No Power Steering and Battery Light
 

So this past week, my E53 2002 X5 3.0i has been acting up. It notified me on four separate occasions that my coolant level was low. I checked it, and it was completely empty. So I filled up coolant every time.

Yesterday, I was driving and as I was making a left turn. My power steering went out, and a red battery indicator turned on, on my instrument cluster.

I've been researching the problem, and I found that you lose power steering and the light turns on when the alternator isn't working.

I checked to see if the belt was still attached, and it was.

Now I am thinking that a leak or something else from the coolant may have damaged my alternator. Is that possible? How can I diagnose this? I haven't seen any coolant leak out at all in the past week. Maybe it leaks out when I am driving... IDK

I'm also currently in a town with very little european car mechanics... so I am hesitant to bring it to any of the mechanics here.

I'm not sure about the pre face-lift models but I know on the face lift models the alternator are water cooled, do you might be on to something suspecting that the alternator is the source of your coolant lose.

You can check your alternator by simply hooking up a multi meter to your battery while the car is on and measuring the voltage (I believe it should be around 14-14.4 volts while the engine is running).. If you don't have a multi meter, do a quick Google search on how to unlock your OBC and you can also read your battery voltage from the display in your cluster (again, not sure if you can do this in the previous face-lift models)

Our trucks act really funky when they don't get the power they need from the battery/alternator, so I hope your power steering issue is caused by just a faulty alternator.

Unlock the OBC and check the battery voltage while the engine is running, should be between 13.5 and 14.7. Any lower and the alternator is toast and higher and the alternator is toast.

Did you also check if the belt was loose? The belt can be in place and loose because it is about to fail or because of a tensioner. Coolant residue can also cause it to slip. A loose belt would not be turning the associated pulleys adequately which could result in your symptoms. Have you cleaned the belt since the coolant spills? Coolant leaks don't go away. Are you checking the coolant level frequently or waiting until the warning light comes on?

Your alternator is air cooled on the 3.0, however coolant entering the alternatr housing can lead to failure later on. That exact issue occurred on the CEO's 325i after a pin hole in the upper radiator hose sprayed coolant directly into the alternator.

The fact you have no power steering is a strong indicator of belt slippage which is probably resulting from coolant residue, or a failing belt tensioner. This could also be causing reduced alternator output. I'd check the belt and tensioner first, then address the alternator if there's no change.

2002 X5 3.0 260,259 miles
2004 325i 115,000 miles

I didn't check if the belt was loose, but I will do that once I get home from work. I haven't actually seen any coolant spills, I just keep noticing the coolant disappearing from the reservoir.

Thanks for your insight! I will be sure to do that!

So I had a chance to check my BMW Engine Housing. The belt around the alternator seemed to be on correctly, tightly and it was spinning just fine. However, the belt that seemed to spin the radiator fan (or the belt that is behind the fan system) has completely fallen off the track.

Are there two different belt systems? And would this explain all my problems?

---
EDIT: Actually, I think the thing that I was previously thinking was the alternator, is actually the AC Compressor. So it does seem that the alternator belt is off the track.

There are two belts. The belt closest to the radiator drives the A/C compressor. The other belt drives the fan, alternator, water pump and steering pump. Without the water pump turning, the coolant is not circulating. No circulation of coolant means the engine will overheat the coolant until it becomes steam. The cooling system is not capable of handling the pressure steam will create. The coolant will exit the system at the weakest point. The Inner belt, closest to the engine needs to be replaced. There is a reason the belt came off. It could be that it is worn out. It could also be that a pulley or tensioner or one of the accessories driven by the pulley is bad. You will need to find out why the belt came off. You will need to be sure the belt is routed properly. I would certainly not run the engine until the belt is replaced.

Okay good to know... So I need to replace the belt, I can't just put it back on the track?

It depends on why the belt came off. Inspect it carefully for cracks and for places it is not smooth at narrowest part of the V. If it passes you can try putting it back on. Make sure you inspect all pulleys and tensioners that are driven by the belt to see if they turn freely and don't wobble. Since a belt is not expensive and from my experience it often soon after fails, you should replace it. You will need to be on the alert for other problems since it sounds like the coolant was completed boiled out twice. I am surprised you didn't smell coolant, see steam or have an overheating light on the dash.

PARK the car, don't drive it until you do a cooling overhaul.

Info on 1998 528i:
ENTIRE COOLING SYSTEM REPLACEMENT Tips and Tricks (Very Long, Enjoy!)

Later models of E39:
Cooling System Overhaul: my diy experience - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

The bottom line:
- Belts: Conti
- Pulleys x3. Check hydraulic vs mechanical. Search for INA pulleys on eeuroparts.com.


