Coolant minor leak

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Basque 1

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My 04 RR-HSE has a minor coolant leak, I have had it checked from top to bottom to no avail. The mechanic told me that it could be that only happens when the car is cold and not under temp pressure.

He is correct I find the small puddle under my car only after using it the very next morning. We checked hoses, water pump, thermostat housing and anything that has a coolant connection attached to it.

Any thoughts? By the way no coolant smell inside the cabin so the heater core is ruled out. NO leaks inside the vehicle either.
Tks
Lou
 

Clevergyrl

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mine is doing the same thing? if you find out anything pleeeeaassse post it here. and I will do the same :)
 

Basque 1

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mine is doing the same thing? if you find out anything pleeeeaassse post it here. and I will do the same :)
I have not been successful as of yet, I just hope is not the water pump and I get stranded on the road.
Regards
Lou,II
 

jim6090

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Can't say for sure. Leaks like that happen typically right after shut down. Pressure builds from heat, creates higher pressure. Leak happens. Hard to detect for sure. If you can. Watch carefully for 10-15 mins after parking. That will help you see it. could be at a hose clamp or a weeping water pump. Not likely in the middle of a hose. Good luck.
 

Basque 1

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Can't say for sure. Leaks like that happen typically right after shut down. Pressure builds from heat, creates higher pressure. Leak happens. Hard to detect for sure. If you can. Watch carefully for 10-15 mins after parking. That will help you see it. could be at a hose clamp or a weeping water pump. Not likely in the middle of a hose. Good luck.
I am going to take off---again-- the engine skid pan cover and be more observant of the behavior of the leaks maybe I get lucky and it is just a hose:confused:
 

Basque 1

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mine is doing the same thing? if you find out anything pleeeeaassse post it here. and I will do the same :)

Well what I was dreading, did in fact happened. The top hose had blew out, after leaving the car wash, a big cloud of steam coming from under the hood. I was able to get home without too much overheating.

I had to change the hose and replace the 3.5 gals of coolant. You do not have to remove the fan nor the fan shroud to do this because YOU WILL NEED 2 special tools that amount to over $100 .

I removed the engine cowling under the car; 13 10mm screws and you can clearly access the portion of the hose that connects to the transmission cooler. The other three points that must be disconnected is the big hose from the radiator and from the engine block. One more small hose attached to this octopus of hose is the alternator cooling hose.

Yes the alternator is cooled by the cooling system. The hoses are equipped with clips that slide up and down to install and uninstall the hoses. Make sure that they are correctly slide in so that you don't loose any fluid.

Before removing the hose, you need to remove the plenum cover and the air vent duct in front of the air intake of the plenum by unscrewing the jubilee clips with a blade screwdriver.

CAREFULLY move out of the way the duct to the side and back out of the way so that you can disconnect the alternator cooling hose. There are 2 small hoses attached to the air duct and they are a pain to remove without braking the clip, I left the alone not to break them just move the duct out of the way carefully. I used a small bungee cord to keep the iar duct out of my way.

Attach all hose ends to the respective receptacles and refill with coolant (BMW Blue, I used Pentafrost NF works fine but must diluted 50/50 with distilled water) Bleed the system when the engine cools down top with coolant.

Ok Clevergirl I hope this helps you out.
Regards
Lou, II

PS
Make sure that when the hose is installed that cable ties are replaced in the same locations as they were originally tied because the last thing you want is the viscous fan catching the hose and then you will have a bigger mess.
 
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Clevergyrl

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Omgoodness!!!! Thank you for this info.

WELL.......I BELIEVE THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME WITH THE TOP HOSE COMING OFF! AND BILLOWS OF SMOKE/STEAM WAS COMING FROM UNDER MY HOOD. I JUST FIGURED IT WAS THE CLAMP AND RE-CLAMPED THE HOSE BACK ON :( BUT THEN, I SAID TO MYSELF THERE MUST'VE BEEN A REASON THE HOSE CAME OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE. I CAN NOT DO THIS FIX MYSELF...........GONNA HAVE TO PAYOLA SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR ME :(:hmpf::frown:
 

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