Any logical explanation to this?

arleitiss

Hey, so yesterday I started up car and saw low level of coolant, moved car backwards a bit to see leaks on ground, saw it, just a bit of it.

Topped it up with coolant, drove, all good.

Today got into car, all fine, no warning lights, checked level of coolant - same as yesterday after I topped it up. And not a single leak on ground.

Question: Where could coolant possibly have gone in first place?

Can it just evaporate?

ironclaw

It is possible for a very slow leak to be occurring within the engine. Especially in hotter weather or a longer drive where metal by nature will expand and conversely contract. Keep an eye and if it starts to drink coolant, get it checked out.

challengemaster

If you read the manual you'd have seen the part where you run the car after adding coolant then check the level.

There was air in the system making it look more full than it was.

corktina

He did drive it, not sure if by " all good" he means he re-checked it though

Meso Harney

I love this guys threads, think I might tune out for a bit and come back when he's abusing everyone that's trying to give him advice:)

Mycroft H

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, so yesterday I started up car and saw low level of coolant, moved car backwards a bit to see leaks on ground, saw it, just a bit of it.

Topped it up with coolant, drove, all good.

Today got into car, all fine, no warning lights, checked level of coolant - same as yesterday after I topped it up. And not a single leak on ground.

Question: Where could coolant possibly have gone in first place?

Can it just evaporate?

Heater Matrix?

arleitiss

corktina wrote: »

He did drive it, not sure if by " all good" he means he re-checked it though

I do check engine fluids always, last time I checked it was a month ago though.

arleitiss

Meso Harney wrote: »

I love this guys threads, think I might tune out for a bit and come back when he's abusing everyone that's trying to give him advice:)

And your advice is???

corktina

arleitiss wrote: »

I do check engine fluids always, last time I checked it was a month ago though.

re-checked it is what I said...after filling it and driving it, did you recheck it? An air pocket would explain any further dip in the level, although I don't think that's what you were saying anyway.

greasepalm

you have not said what car/petrol/diesel and where was the stain as more info is easier to state problems in those cars and what it might be ,car due a timing belt kit and pump?

mickdw

The op has history in doing exactly the opposite of what is advised here even when it's clear that the advice was spot on.
Ok so coolant escaped once and appears fine now. There is no doubt imo it will happen again and can only be the start of a problem with the car.
Certainly worth getting checked out.

Looking forward to the thread about the baked engine next month.

greasepalm

mmm vw or audi both have sensors,sure its easier to buy another car.

mickdw

greasepalm wrote: »

mmm vw or audi both have sensors,sure its easier to buy another car.

The op has an e46 bmw

greasepalm

ahh lovely plastic rad/reservoir or seals and next to go water housing also plastic,then headgasket.

arleitiss

Okay, I found problem, I lifted car, got under car - it seems like oil pan gasket or around there.

Anyway, quick briefing of recent events:
(Please don't make comments or judgements on my stupid previous decisions, problem is here and how, thank you).

Car got engine replaced with 80k miles on it.
All fine but in 1 months time I started hearing serious chain rattle at around 2500-3000 RPM.
Went to fitters/garage they said it's timing chain so agreed to fix it for free under a "vague" warranty.
One week later (recently), I collect car - rattle continues, nothing changed, only fact or evidence that timing chain kit was installed/replaced is a printed receipt.
Now another week later this coolant leak shows up.



P.S - there is no performance drops besides horrible rattle at 2500-3000 RPM.
+ With new engine I only as quoted by garage "harsh driving" - drove once - that day when engine was replaced, after that I never did it again.

Also they voided my warranty because I reached 5000 RPM before which is a total bull**** to be honest, it's a god damn car not a trolley cart.

So anyways - main question: could problems with timing chain cause coolant leak on oil pan or bottom of engine?


I am not gonna bother investing any thousands into this car again, the most I would do is replace oil pan gasket if it's that and I will do it myself, I just wanna know could timing chain cause this?

Thanks.

No Pants

Meso Harney wrote: »

I love this guys threads, think I might tune out for a bit and come back when he's abusing everyone that's trying to give him advice:)

I know what you mean, but hey, it's a discussion forum and he has questions. Fire away I say.

Kenny Logins

arleitiss wrote: »

Okay, I found problem, I lifted car, got under car - it seems like oil pan gasket or around there.

Anyway, quick briefing of recent events:
(Please don't make comments or judgements on my stupid previous decisions, problem is here and how, thank you).

