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VALLEY PAN LEAK OR...?????
http://www.xoutpost.com/article/BMW%...n%20Gasket.pdf Without it, I would not have been able to this job myself. There are invaluable tips that get you through some very challenging spots. I might add to it, if anyone is about to do the job and wants to reach out to me. HOWEVER...much to my horror, my X5 (2003 4.6is) is still leaking coolant. I used Permatex ultra black gasket maker and was very careful when making the gasket for the valley pan cover, and replaced my water manifold gaskets. I can't imagine its coming from either of those spots...or could it? How easy is it to screw that up? Does anyone have a clue as to where else the coolant could be leaking from? God forbid I didn't get something back on correctly. Doing the job again is unthinkable. I'm finding about a half cup of coolant (or less) on my garage floor. Its definitely coming from the back of the engine. Any feedback? Thoughts? Advise? How should I go about trying to pinpoint the source? Cheers Last edited by kipp; 12-05-2012 at 12:07 PM. |
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#2
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First off, you are welcome! I am glad it is being put to good use.
As for the coolant loss, lets reverse this. So how are you seeing coolant on the floor and knowing it is from the back of the motor? When you took the top end apart, did you securely fasten the bolts to the water accumulator? What about the O-rings? Did you lubricate them before putting them in? Did they go into the grooves and seat properly? I am assuming using the Black RTV, you reused your valley pan. Scraped the gasket off, reapplied the thin bead, let it set for an hour and then se seated it correct? Did the gasket, after you torqued it spill out the sides a bit.. did it squeeze out evenly? Get back to us.
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2011 E70 50i M Sport Exterior: Alpine Weiss III Interior: Nevada PACKAGES: . |
#3
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What you need to do is pressurize the system with a coolant pressure tester, and look for the leak. I recommend removing the entire cabin filter assembly and the engine cover. You need to get the car on a lift and look from below, and also look from the top. To look from the top, you really need to climb up on top of the car and get your head as far back as possible. Arm yourself with an inspection mirror and bright light. Feel around all the hoses until you feel something wet.
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2014 BMW 328i Xdrive 2011 BMW 335i M-Sport 2008 BMW X5 4.8i Sport 2000 BMW 528i 5sp |
#4
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My thought are:
1. If one of the o-rings was badly seated coolant would leak constantly and he would run our of it really fast. 2.I think that it's not difficult to make a good gasket on the old Valley Pan cover,it's easily accessible etc. but...but if OP reused a rear collector manifold gasket with some silicone,there's almost no way to get it right,I struggled to place correctly the Victor Reinz gaskets,one was even torqued with only one hole well set.Thankfully I always double check,I know my own abilities to screw things up the first and the second time. 3. I agree on a point about the correct setting procedure for a gasket maker,did OP do it right?What I think...this isn't a vintage car part that is really difficult to get,WHY don't you get a $90 piece and do it the right way?Wrong place to make economy.Am I wrong?
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e53 '00 4.4i Oxford Green II Freshly rebuilt tranny(2nd one) and transfer case/front shaft e70 '08 3.0si Sapphire Black cinnamon leather 7 seats e61 '06 530XI Sports Touring Silver - SOLD |
#5
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>diyanich
As much as it's possible that the valley pan is still causing the leak, there are several heater hoses between the back of the motor and the firewall that are prone to failure. Some are a royal pita to change, so it's possible many owners don't address them as normal maintence. I just had one fail on my X this week, (one that goes from the back of the engine all the way around to the front). Quite a bitch to change. These hoses at the back of the motor should definitely be ruled out as a source of coolant leaking onto the transmission before pulling the intake manifold off.
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2014 BMW 328i Xdrive 2011 BMW 335i M-Sport 2008 BMW X5 4.8i Sport 2000 BMW 528i 5sp Last edited by Skyline; 12-05-2012 at 08:28 AM. |
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All good advises, been there done it on item 1. This is o-ring on the twin pipes on the WP sides on the M64 V8. Then I mis dianosed it, replaced VP gasket instead which was good and still leaked until I did pressure test. All good for now (knock2 on wood) as far as cooling. |
#7
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The bolts were fastened correctly. I'd like to point out that initially I could not get the water accumulator back on for some time, and I discovered that there was a piece of the old gasket stick to the engine. After that I made sure all the surfaces were clean...and only then could all the bolts line up and get fully tightened. You mention the o-rings. I did not lubricate them. Is that just about a guarantee of leakage? I did put a nice bead of RTV on there and let it set up for about an hour while resting on the engine head in position. I cam back and tightened it down just a wee bit. And in another 30 minutes tightened it down fully. It did not squeeze out in all areas. I would find it difficult to believe this would be such an easy thing to screw up. You're just putting enough on there to close an already very very small gap between the valley pan cover and the block. |
#8
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Where do I find one of these tools? This should make it easy to locate... |
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#10
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I'm really concerned that by not putting some silicone on the o-rings they are leaking. Doing the job again would no doubt be a lot faster since I don't have to examine everything before I remove it and/or spend so much time thinking things through before I put them back together. Been there done that...and that's why mechanics who've done these jobs a dozen times can get it done so quick. Hell, it took me about three 6 hour segments to do the job that the dealer only charges about 8 hours to do. |
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