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Thread: Need help diagnosing a leak (low oil and power steering fluid?)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Fremont, California
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    2006 BMW 330i

    Need help diagnosing a leak (low oil and power steering fluid?)

    Hello,

    I just got an e90 330i from 2006. My oil pressure dropped in the last couple of days on my sensor, it went from around half to one third, which had me worried. I opened up the hood and checked underneath, only to find this:


    I slid my hand underneath the reservoir, and I got a lot of cruddy black and brown mixed fluid in my hand. This is not the oil, right? This is the power steering fluid? If so, do I need to replace the reservoir or the hoses themselves? Let me know what you guys think on what I need to do and if there is a DIY for it.

    It still does not explain my oil leak, I just had the valve cover gasket changed, and I am not seeing any leaks around my oil filter housing gasket. Where could my car be leaking oil from? How do I diagnose this?

    Let me know what you guys think.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    Aberdeen, NC (yes, again)
    Posts
    23,673
    My Cars
    E39M5, E500 4WD
    Your "oil pressure dropped on your sensor"? Do you maybe mean your oil level?

    How long have you had the car? It's possible that it's just consuming the oil; BMW says it's okay for the engine to consume a quart every 750 miles. Dropping "from 1/2 to 1/3" is just 1/6 of a quart....5 ounces, and might even be because it just crossed a threshold of the sensor's calibrations, or the display.

    Still, there are quite a few places an engine can leak. Get it up on a lift, and pull the underbody covers off.

    Chris Powell
    Racer and Instructor since, well. decades, ok?
    Master Auto Tech, owner of German Motors of Aberdeen
    BMWCCA 274412
    German Motors is hiring ! https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...1#post30831471

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Fremont, California
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    2006 BMW 330i
    Yes, I mean the oil level. The oil level dropped from 1/2 to 1/4 within 500 miles, that is why I go t worried. I thought that the n52 used 6.5 quarts of oil, not just one?

    I added a quart of oil, the oil level went up from 1/4 all the way to the "max" line. I thought that the car took 6.5 quarts, I am not sure how it jumped from a quarter to full. I really wish they just put a dipstick there...

    Ever since Friday, I have had the same oil level (near "max" on the display) and it has not changed.

    I am still worried about the power steering fluid though. Once I get up in revs, I can kind of smell the oil coming thru if I have the heater on. It's a bit worrysome.

    I am still worried about the

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