- Water Pump: HEPU (eeuroparts dot com)
- WP Pulley: BMW
- Radiator: Nissens
- Hoses x2: BMW

- Tstat: Wahler

- Fan Clutch: Sachs only. During install, use "Poultry Cord" trick I posted on bimmerfest E39 forum. Apply some anti-seize, it makes future removal much easier.
- Fan Blade: BMW only
- Reservoir: BMW only

- Coolant: Prestone green + distilled water (Walmart $12/g)


Option:
- Temp sensor on lower rad hose. Recommended.

---> This will set you back some $600 but you are good for another 100K miles


PS:
- When bleeding coolant, fill it above the KALT mark until it drips out of tsta housing bleed port.
- The alternator is AIR-cooled, not water-cooled.

The reason the belt comes off is that: the idler pulley has been neglected for so long so it is kaput.
I bet you have more than 160K miles.

See the photos posted by barbers528:
e39 Had to blow off some steam - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

battery light - the diode bridge in the alternator is out of balance

bridge out of balance - a diode went kaput, or the alternator is not spinning when system is expecting it to spin

Alternator is watercooled on older V8 models, before the facelift, and as it was mentioned, the 3.0 is aircooled...

do not drive the car until you get your belts in order and have the cooling system pressure tested, as steamed up coolant might have created some escape routes (holes!!!)... It may happen so, that one you get the belt (and pulley) together, two days later you will have a major leak somewhere...

If you overheat engine, you may end up with coolant boiling over into the engine through a blown gasket - the extra pressure has to go somewhere, and will find the weakest spot possible...

is there WHITE smoke (steam ) from the exhaust?

IMO a complete overhaul of the cooling system is overkill. At this juncture there is no indication that anything, including the belt that is off, is in need of replacement.

I would inspect the pulleys, tensioners and hoses and get the existing belt back on or replace it if it is bad. If the belt is worn out I would replace both belts as they are probably the same age. Make sure the cooling system is full, start it up and go from there. I wouldn't be making any long trips until I had driven several trip of 50 miles or more.

Are you saying you are certain idler pulley is "kaput" because it has been neglected and implying there can be no other reason the belt came off and OP should have one on order?

So many E39 (1996-2003 528i, 525i, 530i) engines were destroyed because of this very issue.

First it started out as a broken idler pulley, then tstat housing cracks, then WP bearing goes, then reservoir cracks, then radiator blows.

Go to bimmerfest E39 forum and you will see so many overheat threads, it is not even funny.

Yes, the cooling overhaul may seem overkill, but most people would agree to it.
This is because the cooling system protects an expensive component: the engine.

I am a "if not broken don't fix it" kind of guy but the cooling system is the exception. Every 110K, I overhaul the whole cooling system.

Of course, people have the option of doing this (the belt) in bits and pieces, but these people usually end up spending $4000 for a head gasket job, if not worse.

So it is written in the temple of doom: The cooling system components are cursed, suicidal, consumed by demons. They must be eradicated, follow only the map of all new parts to ward off the imminent apocalypse of your engine.

Overstated or unintentionally inflammatory would have been much better than overkill. It is an overstatement to make a declaration that OP must park the X5 until the cooling system is overhauled or his X will more than likely die a horrible death.

It is not an overstatement to say it is best practice to overhaul the cooling system at some interval. If time and budget are of no concern there is no reason to offer an alternative to an overhaul but many of us have limitations of one or both.

I respect and acknowledge your point of view, even that it is best practice. It is clearly not that map or the apocalypse.

@bcredliner,

I respect your points too. But you are obviously not familiar with M52/M54 cooling issues. These components (reservoir, WP, radiator etc.) fail like clockwork.

Indeed, my cousin owns an exclusive-BMW indy shop in L.A. and he recommends the same thing every 110K (i.e. cooling overhaul), simply because he was tired fixing things in bits and pieces. Not to mention head gasket job, which he hates doing day after day. The items (reservoir, WP, radiator etc.) fail like clockwork.

I am a contributor writing technical DIYs on bimmerfest E39 section, and this is all I can offer: do a cooling overhaul before they regret. People of course have the option to listen to my advice or not: their car, their choice.

It is very easy math: cooling overhaul ~ $400-$600 vs $4000 for a blown head gasket. It does not take a PhD degree to figure this out.

Okay, so I had some time today to go through what was wrong.

