coolant leak
 

Hi - been a while since I posted here but it looks like my 200 X5 4.4i has developed a coolant leak somewhere. It has almost 74,000 miles now. I first noticed a small amount of condensation under the front of the vehicle (from the middle of the skid plate/center jack point area) when I drove the vehicle back from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco about a month ago. I think the car probably sat for about two weeks before the next time I drove it and I didn't see anything on the ground but I started smelling some coolant. Then I drove the car a week later and the "Check Coolant Level" check control light came on. I checked the reservoir and it was empty/low so I filled it up with distilled water. This worked fine but then the same thing happened today. I filled it up again and then I noticed after the trip to Oakland and letting the car sit in the parking garage for about 4 hours a small greenish puddle had accumulated under the car. It looks like its coming from above the passenger side of the skid plate but could have just been the angle the car was sitting on the on the parking garage floor. I checked the reservoir and I don't notice any fluid around there (I believe this was previously released because it had the pinhole problem). I guess I will trace the coolant water hoses from the reservoir and radiator and see where the problem is. Hopefully it's not the water pump or worse... valleypan.

Any suggestions, tips on what to look for beyond the obvious :-) Anyone know a good BMW indy mechanic in SF?

how do I get to the upper/lower rad hose? Do I need to remove the plastic fan shroud housing? I felt it briefly before and I think I might be the original one and could be the source of my leak.

I just noticed a slow coolant leak on my 05 4.4. I think it is leaking from the reservoir tank possibly. All of the hoses have been replaced. I noticed a small amount of coolant on the lower driver side splash pan. The under pan in front of the front left tire. So im in the process of tracking this leak down as well.

I haven't looked to closely yet but are there any hoses on the bottom side of the reservoir or is it just the smaller ones up top?

Mine did the same thing just right before my alternator went south FWIW.

There are so many places that can leak that you will need to narrow it down some more... Usually wherever the leak is has that slimy/crusty residue left behind which helps find it.

Get a good flashlight and start to looking! ;)

I'lll jack the car up and take the belly pan off. If there is anything dripping, it'll hit the floor so it's easier to see (instead of get collected on the belly pan)

belly pan = skid plate ? The big bare metal looking cover thing? Is this easy to remove? I would imagine it would make tracking down this leak a little easier. Hopefully I have the right bits (i think i have just about every torx size after doing the hitch installation.

No not the metal thing, it's the black plastic further forward. You don;t need torx to remove the plastic belly pan.
If you have V8 and your valleypan gasket leaking it may get collected on that metal cover thing, but I'll start with the easier thing to take off (my rule in fixing car problem :D).

OK got it. Hoping it's a hose, when I squeezed the upper one yesterday it definitely felt a little bit brittle.

Should I be able to get a visual on the water pump after removing this belly pan in addition to the radiator and hoses?

I guess if it's none of those or the reservoir then it might be the valleypan gasket leaking?