From the corner of my eye

[realsport]

Took the sport out last night for her last run before putting her into storage this weekend. Check coolant light comes on which is the case since practically new. It was -1'C the coldest she's seen in many years. Heat works perfectly and she enjoyed breathing in that cold air for about 70 km so lets says 43 miles while doing around 120-140km/h. I get of the highway and i'm sitting at a light and from the corner of my eye I just notice the temp guage pointing slightly to the red so really just a bit off. Start driving again and it goes back to normal. Never noticed this before in the summer. What could this be. Should I be concerned.? Funny how I notice this on her coldest day in a long long time.

Also since replacing my battery some times I have to turn the key 2-3 times for her to catch and start ??????

88853km buy the way. 55533 K miles

Thanks always gang

[Binjammin]

A fluctuation like that means get under the car and see what's going on. check your coolant level, if that's on the up and up I would be looking at the thermostat next, but I wouldn't be ignoring it.

[Haadkoe]

I would suspect that the car is weeping coolant from somewhere, thereby allowing air into the system. Where exactly is anyone's guess.

Look around and see if you can find any salt stains or built up calcification. I would visually check the rad, expansion tank, cap and bleed screw, sensor on the bottom of the tank, all hoses forward of the engine, waterpump, the rear hoses going through the firewall, the heater control valve mounted to the firewall.

If you can't see any salt build up in those areas, it might be the valley pan or the orings on the rear accumulator. Hard, if not impossible to see those areas, so after bringing the car fully up to operating temp, shut it off and stick your head under the hood and listen. See if you can hear any hissing or sizzling coming from anywhere, specifically toward the back side of the engine. Also note if you can smell the sweet odor of coolant burning off.

If all else fails, pressure test the thing and see if you can isolate the leak.

If the cooling system has never been overhauled, expect to replace pretty much everything, because once one thing fails everything else seems to follow one after the other.

In the meantime, make sure you keep the system topped up. Do so only when the engine is stone cold.

[realsport]

A fluctuation like that means get under the car and see what's going on. check your coolant level, if that's on the up and up I would be looking at the thermostat next, but I wouldn't be ignoring it.

I'm leaning towards themostat. Coolant level is fine

[sealbeach740]

Also since replacing my battery some times I have to turn the key 2-3 times for her to catch and start ??????


Could be your electrical ignition switch.
Mine did roughly the same thing until I replaced mine. It's located on the steering column, inside the clamshells, opposite side of where you put your key in.

[Timm]

I'm leaning towards themostat. Coolant level is fine

If your coolant level is fine, I would suspect the viscous-coupled fan - especially if the problem only occurs when at idle. More info here:

http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/BMW_M60_M62_M62TU_Engine_Cooling_System.htm

[red740is]

If your coolant level is fine, I would suspect the viscous-coupled fan - especially if the problem only occurs when at idle. More info here:

http://www.meeknet.co.uk/e31/BMW_M60_M62_M62TU_Engine_Cooling_System.htm

+1 on the fan clutch.. first thing that came to mind.

[realsport]

+1 on the fan clutch.. first thing that came to mind.


Fan clutch is only a few years old but s..t I just checked the coolant level and it is really low. The float doesn't move at all when I take the cap off. If I look in the hole with a flash light I can see coolant but below the float. Thought it was fine the level because the check coolant always comes on but f..k. Been driving it like this for a bit. How bad??????????? Also the temp guage stays center where it should be when I let her warm up before
Tell me guys how bad is this and can I add water in the mean time just to drive to storage??? :eek:

[Binjammin]

Not gonna lie... it's never good to overheat an engine. Having said that, m6x engines seem to be fairly resilient to breakage from overheating. Just for the record, the gauge doesn't tell the whole truth. When low on coolant you can have localized hot spots where you have air pockets. Considering the car seems like it still runs well I would wager you caught it in time. Now you need to find the leak.

[realsport]

Not gonna lie... it's never good to overheat an engine. Having said that, m6x engines seem to be fairly resilient to breakage from overheating. Just for the record, the gauge doesn't tell the whole truth. When low on coolant you can have localized hot spots where you have air pockets. Considering the car seems like it still runs well I would wager you caught it in time. Now you need to find the leak.

Should I add water in the mean time ?/

[Binjammin]

ideally you would add coolant, but if you can't do that then yes at the very least you should add water and bleed the system of air.

[realsport]

Going to add water and then put her into storage. Some peace of mind considering I drove her less than 400 km this year but i'm still pissed. If I dont bleed just add a little water ok for now??

[Binjammin]

Going to add water and then put her into storage. Some peace of mind considering I drove her less than 400 km this year but i'm still pissed. If I dont bleed just add a little water ok for now??

I would bleed it. I mean, if you're just going to start it up and drive it a few feet into a storage unit, then obviously bleeding the air out isn't crucial, but if you're going to be going even a couple miles or more? Yeah, I'd bleed it. Bleeding isn't a difficult task anyway.

[realsport]

I would bleed it. I mean, if you're just going to start it up and drive it a few feet into a storage unit, then obviously bleeding the air out isn't crucial, but if you're going to be going even a couple miles or more? Yeah, I'd bleed it. Bleeding isn't a difficult task anyway.

I added water then took off the bleed screw. Started her up and added more water. Have a feeling its leaking from the expantion tank. Anyway drove her to storage and no check coolant light. I guess I'll worry about it next summer. Best is to overhaul the entire cooling system I'm thinking. Just hope I didnt hurt her

Thanks always

[Binjammin]

I added water then took off the bleed screw. Started her up and added more water. Have a feeling its leaking from the expantion tank. Anyway drove her to storage and no check coolant light. I guess I'll worry about it next summer. Best is to overhaul the entire cooling system I'm thinking. Just hope I didnt hurt her

Thanks always

That's exactly what I would do. Start saving now and start spending in spring.