Coolant level low warning
 

This morning I was leaving the house and the engine coolant level warning popped up on my HUD. I drove to the gas station and opened up the reservoir expecting to see some fluid around the min level. To my surprise the reservoir was almost completely empty and took half a gallon of Peak. There was some white crust around the reservoir knob.

I don't have any coolant on my driveway. Any clues as to what else may have happened? I'm guessing that they didn't fill it during the CPO flip, and it's not one of those things that I just check regularly.

Is Peak compatible with the BMW coolant???????????????????

I always add distilled water when I don't have precisely the same stuff available....

+1 Now that the system has been contaminated with different coolant, now would be a good time to do a cooling system flush at the dealer or indy.

Nothing really to worry about with contamination. I'm at the dealer and it looks like it needs a new radiator. Good thing I still have 3 days of warranty left on the truck.

Wow, lucky.

In your case the contamination is a non-issue...but agree 100% with d'roo if others are reading...

Yep, I agree whole heartedly as well. It's one of those situations where BMW coolant is not available at every service station along the highway. In speaking with the SA just now, it's a no brainer to put whatever possible into the reservoir to prevent the engine from overheating first and foremost. Then next preference is obviously the BMW mix, but he said that Peak blue bottle is the next best. It's not recommended, but it's much better to use Peak than let your engine overheat.

I simply cannot believe that these radiators are plastic. When he showed me where the leak was coming from, it looked like a broken piece of tupperware.

That SA is an idiot.

WATER is the best thing.

Peake (or other possibly incompatible coolants) will contaminate the system and require a flush...simple water and you are good to go, later you siphon some out when you get the right stuff.

Agreed. I won't put anything else in my system when mine goes low

Guys, keep in mind that this was an emergency. I'm agreeing that the BMW coolant is the way to go for regular fluid checks. I had a cracked radiator, so getting something into it was more important than which brand. The Peak blue bottle is a 50/50 pre-mix, thus why it's the "next best thing". You guys are talking about distilled water as if that's something that a regular garage carries. I'd be curious as to whether Peak or a mineralized water like Poland Spring would do more damage over time.

My question to him was "when in a pinch like this, what's the next best anti-freeze to BMW" and he mentioned Peak blue bottle since it's the pre-mix.

LI have no idea. I'd definitely drain the system. Which you already are doing

Heh, no system to drain. When I got the paperwork, they replaced a half dozen parts. Radiator, all the hoses, etc. Doubt that would have been a cheap fix.

edit: Just looked up the cost of parts and the parts alone would have been $550 not including the dealership markup. 2 hours of labor. Would have been around a $1k fix.

Well every grocery store and many gas stations do carry distilled. That being said, I would say that left in the system, a different coolant additive package could be much more damaging than some trace minerals in water since the concentrations would be much higher 50% vs a percent or less.

I do however agree that there needs to be a water-coolant mixture in the cooling system at all times. No one has suggested that running the engine low on coolant leading to overheating would be preferable to using a non-oem coolant.

Also, once your repair is finished, you may want to make sure they used all new BMW coolant and didn't reuse the coolant in the system.:thumbup:

They fixed it while I waited. It is all new parts with true and blue OEM coolant :)

coolant leak
 

question i have antifreeze dripping from the front of the x5, in small amount each bay,....whats the problem my garage said it was the water pump, but i dont think he's correct, the x5 runs fine heating is good only the dripping.can you help

Wow, I'm experiencing coolant leaks as well. Started about 3 weeks ago and I started using Prestone Pre-Mixed. Almost finished the bottle today. I definitely see some fluid coming from the bottom of the car when I parked in my garage. Really haven't got a chance to look at it further. I had no idea that you shouldn't use anything other than BMW coolant. This sucks! My CPO expired 2 months ago. I had to pay 25% of the cost for my condenser/evaporator fix last month. Wonder if this has anything to do with the problem I'm seeing now with the coolant. Lights come on about every 3 days now.

With having to fill it every 3 days, you have a serious leak. Granted that I went through a full bottle in a day, but that was because of a cracked radiator, so when it had some pressure behind it, the fluid just flew out of the system. You though, have a serious leak somewhere. Definitely take it to an indy shop or you dealer if you think that they'll give you a discount because of how recently your CPO expired.

The mechanic says it is a leaking water pump, but you believe he is incorrect because......??????

What is the basis for rejecting his diagnosis?

Could you possibly be thinking "A Pump, pumps...and if the car runs OK and the heat works the pump must be pumping and therefore the mechanic is wrong"???

If they had to get into the radiator when working on the AC stuff, they could have inadvertently damaged the parts....but fat chance they will admit this.

If it was leaking immediately after the last repair this will be important to establish with them.

The AC repair was a little over a month ago. I don't know if they will admit any wrongdoing. It's in the shop now. I'm crossing my fingers.

Good luck man

The news came back today. AC fix requires a new compressor, which amazingly worked fine a month ago when my car was still under warranty and they fixed my AC with a new condenser. As for the leak, it came from the expansion tank which needs to be replace. The damage: $2,800. Yikes! Looks like I need to prioritize what I need done. AC can wait, so I'm going to see if I can find how to replace the expansion tank.

Wait a minute... their repair of the correspond may have damaged the compressor!

You should research the BMW procedures for doing the first repair and determine if they followed it scrupulously. I'd really pus them to cover the whole repair...it seems like your AC system was failing and they only replaced part of it.

A

Got my x5 back. Refused all fixes since I believe the compressor was something they should have caught a month ago. Will be taking this up with their service manager and BMW and Facebook (they'll regret having a fan page). As for the coolant leak, it's was the expansion tank with I will DIY with instructions from here. They did replace my fan belt and compressor belt for $85 without any labor charge since they already had the system out (hopefully, this would cure the clicking noises I'm hearing when the engine is idle).

3 1/4 years. Not bad. My tank took almost a full gallon again today. Pretty sure it's the rad again, but we shall see. Monitoring it for now with a gallon of BMW COOLANT in the trunk!

check the expansion tank first for leaks if you changed your rad the last time. easy DIY

Don't think it's the rad. I drove the car a bunch over the weekend and the coolant level only dropped a bit (coolant was up to the MAX level, and is now a half an inch below MAX). Local driving didn't make it lose any coolant. Highway driving for an extended period of time caused the drop. Going to go to my indy and get them to add the dye to be able to trace where I'm losing it.

Well, another cracked rad

Cracked Radiator here as well. My Indy BMW Mechanic is replacing it with the revised radiator claiming it is a much better design and isn't prone to failures. I am having to add coolant every 10-14 days depending on my driving style. We are waiting on parts right now......

I'd typically do the work myself but working 60+ hours a week, it wouldn't get done until next year. :banghead:

We're gonna attack the 5 oil leaks at that same time which are covered under my extended warranty and the code that it threw (from the water pump/thermostat) when it was low on coolant possibly, to say that was the cause of the radiator cracking. Doubt it will work but....might as well try.