to do and will release trapped air in the system. And yes, the coolant sensor is that sensitive...

jammer310 · #15 09-09-2008, 10:44 PM

No I have not bled the system...I guess I should have thought to do that, but I did not...It is amazing that smalll amount of fluid loss could trigger the sensor...Wow I have a lot to learn!!!

bmwe53fan · #16 09-09-2008, 10:49 PM

The bleeding procedure is pretty simple - on top of the coolant tank is a plastic screw that you just turn while the engine is running and you will see the bubbles come out and then a steady stream will come out and then you just close the screw, You might have to do it a few times to get all of the air out.

BMW cooling systems are just fundamentally different that most others - they are a completely closed system that operates under much higher pressures than most.

jammer310 · #17 09-09-2008, 11:00 PM

Thanks...I will definitely try this when the darn parts come in...

bayern3003 · #18 10-09-2008, 10:26 PM

In case you haven't fixed the problem yet:

My X5 has the same specs with 61K miles. It had the check coolant light problem for several months now. Low coolant was not the problem (coolant level was near full when light came on). Sometimes check coolant light went off/on intermittently. Dealer replaced sensor today -- specifically, radiator level sensor, fp-number 17-13-7-524-812 -- and so far the light has been off. Will have to wait and see to be sure since sometimes topping the coolant (even when it was almost full) would temporarily switch the warning light off.

My suggestion: consider getting the sensor replaced.

flatlander · #19 10-10-2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammer310

No I have not bled the system...I guess I should have thought to do that, but I did not...It is amazing that smalll amount of fluid loss could trigger the sensor...Wow I have a lot to learn!!!

Just a word of caution on the bleed screw... it's plastic and it is one of the pieces that can fail if you're too rough with it.

Also, someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, if you're smelling coolant there is a leak somewhere. The valley pan gasket (right in the middle of the Vee of the engine) design was updated. The old design leaked allowing coolant to seap out and sit in the valley. The heat from the engine usually dries up that leaked coolant so you don't find it on the ground.

I replaced the valley pan and it hasn't leaked since.
Here's the link to my post:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...scription.html

Good luck!

Dr_Smith · #20 10-10-2008, 03:16 PM

I'd check the bleed screw as suggested. Mine was leaking and I didn't examine it well enough the first time around, I thought the tank needed replaced so I ordered one. I then discover the tank is fine, just the bleeder screw needed replaced. Hope that's all yours is, but if you need a tank, I have a new one I'll part with cheap.

David

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