03’ X5 3.0: less than 100k, bought it to turn into a spare. Guy said it had a leaking coolant tank.
Im 60 miles away but went with an aftermarket tank and replaced it. Pretty straightforward but didn’t pull the fan shroud so I was a little uneasy that the tank was all the way seated on the two connectors at the bottom but I could feel the clip seat and it didn’t wiggle or come loose with some force applied.
Topped it off with coolant, parked on a hill and burped the air bubbles. No leaks, good temp.
Took off with temp temp gauge rock solid for about ten miles. Started puking fluid and immediate
ly temp ran up. Pulled off and shut down and coolant is pouring out of the tank bottom outside ( the one without the clip) and when I pulled the cap it bubbled out also. (I know, bad idea). Had it towed.
Question: given the symptoms is this just poor mechanical skill not getting the tank seated (sure felt tight) or symptom of a bigger problem? Water pump, radiator or?
The old coolant tank had developed a split at the top seam and I wonder if it was getting too much pressure?
Thanks.
I thought that both the bottom hoses that connect to the expansion tank had clips, atleast I think they do on the 530i (that has the same engine and probably similar cooling system). If coolant is coming out of the connection, then I'd say it's best to fix that, google the proper m54 bleeding procedure, and under-fill the expansion tank by about an inch or so (relative to the "proper" full cold level). I've replaced all the cooling system components about twice now (mostly preventive) in the time I've owned it and haven't really had any issues.
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