CCV and oil pressure pondering

[taosx5]

I have been reading dozens of threads on this and here is what I have concluded. Just wanting to see if most of you agree.

I have two 03 X5's, 4.4 and 4.6is. Never had a problem till now but the 4.6 (91K miles) just started blowing small amounts of oil out of the oil filter cannister, enough to leave a 3" diameter puddle. I suspected too much pressure in the oil system but did not know why until I started reading the forums. Yep it is the usual suspect, very cold at -4 F outside and 40 in garage, short trips under 5 miles. (Btw, I did not know I should avoid this behavior until now). Mechanic-ing is not my strong suit expecially in a frigid garage with sub 0 temps outside. If it were warmer I would probably attempt this DIYS.

It has done this twice, about two weeks ago and again today and never a spot of oil at all. The first time it happened I did not correlate the cold and short driving distance. It seems to stop once I start regular driving habits again. I have only lost about 1/8 mark on the dipstick. So here are my thoughts. Taking it to an Indie and having the CCV replaced, oil separator inspected and cleaned, replace all of the vacuum and oil hoses, and do a visual inspection on valve gaskets to make sure they are not leaking.

1) Would this be the proper protocol?
2) Once the engine and oil heat up, will the pressure be released and the oil leak stop, meaning am I ok to drive it for a couple of hours to get it to the Indie shop?
3) Any other good preventative maintenance items while this is being done?
4) I assume avoiding short start up and stops during the cold winter months?

Thanks in advance you all rock.

[JCL]

Sounds like a good plan.

The pressure is from the breather being blocked. If it is gunked up, it may not open up when the engine warms. If it is partly frozen, then engine heat can warm it up, but not always. And an oil leak that has been started by a seal blowing out won't necessarily stop when the pressure is removed. Only way to tell is to watch it and see if it continues.

It isn't always possible to avoid short trips during cold months. If not, what is important is an occasional drive for a longer distance, to get it good and hot and give it enough time to boil off the condensation that collects. If that isn't possible, then the fall back is regular (annual) maintenance of the crankcase ventilation system, and cleaning out any condensate (the white paste that is formed with condensation and oil)that collects. It has probably taken several years for enough to collect to cause a problem for you now, so with the same driving behavious, an annual check should be fine.

[taosx5]

JCL, thanks a million. This all makes a lot of sense to me now that I know what it is about. I fortunately have not had this issue come up thus was not familiar with the issue. The wife's X5 just turned 106K on the clock and will do this maintenance. I will research said maintenance but in a nutshell what do you recommend and what time of year, before or after winter? I appreciate the response.

[JCL]

Since this and other BMW boards get slammed with multiple posters with this problem, regular as clockwork every onset of winter, I would do it at the end of summer each year. You are looking for clogged or soft hoses in the crankcase ventilation system, and cleaning out the separator.

[taosx5]

JCL,

Thanks for the advice. I took the morning off work yesterday and did an oil/filter change on my 4.6 and put my winter wheels/tires on. I did an examination of CV boots, brakes, rotors, and all the usual suspects before putting the winter wheels on. I have elected to take her to an Indy mechanic to replcae the CCV and the oil separator before year end. I would attempt to do this DIYS if the weather was warmer but we have been dipping into the minus temps lately so I am not so inclined.

While I was changing oil and filter I inspected the oil filler cap for gunk. There was none. I am not sure how to inspect the the CCV but I assume it requires removing the plastic cover on the top of the engine (4.6). I have a Dinan strut so I am uncertain if I need to remove that to inspect the CCV. Do you know if I take the Dinan strut off, will I need to do any alignment afterwards? Since I was heading out of town I did not want to mess with trying to get to the CCV right now. I spent a couple of hours reading up on why this valve fails and all but am still confused on how to inspect and clean it. is there a DIYS link you can point me to? I got the car good and hot before and when I was done there was not a leak to be found. But then the temps were above freezing so I will just keep on eye on it.