I am still waiting on the tools I purchased on amazon to come, so I can open up the fan. (Amazon.com: Bmw Gm Fan Clutch Nut Wrench Water Hub Holding Tool Holder: Automotive)


Here is a status report:


It seems like the belt is in great condition, but you guys are the experts, so let me know what you think.
http://i.imgur.com/iBMIUd4l.jpg




The power steering fluid hose seemed to be wet, and there was so much gunk everywhere on the power steering reservoir housing and the hose below. (but the gunk was isolated just on those items). Is that normal? Does it seem like I need to replace my hose?

http://i.imgur.com/nUqjtbjl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/OLq9bUsl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Rm1DFful.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/MZxDQLdl.jpg

Also the intake boot corner (the corner that was kinda touching the coolant reservoir) has a crack in it.
http://i.imgur.com/D9PR1SCl.jpg

Also I finally was able to see the coolant leak from my car. I squeezed the thick hose a few times, to create pressure in the coolant reservoir. I was able to see green coolant leaking from under my car, but was unable to find where the leak was coming from. Hopefully once I get the tools to remove the fan, I will be able to find out where it leaks from. But it seems like coolant did cause the belt to slip off!

How many miles in your car?

Couple things:

1. The Plastic Accordion Boot is easy.

2. The PS Cap has an O-ring, it is a few $ at dealer: Detail below:
What are the dimensions & material of the power steering fluid reservoir cap o-ring? - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

3. The coolant leak: this is precisely what I mentioned above. You need a cooling overhaul.
There are very few reasons for the belt to come off:
a. Bad idler pulley
b. WP bearing going out, so you need to check the WP bearing.
c. Weak tensioner ---> loose belt (but it squeaks first)

4. You probably know already but the Fan Clutch Nut can be very stubborn.
It is LEFT-HAND threads.
Spray PB Blaster or WD-40 onto the nut a few days before you try to break it loose.
- During re-installation, it can be difficult to thread it back on.
I used the "poultry cord" (or dental floss) technique + some grease. It is a breeze to re-install the Fan Clutch. I wrote the detail below:

DIY - Fan Clutch Nut Installation
DIY - Fan Clutch Nut Installation - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

:iagree:

1. Some owners follow the rule "wait until it breaks" and fix accordingly based on their budget (OE, OEM or aftermarket)

2. Some owners like to be proactive based on trending, copy what others have done or create their own plan for executing preventive maintenance

3. Some owners are OCD with regular maintenance and preventive maintenance

4. Some owners does not care, both regular maintenance and preventive maintenance

I am in between 2 and 3

Good luck to the OP!

:) I think you may have inadvertently flipped the pre & post facelift types of alternators around...so just for the sake of clarification for those that may not know...the breakdown of alternators vs e53 engines are:

• M62TU B44 - water cooled alternator
• M62TU B46 - water cooled alternator
• M54 B30 - air cooled alternator
• M57 D30 - air cooled alternator
• M57N D30 - air cooled alternator
• N62 B44 - air cooled alternator
• N62 B48 - air cooled alternator

BTW assuming that the 4.4 in your handle is indication that you have the 4.4 liter engine in your car...by not having a signature or vehicle info that indicates what model/model year/build date you have...it's not clear if you have the M62TU 4.4 or the N62 4.4 (totally different engines as you know). Identifying which model/model year/build date you have helps those that find your posts (doing a search) or when you reply...have a perspective of what you say or have done etc. If you mod or update your X...they can immediately know if it can apply to their model or not based on where yours & theirs falls within the production date range. :)

Do I understand correctly--credentials mean you are correct and my opinion is confirmation of ignorance about this subject?

That is not math. That is a supposition which means it could be true as well as false. It is a supposition of an imaginary horrible.

Here's another supposition---inspected the components of the cooling system. Belt was bad. Replaced belt $25.00 vs. $400 to $600 for overhaul. Saved as much as $575 by replacing the belt only and I never blew a head gasket because I look at the garage floor when I back out, I check my gauges when I drive, the coolant level when I get gas and listen for noises that shouldn't be there.

I have acknowledged your opinion but it is only an opinion. I even acknowledged it is best practice. I have a different opinion-Just because one only replaces the part that has failed does not mean one is foolish or will suffer terrible consequences.

This is the crux of the issue. Many people do exactly that, i.e., replacing only the bad part and later regretted. All you have to do is go to bimmerfest E39 forums and you will see countless regretting because they lost the engine. Why? Replaced ONLY the let's say the WP, 2 weeks later the reservoir blew on the highway with massive coolant loss ---> head gasket blew.

I don't blame you, you own a V8, which has its own issues. But the cooling system in the I6 is the Achilles heel.

I understand your point: replace only the bad part. In a way I am the same replacing ONLY the bad part but as I mentioned, the cooling system is the exception. They fail like clockwork.

So your advice of replacing only the bad part is the correct advice from a technical standpoint but it is false economy on the practical standpoint.

Replacing whichever parts are generally involved in failure is plain common sense.

CN90 - your example of the cooling system systemic issue on the E39 is an excellent one. Where parts within a system are known to fail, only a sub0standard technician would replace only the failed part in that system. The reason being, they are generally asked to warrant their work, and how can that occur when they know there are other failure-prone elements they have not at the least inspected, at best replaced.

