I would be willing to bet a steak and a cold beer that it is 100% the valley pan gasket.

Even if you have another leak I can promise you that yours is leaking. So either way I win. While you are in there go ahead and get valve cover gaskets and do those too if you have not because they will be leaking on you sooner than later.

If you guys had to put a dollar # on all the parts needed to repair the valley pan, seals, water pump, etc what would you say it is? Assume no labor costs....just materials. Are we talking less than $500?

Vally Pan
 

If your vehicle is maintain proper and you are doing just the vallypan parts will be lest than $500 If your vehicle is anything like 2003 x5 4.4i you dont have to move anything on the firewall dont have to move water pump or valve cover either. All you need to do is drain your antifreeze remove the intake manifold removing the intake manifold is the hardest part of the job everything that connect to it got to be remove then used a mirror and a 10mm socket to remove the water manifold at rear of engine take the water manifold and water pipes out that way so you dont have to touch the water pump you may need to change the water pipes (check the ends on those pipes make sure they will seal proper) added coast if they have to be replace I did not replace, mine was good but the Orings got to be change. After removing the water manifold and water pipes the vallypan will be there for you to remove.(Very Important to remember when you remove the intake manifold use paper towels i use that blue shop towels that sell at any auto parts store TO PLUG ALL INTAKE PORTS keep dirt, tools, parts or anything from falling in those Ports. You can also get a injector repair kit what you need is those little plastic washers at the bottom they crystallized and crack.Igot a kit on Ebay for $30 that kit is hard to find the orings are easy to find those little plastic washers are hard to find.Have fun O one more thing enjoyed the cleaning it will be a mess in there good luck.

Just an update on my vehicle.....turns out the leak was due to a failing water pump. I was driving yesterday and the pump decided to die, which took out both sets of drive belts......snapped and shredded. So, had to have it towed back to the house. Currently tearing apart the front part of the engine to replace the pump, t-stat, hoses, etc.

Mine is doing the same thing however when the tech looked at it he said it was the Rear Coolant Cover, not the Valley Pan leaking...

Hey guys, I'm having some coolant leakage myself. I'd figure I'd piggy back on this thread and not post another coolant thread.

The other day my check coolant level indicator came on which surprised me because I changed the coolant reservoir several months back. I just noticed some coolant spots on my driveway today where my x5 is parked. The x5 is parked on an incline so I'm assuming the coolant dripped back several inches before reaching its destination (the ground). The spot on the ground is probably a couple inches behind my radiator or the coolant reservoir. I know the valley pan is prone to leakage but I have no idea where that is. Could that be the culprit in my case? Or is it more likely that it is leaking from the radiator? I was looking at the hoses that run from the reservoir and didn't see any signs of leaking (dried white spots).

Oh and it's in the middle but more on the drivers side. The x5 is a 2002 3.0 Thanks!

Ace,

Check the thermostat or the waterpump. They both are prone to leak on either a 6 or 8 cylinder engine.

Hey wrench,

Thanks for the quick reply! Where would I find the thermostat or the water pump? Do I look from the top or the bottom?

The water pump is driven by the belt and is in the center of the engine. It will be directly above the crank pulley and has about a 5 inch diameter pulley on it.

I think I found it but didn't find any signs of leakage. I'll take a closer look tomorrow when the weather is a bit warmer. Thanks wrench!