Car got engine replaced with 80k miles on it.
All fine but in 1 months time I started hearing serious chain rattle at around 2500-3000 RPM.
Went to fitters/garage they said it's timing chain so agreed to fix it for free under a "vague" warranty.
One week later (recently), I collect car - rattle continues, nothing changed, only fact or evidence that timing chain kit was installed/replaced is a printed receipt.
Now another week later this coolant leak shows up.



P.S - there is no performance drops besides horrible rattle at 2500-3000 RPM.
+ With new engine I only as quoted by garage "harsh driving" - drove once - that day when engine was replaced, after that I never did it again.

Also they voided my warranty because I reached 5000 RPM before which is a total bull**** to be honest, it's a god damn car not a trolley cart.

So anyways - main question: could problems with timing chain cause coolant leak on oil pan or bottom of engine?


I am not gonna bother investing any thousands into this car again, the most I would do is replace oil pan gasket if it's that and I will do it myself, I just wanna know could timing chain cause this?

Thanks.

Look for dried coolant residue, that'll tell you where the leak is coming from. Any leak will find the lowest point of the engine, but that won't be the source...

arleitiss

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Look for dried coolant residue, that'll tell you where the leak is coming from. Any leak will find the lowest point of the engine, but that won't be the source...

I just drove to Dublin and back, so I guess I will wait for car to cooldown and get under it again to see dried coolant.

Bpmull

Op I genuinely think the best thing you could do with that car is get rid of it. It's a pure money Pit and your basically throwing money into it. It would be grand if your replaced the seal and that sorted the problem. But with that car another problem will arise. Surly it's worth cutting your losses now and moving on. Did you ever think about changing it? At the end of the day life is too short to be messing around with a car that's just going to give you endless trouble.

Interslice

arleitiss wrote: »

Okay, I found problem, I lifted car, got under car - it seems like oil pan gasket or around there.

You need to identify where it's coming from exactly and wheter it's oil or coolant. Clean engine off with engine cleaner, hose and rags around that area. Run the engine up to temperature and check for leaks from underneath with a torch.

Treat the oil leak, coolant leak and timing chain rattle are separate problems for the moment.

arleitiss

Bpmull wrote: »

Op I genuinely think the best thing you could do with that car is get rid of it. It's a pure money out and your basically throwing money into it. It would be grand if your replaced the seal and that sorted the problem. But with that car another problem will arise. Surly it's worth cutting your losses now and moving on. Did you ever think about changing it? At the end of the day life is too short to be messing around with a car that's just going to give you endless trouble.

I totally agree with it but the state it's in I wouldn't even get 600 Eur out of it to get some kind of ****ty Micra.

+ knowing these forums (some of the specific users) - The moment I put it on donedeal or adverts I know a post saying: "arleitiss is selling his troublesome car online " which will automatically blacklist any possible sale pretty much.

arleitiss

Interslice wrote: »

You need to identify where it's coming from exactly and wheter it's oil or coolant. Clean engine off with engine cleaner, hose and rags around that area. Run the engine up to temperature and check for leaks from underneath with a torch.

Treat the oil leak, coolant leak and timing chain rattle are separate problems for the moment.

I can see fresh green drips on parking spot, then they turn into white dried out mark (looks almost like dried battery acid)

Bpmull

arleitiss wrote: »

I totally agree with it but the state it's in I wouldn't even get 600 Eur out of it to get some kind of ****ty Micra.

+ knowing these forums (some of the specific users) - The moment I put it on donedeal or adverts I know a post saying: "arleitiss is selling his troublesome car online " which will automatically blacklist any possible sale pretty much.

The best thing you can do is keep putting money aside each month and then at least when the BMW becomes uneconomical to repair you will have a bit of money to invest in a replacement car. As for the leak could you try the rad weld or whatever it's called that can stop leaks in the cooling system. I know it's not ideal stuff but if it fixes the problem. Maybe some one may know more about the stuff than but afaik it basically stops small leaks.

Frankie Lee

arleitiss wrote: »

I am not gonna bother investing any thousands into this car again.

I think you should, it is a BMW so it is worth it.

