Expansion tank bleeder screw
 

I had the "low coolant" warning today. Last time my X was at the dealer , they changed a top hose and topped the coolant. When I got home (Jan 7) it smelled like burnt coolant but saw some coolant overflow by the bleeder screw (expansion tank). I thought this was normal at the time. So today after I got the warning message , I double checked it again and noticed the dealer probably reinstalled what seams to be a damaged bleeder screw. The head was half way teared apart. I ripped the head off and unscrewed the threaded part with a phillips screwdriver.

My question is do dealer have this part usually in stock cause if not , I'm literally SCREWED ( ha ha ha ) for work on Monday. Tomorrow I'm going on the hunt for it.
Anyone in Montreal area with a spare screw? ( I had to ask lol )

Last time I had to purchase that screw, they had it in stock.

sometimes i think the dealership just break things on purpose so you can come back and buy parts from them...

^ agree

Strange how we probably all have the same feeling...

You guys must go to the same Dealer.

:rofl:

Update:
Well some of you know that this didn't fix the problem. It was worst than just the bleeder screw. The tank had a tiny hole in it and was leaking also. So I got the new tank today took 10 min to swap but now the hoses' quick clip do not fit anymore ....they are loose. Is this normal? Dealer tells me that new hoses will fix the problem.... True?

The hoses do tend to "mold themselves" to the tank after so many years, they are plastic connections too. I'd do the hoses as well, as when they are disconnected they tend not to fit on new parts so well.

Which is why many of us tend to do our cooling systems in waves as a whole i guess

Thx Rick... I've ordered all the hoses ...

Whats the trick to remove the one that goes behind the air intake? Hose #7 in diagram.
http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/GFGHFGHG.png

Dealer will exchange #1 hose (175$) for free as it has been changed 1 month ago. They didn't have to as it's not the tube that is faulty but the quick connect that needs to be changed because of the new expansion tank.

For #7 that looks like a high pressure hard hose, should be a quick connect fitting I think similar to the air lines on the air springs. Don't quote me though as it's different from my 3.0

The quick connect is at the expansion tank end but I'm more worried about the other end. I can reach the collar (#10) with a srew driver to loosen it then pull on the hose but I can't figure out how I can possibly go with my hand in that tight space to fit the hose back in the fitting.

Hey Gio, why don't you buy the brass bleeder screw? My BMW's have all brass bleeder screws for quite some time, so they will not disintegrate every 5 years. Just change the O-ring and it's like new.
The brass bleeder screw is like this one in the linky.

Number 7 the TB has to come off. Unless you have really small female hands, then you might be able to get in there.

TB comes off easy enough. 8mm hose clamp holds each of those Y ends.

I needed it asap and dealer did not have the brass. so I went with plastic and bought and extra one....I doubt I will keep the X long enough to outlast it.... :(

Hi Slick ...sorry but whats the TB? Please don't say it's what I think it is.....:confused: (throttle body??? )

If I remove it , is there a gasket I need to replace?

Yup, its easy as hell to remove. I would remove it no matter what, you will get a ton of room. You don't have to disconnect the cables and shit. Just remove those 4 bolts, and move it out the way. I forgot if there is a bracket that comes off with it, but it is simple. Guaranteed that it will be way faster and easier to remove the TB. Trust me, I tried not to remove it at first, then kicked myself in the ass for not doing it right away.

Ninja edit, that is actually the hose I didn't change when I did my coolant hoses, and guess which hose popped on me. Right at the friggen plastic T.

it is not uncommon to overtighten the screw. there are several threads in bfest and bforums discussing how much to tighten it. However they are cheap so its not a bad option to buy several and keep in the car for spares. I personally went for the brass screw but still have several spares with me

So no gasket to replace if I remove the TB?

I'd rather remove it and do it right.

The gasket is rubber o-ring. You can replace it, but it looked very nice to be honest with you.

I'll grab it tomorrow at the dealer while I pick up my hoses, hopefully they have it in stock , but from the pics I've seen , it's imbedded in the housing so like you said , it shouldn't be a problem....
Thx for the help man :thumbup:

NP. I didn't bother even removing it. I gave it a solid lick and a few prods with my screw driver. Seemed pliable enough to re-use. Not like I had much choice when that T in the hose exploded on me at midnight. The stubborn in me needed to fix it that night.

HAahahaha stubborn? I missed work today to get it fixed and because of this new problem , I miss work tomorrow to go fetch the hoses and fix. I've been watching the sick X in the driveway all weekend and I can't take it anymore ;)

Anyone have the torque spec for the throttle body and do I need to use blue loctite?

New Hoses and expansion tank is done! Temperature outside -12c ( 10F)

I'd like to thank everyone who helped out. The TB came out and I had to remove the another tube that was in the way. It took me a while to unclip it in the cold cause I didn't want to break the plastic clip or I was F***ed. Once both out of the way everything went pretty smooth.

"Funny" snags:
-The wish-bone kinda pin that holds the fitting at the T-stat flew off while I was trying to clip it in... Had to remove the under carriage cover (wasn't there) and extra 30 min of searching with hand from under. When I finally touched it (hand were frozen) I almost cried lol

-That same hose: when I removed the old one , I had to bring it back to the dealer for refund and exchange (40min drive to get there) well I had left the Fitting that connects to the T-stat with it. Thats also the fitting you need to connect the hose to (quick connect). Had to drive back and get it. Arggggg!


Total fix time including "FUNNY" snags 5 freak-en cold hours. Thx again for the help guys :thumbup:

You know, I had an uber snag too. I was finishing up, it was like 1 am or something. So I had the bleed screw out, and it was on a rag. I grabbed the rag, and the screw flew. I was soooooo pissed off, it wan't even funny. Garage is all in friggen coolant, and I have the front of the car on the lowest point, so it is all in the front. Yea, so get my creeper, and take off the coolant soaked splash guard, go crazy trying to find the bleed screw. 40 min later I say screw it, I will find some other screw and jam it in. As I get up, the friggen screw landed on the radiator support, and was on top the whole time.

It's funny in retrospect but infuriating while it's happening.
:D

I can't find the throttle body torque specs. If you haven't removed it yet check the torque before you do. I would not use anything on the threads other than a little anti-seize.

I couldn't find specs either. So I went with a "two finger" snug. Unfortunately i used a small amount of blue loctite. No lock washer so i thought loctite would be better.
You bring up another option with anti seize but the old residue on the threads was more blueish and dry rather than grey and stainny.

I'll certainly research more but will not take any chances and i'll back them up this weekend to break the loctite.

I didn't use anything on my TB bolts. Couldn't find the torque spec either.

BC, how do you check the torque before removing? My torque wrenches only torque in one direction.

I have a few Torque Wrench and one of them is the one with a needle and you can go both ways but usually measuring the inverted torque isn't accurate to the initial torque.

I was thinking that too. But I have never found the needle one to be accurate on the removal. I was hoping there was an accurate method to this.

Correct, inverted torque is useless. Use the torque wrench as if you are tightening the existing bolt and read the needle when the bolt starts to turn.