[emoji106]

I was almost to the point of buying a truck load of them when I screwed the 2nd one up! [emoji38]

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Send me a full box! Yesterday, I drained the coolant. Instructions were followed to install the clip first. Second, push in the oil cooler. A nice click was was heard. A bit of coolant was added. It leaked. I even trimmed the plastic pinnacle. The cooler was snug up against the mounting bracket. Luckily, I'm prepared. A new FCP bracket arrived yesterday. A replacement tank too. Both will be replaced when weather and time permit. For now, the X5 is a rolling stone.

While installing a new plate and tank, I notice the transmission tank has a bent corner. Someone has taken it off prior to my refresh. Not wanting to cause further damage, I had to find a way to press it in. The clip was installed on the plate before installation. The best tool I had handy was the clutch fan spanner. Reaching from underneath, the frame was used for leverage. One quick tug and the cooler popped in. Enough water was added to test for leaks. Blue coolant was added once no leaks were seen.

Finally some free time and nice weather! A new tank and mounting plate were installed. All the work went slow and steady. The fan and shroud were taken off for better access. A break in drive was done too. No leaks were noted! The plate installation during the refresh was probably not correct. It was my first time doing such work on so many plastic parts. I'll check the coolant level every drive for 1-2 weeks.
Attached are oil cooler pictures. Hopefully others will find them useful. Install the mounting clip first. Next, use the fan spanner wrench for leverage. The oil cooler tank will pop right in. :cool:


Positive: My missing 19mm ratchet wrench was found. On the wiper cowl! I have no idea how it didn't go flying off for several weeks.

Negative: After all the coolant system refresh, three sensors, and now a third tank with a sensor, the "check coolant level" warning is still active. :(

:thumbup: Nice to finally get through a frustrating problem triumphant (excepting the low coolant warning).

That looks very similar to the angle of attack I took with my pry bar. I used a metal plate (or something, old man memory) on the cooler to spread the load so I didn't have a point load crush a corner like that.

For the warning... might be time to trace the harness to look for signs of fraying or rodent chewing. An end to end continuity check should tell you if there is a break in one of the wires.

So much confidence in it now, I'm driving it with "spirit". A good degrease and power wash will be done before installing the lower air flow plastic plate.

Next, trace the coolant sensor wiring. Is power to the coolant sensor 5V or 12V? Is it continuous? Will a bypass wire work? Does anyone know where the harness routes or ends? I can probe it along curves or sharp bends. Time to pull out the Power Probe short finder.

Is there an admin that can change the original post title? Change it to something like "coolant refresh learning experiences and challenges?".

If I remember correctly the coolant light warning should be off when the circuit is shorted so that way the light would come on if the sensor gets disconnected or there is a break in the wiring. I think also that it is controlled by the LCM and not just a wire to the bulb on the dash. I would try shorting it out at the connector. You could also do some testing on the cooling switch to verify how the system works.

The bobbing float can be pushed down or pulled up, no change on warning. Next, bypass it and check wiring.

Another item for anyone that does a coolant refresh. Check the intake for oil residue on runners. At first, I thought it was the DISA valve. The intake seam is starting to separate. All of my brake cleaner inventory kept being used up. Using some high temp RTV, I sealed it. So far, no more oil residue running down the intake runners.

Next time the intake comes off, it will upgraded. Which performance intake fits? Plus upgrade the valve cover to aluminum.

Ok, the oil cooler leak is back. It teeters too much. The seal can come out enough to drip. It really leaked when 1.0+ bar pressure was applied. Since the cooler is bent, I'll order a replacement. How much transmission fluid is lost during replacement? Hopefully, not enough is lost to get to a shop for filling and check. The filter and fluid have about 20k miles on them them. The transfer case oil too. I may go ahead and ask for a transfer case oil drain and fill. I'm almost sure it had OEM fluid in it when I had it drained and filled shortly after purchase.

Which brand of oil cooler work? Wow, OEM is crazy high.

A wire bypass was tried on the coolant level sensor plug. I need a thinner bypass wire to try. If the wire used did bypass it, the warning didn't go away.

To keep from losing fluid I pit cigarette butts in the holes. They are the perfect fit and swell shut.

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