Interslice

arleitiss wrote: »

I can see fresh green drips on parking spot, then they turn into white dried out mark (looks almost like dried battery acid)

Dried coolant leaves a bit of a salty residue. Should be more of it inside the engine bay. Find it clean it off and pin point the source.

arleitiss

Bpmull wrote: »

The best thing you can do is keep putting money aside each month and then at least when the BMW becomes uneconomical to repair you will have a bit of money to invest in a replacement car. As for the leak could you try the rad weld or whatever it's called that can stop leaks in the cooling system. I know it's not ideal stuff but if it fixes the problem. Maybe some one may know more about the stuff than but afaik it basically stops small leaks.

That's what I am doing really, that's why I didn't run back to garage about the rattle problem I just decided to drive with it until one day the chain just snaps or engine goes bust. But not the coolant leak showed up and its' really just keeping 10 litre canister of coolant and keep topping it up. Which is a bad solution, if I could fix coolant leak I could ignore the rest.

arleitiss

Frankie Lee wrote: »

I think you should, it is a BMW so it is worth it.

For the money I spent on this one, I could've bought 3 series 2008-2009.
The only good news for me was my renewal price this year which speeds up my savings.

greasepalm

timing chain is on front cover which may have a waterpump or water housing on it,its possible it got a nick when reassembly was done,green stuff is possible coolant or antifreeze.choice of go back to mechanic or get a can of this.

http://www.novatio.be/en/product/novastop-radiator

arleitiss

greasepalm wrote: »

timing chain is on front cover which may have a waterpump or water housing on it,its possible it got a nick when reassembly was done,green stuff is possible coolant or antifreeze.choice of go back to mechanic or get a can of this.

http://www.novatio.be/en/product/novastop-radiator

No point going back, after the last visit I have no wish to go back, last time after chain was done the customer service was really terrible, I just walked in - got given invoice, keys and bye. No explanations or anything whatsoever.

So I guess the sealer is only option.

Alanstrainor

How would the oil pan gasket cause a coolant leak?

Coolant will show as a dry white substance on whatever it is touching on the way down. Just because it ended up down there doesn't mean its coming from there.

It could be anything with the replacement engine, leaking hose, rad, water pump, expansion tank. I know from experience that coolant loss is a complete nightmare to find the root cause of, unless it's blatantly obvious.

arleitiss

Alanstrainor wrote: »

How would the oil pan gasket cause a coolant leak?

Coolant will show as a dry white substance on whatever it is touching on the way down. Just because it ended up down there doesn't mean its coming from there.

It could be anything with the replacement engine, leaking hose, rad, water pump, expansion tank. I know from experience that coolant loss is a complete nightmare to find the root cause of, unless it's blatantly obvious.

I read before that oil pan gasket is common to somehow cause coolant leak + oil needs to be replaced then as well.

Kenny Logins

arleitiss wrote: »

I read before that oil pan gasket is common to somehow cause coolant leak + oil needs to be replaced then as well.

Can't see how... but if you do somehow get coolant in the oil it could destroy the engine.

I'd check expansion tank (cracked neck, leaking cap) hoses (cracked, perished) and radiator.

The dried residue is your best clue for finding the leak.

greasepalm

why spend loads of money on coolant if you have a leak,tapwater is good enough and cheaper until fault is fixed.

delly

As an E46 owner I have had coolant issues. Clear indicators are the white residue on the bottom engine tray, or if really bad, wet pools on the engine tray. As well as that however the other method is to see if you can spot the steam emitting from any spots once the engine is up and running, it helps to have a powerful torch whilst doing this.

My own experience has been replacing the expansion bottle and radiator on different occasions. As the E46 is known for coolant problems, a hawk eye needs to be kept on the levels, in my case on a daily basis when I first suspected it was slowly being lost somewhere. Make sure the engine is stone cold when you are doing it, first thing in the morning if possible is best.

Aside from the big issues above, I have a tiny weep from one of the seals around the engine block. This results in a loss of about 100ml every couple of hundred miles or so. It's been like that for a year, but would be uneconomical to fix, once levels are monitored.

FISMA

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, so yesterday I started up car and saw low level of coolant, moved car backwards a bit to see leaks on ground, saw it, just a bit of it.
...
Can it just evaporate?

No weird smells?

Any white smoke?

Put a piece of cardboard under the car to determine where the leak is.

Hopefully, not a problem with the head. Maybe just the gasket. Although, one is rarely so lucky.

arleitiss

FISMA wrote: »

No weird smells?

Any white smoke?

Put a piece of cardboard under the car to determine where the leak is.

Hopefully, not a problem with the head. Maybe just the gasket. Although, one is rarely so lucky.

I had blown headgasket before, it's definetely not it this time.