Do it once, do it right.

To misquote an old adage - a rich man fixes something once. A poor man fixes something many times.

I have acknowledged at least twice that best practice is to do an overhaul of the system.

As you know, techs replace only what is authorized by the owner. I think you can say a good tech should/would advise one of the risk (significantly less than a certainty) of doing less than an overhaul. There probably a tech or two somewhere that wouldn't take the work unless they did the overhaul. I don't know of him. Yes, they stand by their work which means if they didn't do the work they don't stand by it.

From my point of view the following would be appropriate : I feel strongly that the cooling system should be overhauled every X miles or X years. That is because the cooling system failures can cause very expensive engine problems that I have seen occur when the system is not overhauled. While the cooling system components can have very different life cycles it is not unusual that they fail near the same time, especially if the vehicle has overheated. There are those that successfully replace components as they fail. That is a higher risk scenario but a direction you might want to consider. If you choose to do so be sure you understand how and how often to inspect the cooling system so you are more likely to recognize a problem before it happens. In cases, such as a bad water pump, several other cooling system components will be at least partially removed or accessible. That being the case it will be more economical in the longer run to replace those parts as well.

I'm done.

Although I am an advocate for cooling overhaul, there are situations when a piece-meal approach is fine too, when it meets the following conditions:

1. The owner is on a very tight budget.

2. The owner is very careful and open the hood once a week to check the cooling system because this is a high-mileage vehicle.

3. The owner does not drive long-distance trips out of town.

4. The owner is mechanically and can tackle this job again and again.
The only downside is every time the cooling system is opened, you lose coolant, which is about $12/gallon for Prestone, not a bad price.
Or you can recuperate the coolant and re-use it (I use coffee filter paper to filter it when I re-use coolant).

5. So let's say the only wrong is the WP. Fine, replace only the WP.
Check all other stuff (belts, rollers, tensioners, fan clutch, fan blade), if they seem fine, re-use them.
The rollers bearing can be re-packed with grease for minimal cost of grease. I wrote the DIY (re-greasing roller) in bimmerfest E39 forum.

6. The tstat is hard to test while in the vehicle. So every time the WP is replaced, the tstat should be replaced too for 2 reasons:
a. At 100K, the tstat is unreliable and can lock up any time.
b. The tstat housing is plastic and can blow any time.

7. The reservoir is the same, it is plastic and typically burst at 130K or so.


So for a vehcile > 130K, the basic basic bare-bone mimimum is:
- WP (HEPU is $60 at eeuroparts.com)
- Tstat (Wahler is $60)
- Reservoir ($90 at dealer, do not use any other brand)

I mentioned the brand name because this is the best bang for the buck.

:iagree:

Am I the oddball in the bunch since I've got over 260,000 miles on the original water pump with no indication of any engine cooling issues?

2002 X5 3.0 260,590 miles
2004 325i 115,000 miles

Okay, I need your guys help again!

The tools finally came in to take the fan out.

I was able to put the serpentine belt back on... and I found the leak under the engine. What do you guys think is causing the leak?

Leak Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugx34Tnsej8

Leak Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbXlyXqC5Us


Also the pulley that spins the fan is really loose, is there a way I can tighten it?

http://i.imgur.com/6E0Ygwsl.jpg

^Your water pump has failed. That's why it is loose. That's also where your coolant is coming from. It's coming from the snout of the water pump.

I'm hoping you didn't cook the engine... m54's do not like being over heated. Nor does any other BMW engine actually. My sister in law just cooked her m54's head gasket (01 330i) after loaning her car out to a brother in law. Bad move.

BTW, I also subscribe to the cooling system over haul anytime a car is over heated. Or around 120,000 miles as posted above. I prefer to be able to get in my car and drive it cross country whenever I have to... not worry about a radiator hose, heater control valve hose, water pump, etc. failing on me while I am 1000 miles from home.

Have had 13 or 14 BMW's (4 currently) and love these things. Most recent purchase is our 2005 4.4i X5 Sport.

WP is gone as I mentioned above.

You need to do a cooling overhaul, anything less than that is asking for trouble.

:iagree: I share your concern about engine damage. I would now agree the system should be overhauled since the water pump is gone. The pump is one of the more expensive parts in the system. It should be protected by doing the rest of the system. Plus, you will have much of the system accessible or already disconnected.

My thermostat was replaced when it turned out to be an expansion tank leak, then a few months later, it became a water pump, then it was time to replace hoses, then it was the belts, then it was the pulleys. Save yourself the downtime, and replace parts as a group and you can save yourself the headache. Hoses, belts, and pulleys should be changed together. Water pump and thermostat should be changed together.