Yuck, coolant leak

[ProfessorX5]

I topped off the coolant, drove to work, and then saw a puddle on the floor of the parking garage. I popped the hood, and there it was. I think it's coming from one of the upper hose since it doesn't drip at all when the coolant is low, and the expansion tank seems dry. Going to top it off again later when the engine cools down, and post a video of it, as I'd like some input from those of you who know much more about this than I do. :P

The dealer is claiming the warranty doesn't cover it, and wants to charge me to fix it... in fact he's not even willing to say anything about what the cost is until he has his mechanic look at it tomorrow, so now I suspect he's going to try to gouge me... so I'll be having a conversation later with the authorities before I bring it to him. I'd just fix it myself, but don't have a garage to work on the car in, and truth be told, I'm pretty low skill when it comes to cars... so pretty pissed off right now.

[TiAgX5]

DIY, it's a simple job that takes 15 mins, only need a small flat blade screwdriver to lift the clips of the old hose. An oil change is harder.

[z168]

I dont know what X you have, but on a V8 its the easiest thing. Just be careful when you pull the hoses since you might cause damage to the other plastic parts.

I found over the weekend that a small tap with a rubber mallet works to dislodge the hose connection easily rather than pulling and cursing with all your might

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by ProfessorX5

I topped off the coolant, drove to work, and then saw a puddle on the floor of the parking garage. I popped the hood, and there it was. I think it's coming from one of the upper hose since it doesn't drip at all when the coolant is low, and the expansion tank seems dry. Going to top it off again later when the engine cools down, and post a video of it, as I'd like some input from those of you who know much more about this than I do. :P

The dealer is claiming the warranty doesn't cover it, and wants to charge me to fix it... in fact he's not even willing to say anything about what the cost is until he has his mechanic look at it tomorrow, so now I suspect he's going to try to gouge me... so I'll be having a conversation later with the authorities before I bring it to him. I'd just fix it myself, but don't have a garage to work on the car in, and truth be told, I'm pretty low skill when it comes to cars... so pretty pissed off right now.

Sounds like you brought an aftermarket extended warranty. Check what it covers but more importantly what it doesn't cover.

[X5SND]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Sounds like you brought an aftermarket extended warranty. Check what it covers but more importantly what it doesn't cover.

I think the "warranty" he is referring to would be a dealership's own rendition (usually things like a 30 day something or other, road side and some other remedial items), not an actual warranty that would cover a replacement like this.

FWIW, extended warranty for a 2010 Range Rover Sport Supercharged I just picked up which would cover it bumper to bumper until 120k km or end of 2016 was ~$6700...the price to cover a vehicle a decade old would be astronomical...Probably more than the cost of the vehicle itself.

[ProfessorX5]

Well, I took it to a local mechanic, and he says the hoses are intact, and that he suspects that the thermostat isn't working properly, causing the coolant to back up and come out of the bleed hole. Got some signs of oil in the coolant, but he says it's so slight he doesn't suspect a bad head gasket. Quoted me $280 to replace the thermostat. Will see what the stlr has to say tomorrow...


That being said, I LOVE driving this car!

'The ultimate driving machine' is clearly more than just a clever marketing tagline.

[X5Cat]

Had similar problem after I had already replaced the upper radiator hose. Turned out radiator was leaking on left (driver's) side of vehicle. It wasn't that obvious to look at, although there was always a good puddle of coolant under the car whenever my wife pulled back into the garage. It was leaking right where the plastic end cap mates up to the side of the aluminum radiator. Not so obvious when you raise the hood because it drains right down that vertical seam and onto the bottom plastic cover. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking if you had that kind of trouble with the thermostat, you'd be seeing some overheating (high reading on guage, trouble light, and/or some steam).

[ProfessorX5]

It's a 3rd party aftermarket warranty, covers engine and transmission repairs, but not the cooling system . Will do some more looking today. Seems to only 'leak' after a run on the highway, so I'm wondering if the guy's right about the 'stat. Highway wind would keep the engine cool, but since the stat is electric, not temperature actuated, is it possible that it's not opening when I'm hitting the gas, causing coolant to back up into the bottle, which then overflows?

[X5SND]

I stand corrected!

Anytime you fail to maintain operating temp (whether to high or low) 99% of the time you can attribute it to the thermostat not doing it's job. If a cool wind keeps it from getting warm....replace the thermostat.

[racingbmwm3]

If your coolant temp reads at the 1/2 mark ALL the time and isn't taking longer than normal to warm up to 1/2, then your thermostat is fine as long as it isn't leaking, which would be easy to see the leak all over the front of your engine.
Also, you should get a check engine light for abnormal Tstat behavior, like taking too long to open, or getting stuck open or stuck closed.
On the M54 I'd suspect radiator or expansion tank. And at your mileage, or is it kilometerage?, if the hoses haven't been replaced, I'd replace them at the same time as the offending part. See the other many cooling system threads going on right now...

And regarding the bleed hole...that just goes back into the expansion tank, you have a closed cooling system. If your bleeder screw is leaking, replace it, problem solved.