Dumb Question About Bleeding Coolant in 3.0i

[x5homework]

@upallnight...thanks for staying with me. the macgyver job wasn't being lazy exactly. my bad. btw the water i put in the reservoir never showed up in the kiddie pool. so i maybe just assumed incorrectly re the lower radiator hose. which still needs replacing, but just isn't the current crisis

can't tell if ac is working actually. it is pretty chilly here right now. everything comes on like it's working.

could the liquid that came from under the car have come out of that hole that the black plastic silicony circle came from? is that a separate liquid do you know? if i get the hole covered again, do i need to add a different liquid somewhere? jeez thanks.

yep it is an old car. kinda miss my 09 convertible rice pot (eclipse spyder) but i had another kid (ran out of seatbelts) haha. hope you're laughing with me!

[x5homework]

what do you guess macgyver used to stick that circle on the ac compressor housing? (did i ask that right haha) is it called sealant, adhesive, or ???. i searched oembimmerparts.com and autohausaz.com. they give only fluids, oils, and lubes.

[upallnight]

Since you mention in an earlier post that you have no heat, that's a sign that you have air in the system. You will need to bleed the system. Check out e46 fanatic on how to bleed the system.

I don't think that circular plastic piece is an original bmw piece. If it is there should be a BMW logo stamp with a bunch of number on it.

[BimmerM3inGA]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

There is no way to challenge your logic--if it ain't broke it will soon. I think that's the way it goes, maybe not.

The reason I posted it is not required is because some of us think that replacing all the hoses, the water pump, the radiator etc. is expensive. Any many of us don't have the time or talent to DIY, or alternative transportation or or. They need to know they have realistic options to consider. In addition, there are other readers of our posts and they also need to know--the rest of the story.

Sure, there are coolant problems that could cause damage to any engine--few and far between. Primarily they happen when the driver does something like driving to the next exit--it is only 3 miles or doesn't know what a temp gauge is for. I doubt very much that anyone here fits that profile.

If I had a hose fail and by examination another hose was suspect, I probably would replace all the hoses. However, I lost a hose last summer. The others looked/felt fine. I replaced the one hose. The other hoses are still fine.

I would never consider using the potential of catastrophic engine failure to justify a complete cooling system overhaul, unless I wanted to do a complete cooling system overhaul and my wife started asking questions like--- what was wrong with what you had?

Are you really saying that whenever something fails in your cooling system you replace everything?

Well said. Can't argue your logic, either. My point is simply that if one is dealing with a modern BMW which has over 100K miles, an unknown service history, AND a cooling system problem, it may be a good idea to overhaul the entire system. Is that practical, or absolutely necessary? Probably not. But I don't want to get stranded somewhere because of a $20 pulley or belt (or a $200 radiator, for that matter).

Some failures are gradual and can be dealt with in a timely manner, such as a cracked and leaking expansion tank. Some failures are sudden and without warning. I was driving my wife's 2000 323i about 6 years ago (it had about 95K miles on it at the time). All of a sudden the idler pulley failed and it tossed the serpentine belt. There is no denying that if I hadn't reacted quickly and shut off the engine, it would have overheated and caused serious damage. We were 30 miles from home and had to wait 3 hours for a tow truck.

Will a failed cooling system part ruin the engine every time? No, but it is possible. Someone may not be able to pay nearly $1000 to overhaul their cooling system, have a spare car to use, or the ability to DIY the job. I totally get that. But it's still cheaper and less of an inconvenience than the worst case scenario. There is no way around the fact that any modern BMW is an expensive car to own. And just because it may be 10 or more years old, doesn't mean it'll get any cheaper.

To answer your specific question: It depends. If I knew the overall condition of the cooling system to be good and a hose blew (that has happened to me, too), I would just replace the failed part in that case. But if the car in question is in the neighborhood of 100K miles, and I don't know it's history, then yes, I would replace everything. In fact, if it makes it to 100K miles with no failures, I would replace everything anyway. I just did that on my wife's current car. At 97K miles I yanked everything even though it wasn't having any cooling system problems.

I know that's overkill in the same league as the guys who change synthetic oil every 3,000 miles. But these engines are too damn expensive and easily damaged to take the chance. I may have wasted 700 bucks, but to me it's like paying on an insurance policy. I really don't want to rebuild another engine because of a problem that could be avoided with some preventative maintenance.

I'd probably be better off driving a Honda and putting all this money in my 401(k). But I've never been accused of being too smart for my own good!

[x5homework]

ok..new plan. fire it up and watch gages. do nothing re black circle deal. bleed coolant on cold car to get heater working right. thank my lucky stars for guys. good deal. happy thanksgiving!

[BimmerM3inGA]

Good plan! Sorry for getting off topic. It was a slow day

Just watch that temp gauge like a hawk. If it starts to creep up, shut it down.

[upallnight]

Start with the engine cold!

Remove the small black bleed screw from the elbow that connects to the expansion tank.

Remove the coolant filler cap

Turn the ignition on but do not start the engine

Turn the climate control to the highest temperature and put the fan on the lowest setting

Slowly pour coolant into the expansion tank until coolant runs out of the bleed screw hole

keep pouring coolant until you no longer see any air bubbles in the coolant coming out of the bleed screw hole

Replace the bleed screw and check the coolant level in the expansion tank

Replace the expansion tank cap and start the motor

Allow the car to idle until normal operating temperature is reached

Watch carefully to make sure the temperature gauge doesn't rise above 12:00

If the gauge starts to move past 12:00 shut the car off immediately, let it cool and start over

After a few minutes of idling at normal temp it is safe to assume there is a minimal amount of air in the system. Take the car for a quick test drive, carefully watching the temperature. If all is well congrats, you have completed your task, if not, you may still have air in the system. Shut it down, allow it to cool and try again.

If you don't have the electrical water pump just follow this video.

BMW Bleeding Cooling System And Adding Coolant To A BMW - YouTube

Hope this helps out.

[CrazyOneToo]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Start with the engine cold!

Slowly pour coolant into the expansion tank until coolant runs out of the bleed screw hole

keep pouring coolant until you no longer see any air bubbles in the coolant coming out of the bleed screw hole

Replace the bleed screw and check the coolant level in the expansion tank

Replace the expansion tank cap and start the motor

I have 2 questions. First ...how do you tell if you have an electrical waterpump?

Second ....don't you have to siphon some coolant out after filling it up so full?

On my E46 the procedure was just as you described except for the level was way to high on the
floater when filled enough to run out of the bleed screw hole. Thanks

-

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by CrazyOneToo

I have 2 questions. First ...how do you tell if you have an electrical waterpump?

Second ....don't you have to siphon some coolant out after filling it up so full?

On my E46 the procedure was just as you described except for the level was way to high on the
floater when filled enough to run out of the bleed screw hole. Thanks

-

You can look it up on Realoem.com base on your year of manufacture.

I believe for her X she has a non electrical pump.

There a Max and Min. for the float under the cap. The level should be between those lines.

[ArmyX5]

Originally Posted by x5homework

by chance, can you tell me what this is?

That my friend is part of the fan shroud. I had the same thing happen to my X5 after taking it to the dealer. Some how they failed to install the fan shroud correctly and was touching the AC Compressor. After a while the AC compressor made a hole in the shroud and you get what you have in your hand.

X5homework,

Check your fan shroud and make sure that it is not touching the AC compressor. Just looking at your picture, it looks like it is.