Since both of my X5s are long out of warranty I do all the oil changes myself and have bumped them up to every 6K miles. I had a hard time with the 15K that BMW suggests and followed for the first 50K miles.

Thanks again for all your help and happy holidays to you and your family.

[JCL]

I have attached a link with the realoem parts book pictures of your oil separator/crankcase ventilation system.

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.6is Crankcase-Ventilation/oil separator

Leaks can come from the return hoses, and they can get plugged. If the valve gets plugged it can create pressure in the crankcase, which forces oil out of the weakest gasket, often a valve cover gasket. Once that happens, the gasket that leaked is toast and must be replaced. The parts book picture will give you a sense of what parts are involved; inspection should include all lines, and the separator itself. You need to find your current oil leak to make sure you are fixing the leak.

No issues with respect to alignment after removing your Dinan brace IMO.

I don't know which covers need to be removed for the V8. There should be a DIY post on here about the V8, I will take a look.

edit: Here is an article on the 3.0 engine, on a 530. Note that the V8 is different, but what you will see from these detailed pictures is that there isn't a lot of room in there, and it is a bit of a rat's nest. The job isn't complicated, it is just a pain.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/...ed-w-pics.html

edit: Here is a thread on the same subject. See in particular post #19, with the steps involved for a 2002 4.4.

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...valve-diy.html


Hope that helps.

Jeff

[Ninja]

I had a similar issues with my E70 due to short trips during winter, small oil leaked if the car has not been driven for a while, took it to the dealer, they confirmed it was a faulty oil separator/CCV and replaced a new one. Hasn't had any problem since then.

3 months later, another oil leak again. Is this a common problem for all BMWs?

[xriderob]

Hey just to share from my ccv experience in cold temps. I had several issues on cold weather start up generally -20 and below, and eventually after bringing it to the dealer and Indy found out it was ccv gunked up and they said my engine was under way to much vacuum.
Ended up getting the "updated ccv" system on the passenger side bank, driver side never an issue. Update involved moving the ccv tube/valve out from the case cover and the reason it cost over $1000 was because it required a new cover to accommodate the new set up.

New set up works better than old but still having issues. Started up yesterday morning with our first below -30 day and sure enough misfire, and I have A few days before cleaned out ccv and it was FULL of gunk. I even avoid small trips and idling. And I mean FULL With pipes fully clogged as well as the valve.

Anyways I got the p0300 (multiple misfire) as well as misfires in several cylinders. It took second to work out but after I shut off engine twice it was okay. Another bad sign and I will need to get ccv cleaned further. It sucks I spent so much on update but it still doesn't fix the flaw. As jcl always says you must adapt your driving habits or get a heated garage (never ended up getting mine finished whoops). So hope this helps and if u want more pics of update etc I can take some.
Take care

[taosx5]

I took the 4.6is in right before Xmas and after three weeks (lost ten days with the holidays) she is like brand new. I had the oil separator and hoses replaced and surprisingly ithere was not have a lot of gunk in it. The valve cover gasket was showing some seepage so I had them replace that.

The valley pan gasket was the culprit for the burned coolant smell I was experiencing upon start up. So that too was replaced. She is nine years old and has 91K miles so I decided to replace the water pump, thermostat, and all coolant hoses, and of course a coolant flush.

I was just starting to notice the seal on the differnential was begining to leak so that too was replaced.

I had lived with this slighgt wobble I would get upon hard breaking at higher speeds since I bought her three years ago. I had them mike (sp?) the rotors and sure enought they were slightly warped. There was enough metal to turn the rotors so now the wobble is gone and she runs like new.

All of this was done at an Indy shop I have been real pleased with. Total cost for all of this was $3525 including all parts and labor. I thought it best to try to replace the oil separator, valve cover gaskets, and valley pan gasket at the same time since a lot of the labor has to be repeated to do each one.

I think the price was fair. What do you all think?

[motordavid]

Very good info thread, esp for the new to the Board wonderers, imo.
Helluva set of pics taosx5; looks like the biz end of a lamprey.
Glad you got all your niggling things fixed.
GL, mD