Intro and Leaky X5 - Where's it coming from?

[garrett.fell]

Hello! My name is Garrett and I live in the Chicago area.

I've owned my 2005 X5 for about 3 years and 40k miles now. Obviously I've been fixing things along the way the whole time. I love the car, but it sure can be a pain in the ass most of the time. It's my wife's primary vehicle now, but I may take full-time drivership of it within the next few months after I get her something a little more "reliable" and less quirky. Like a Honda Pilot!

I have some leaks I need to chase down and have been doing research using this forum and a few others for the probable-cause. I am leaking two fluids at this time. Oil and coolant. It's been leaking a little oil for well over a year now - its not too bad and doesn't noticeably seem to accelerate oil consumption, but that may be changing now. It's pretty messy down there.

I am suspecting it could be one of three things, or maybe even all of them.

1. Valve cover gaskets
2. Alternator bracket
3. Timing cover

It's also leaking a bit of coolant. I first became aware of this around Christmas-time. Maybe 1/2 cup a week? Maybe a little more? I haven't been able to get a real good look at this yet and will likely have to wait until it gets warmer and dryer outside. It's hard to find out where the wet it coming from when everything is sloppy wet with snow and such. I'll probably pick up a harborfreight pressure tester.

So, it's an N62 with 109,000 miles. I've been fighting with the typical misfires a bit over the last few years and this winter it's thrown codes and has shaken like hell a few times. Last weekend I changed the spark plugs (they appeared original) as it threw a misfire code twice within a week. Knock on wood - it's been running nice for a week now!

Anyway - while I was doing the plugs last week I was able to get a little better view of where of where the oil might be coming from. I took some pictures.

I am hoping someone maybe a little more familiar with this things might lead me in the right direction. The main areas where it's leaking is on the driver-side towards the front corner of the engine. You can see on the vertical surface there's a lot of oil/dirt deposits and part of it has been washed clean. The alternator is oily as well…

Is this the timing cover or the valve cover?

[tmv]

Look real messy for a 40k miles engine (or 40k miles since you own it?). Have you tried cleaning thoroughly and finding the source of the leak(s)?
I would start with the most common oil leak: VCG.

[TwinTurboGTR]

Originally Posted by tmv

Look real messy for a 40k miles engine (or 40k miles since you own it?). Have you tried cleaning thoroughly and finding the source of the leak(s)?
I would start with the most common oil leak: VCG.

Looks like he bought it pre owned with around 60K on it, since it has 109K on it now.

I concur with TMV about the VCG, but when you did the spark plugs, did you see any oil down the spark plug wells? If they were dry, then most likely, they gaskets are fine. But because of time and mileage, I would change them out anyways.

But the leak appears to be small... I would go ahead and degrease the entire area. Simple green at full strength and blast that stuff off. Or foaming engine cleaner, just be careful of rubber hoses and such.

Coolant, same thing. Look around the system for white residue. Common areas are the expansion tank, hoses, etc. If once you do that and cant find it... look under the X. If you see dried coolant by the bell housing... then it could be one of 3 things. Either the three heater core hoses are bad, the Valley Pan Gasket/ Exchange pipe seals are toast, or the covering pan which is located behind the motor on the N62's is gone.

Also, please put the car you have in your signature, much like I and TMV had so we know right of the bat which X you have. ASAWK, you have a 2004-2006 4.4 or 4.8is.

[BigBlack48is]

+1 on clean it up with degreaser and hose and then drive it for a week and you'll know where it's coming from!

[Gurjit]

The leak is your 3rd pic
The clean area shows the direct exit point for oil

[garrett.fell]

I bought the car with 73000 on it about 3 years ago - right now it's about to turn 110k.

I was originally thinking maybe the alternator bracket was the culprit, but now it's looking more like the valve cover gasket to some extent, but maybe primarily the front timing cover is the problem? I think that's what's in the 3rd picture (I just stuck my iPhone down there).

When I did the plugs last weekend they were very dry, so no oil down there.

I agree it needs a GOOD cleaning. It's just been so darn cold lately, and since it's my wife's daily driver I haven't been able to take-it-down for an extended amount of time to fiddle around with it and explore a little.

I am not exactly sure where the coolant is coming from at this time - I think it's mixing with oil and dripping somewhere off the skid-plate. In the spot where it leaks on the ground, I notice it's two different fluids in there. Both coolant and oil.

It lives outside and is parked at a slight angle (sideways incline) which makes it harder to tell where it's coming from. it seems like it's from the front of the engine though - not towards the rear.

It looks like pelican parts has the best deal on gaskets from what I've seen. I may be able to get away with just doing to drivers-side, but will order both sides just in-case. Is it necessary to also replace the spark plug tubes?

I replaced the expansion tank back in November and replaced the upper radiator hose a couple years ago (I broke a nipple off) when I was changing the idler and tensioner pulleys and belts out.

[sgrice]

With regard to the coolant leak: If your expansion tank is not the problem, consider the o-ring on temperature sensor located on the lower radiator hose. This link gives a good discussion, though they recommend replacing the sensor for $30. When I worked on mine, I just replaced the o-ring. See post #19 in this link for the BMW part # of the green o-ring (though some people have used #31 danco o-rings from Home Depot).

One more excellent DIY with pictures in this link.

Hope that helps.

[Brandon002]

In regards to your misfires in the cold.

If it's on cold starts only, try replacing the CCV's, if it persists it's more than likely the intermediate lever problem in the valvetronic. I have just dealt with this issue on mine.

When starting the car in the cold, hold the revs up to around 1500, when you see the temp needle start to move you can let go and let it idle as normal. From there on it shouldn't misfire until the next cold start. I know it's annoying, but it's easy to deal with when you consider the cost of repairing something that is simply annoying.

[garrett.fell]

Originally Posted by sgrice

With regard to the coolant leak: If your expansion tank is not the problem, consider the o-ring on temperature sensor located on the lower radiator hose. This link gives a good discussion, though they recommend replacing the sensor for $30. When I worked on mine, I just replaced the o-ring. See post #19 in this link for the BMW part # of the green o-ring (though some people have used #31 danco o-rings from Home Depot).

One more excellent DIY with pictures in this link.

Hope that helps.

Outstanding! Thanks for the info. I wasn't too sure where I should be looking for coolant leaks. I picked up a pressure tester from Harborfreight this afternoon. I figure the $70 I spent on it after the coupon is worth 30 minutes of a mechanics-time, so worth the investment for sure.

[garrett.fell]

Originally Posted by Brandon002

In regards to your misfires in the cold.

If it's on cold starts only, try replacing the CCV's, if it persists it's more than likely the intermediate lever problem in the valvetronic. I have just dealt with this issue on mine.

When starting the car in the cold, hold the revs up to around 1500, when you see the temp needle start to move you can let go and let it idle as normal. From there on it shouldn't misfire until the next cold start. I know it's annoying, but it's easy to deal with when you consider the cost of repairing something that is simply annoying.

I forgot to mention - I did replace the CCV's a month or so ago. They looked pretty good, not too gunked up at all. One thing that I didn't check/clean now that I realize it - was the actual insulated "breather" tube.

I was hoping it's not the valvetronic problem I've read about so much. That's a big bucks fix. So it's really a problem that's annoying - rather than a harbinger of eventual doom?

Well -I spoke too soon. It threw another code yesterday. Misfires on a couple cylinders. It wasn't associated with first-start shaking though. It lit while my wife was out running around it in.

I recently started keeping track of which ones they were - hoping maybe it's coil-packs! <crossing fingers>