[neroneuman]

Hello Guys,

Yesterday night I was driving back home. I had already driven around 40 miles from the time I started the car. Suddenly the yellow temperature light came up and then soon it became red. I lost power in the engine. It was still running but it didn't have full power. The message showed me to stop and let the engine cool off. I was 3 miles away from home. I stopped in the shoulder for 5 minutes. I started again, went for 20 feet. Again the red temperature light came up. I stopped again for 5 minutes. I managed to take an exit and parked in the parking lot for 15-20 minutes. I opened the hood and saw there was some coolant spilled around the coolant tank. I finally reached home. Before reaching home again I felt the car lost power when the red temp light showed.

I was getting the low coolant warning light for atleast a month and last week when I went for oil change, the coolant level was low and almost half a gallon was filled up. Also My battery is original from 08 and never changed.

I'm believing it will be the water pump and planning to change the waterpump and thermostat.

I read in one of the the threads that changing the battery fixed the overheating problem.

How can I confirm its related to waterpump and not related to battery or any leak in the radiator or the coolant tank.

Please let me know guys.

Car is bone stock and I just got the Alpine Trans Flash 10 days back.
I got all the items for brake job and was about to do my brakes this weekend and then I got the overheating issue yesterday night.


Thanks,
Sanjeevi

[YouAreMyWorld]

I'd say it's more along the lines of a leak from the expansion tank rather than the Water Pump. From my experience with this (as I had to have my expansion tank replaced), Coolant just doesn't dissipate or be consumed by the vehicle to the point where nearly a gallon can be thrown back into the expansion tank without needing to think about a leak somewhere. Also, if you're getting the low coolant warning and went almost a month without dealing with it, I hope to g-d you continuously topped off the coolant tank and did not just drive around thinking everything is A-Okay. These cars have turbos, which produce massive heat. The cooling parameters of this engine is absolutely paramount or it will cook itself--you don't mess around with a vehicle when it's showing even the slightest signs of overheating--especially a turbo'd one at that.

Also, for what it's worth, I don't see how changing a battery will 'fix' the problem you currently have. If there's coolant coming out of the expansion tank, as was the case with mine, there's a leak somewhere. Either from the cap or further along the reservoir that you cannot readily verify from the engine bay itself.

[limitdown]

Temp warnings should be taken extremely seriously for our cars. Especially if it's related to low water/coolant levels.

You most likely have a leak from one of the many places that could leak water. Radiator, one of the numerous water hoses, cracked water pump, cracked thermostat, expansion tank, tank cap.

The expansion tank will boil over and leak through the cap at very high temps. Sometimes water leaking from the cap is just a symptom of an underlying problem elsewhere.

[longnvu]

If you haven't replaced the water pump and thermostat i suggest it time. Its very common for them to go out depending on your mileage. You can probably check the water pump by doing the bleeding procedure.

[mike@x-ph.com]

If there is coolant spilled you probably have a broken line.

[neroneuman]

Thanks Guys.

I have 49k miles on my 08 TiAg e90 335i. Actually I drove a month with the low coolant warning. I understand that is a big mistake now Last week when I had the oil change, the coolant was topped up. I checked the coolant level now and its very low.

I didn't see any coolant on the ground wherever I had parked. I checked the codes with the actron CP9125 pocket scanner. It didn't show any error codes.

I will change the waterpump and thermostat now and whatever is leaking. I'm also thinking to add a 7/5inch intercooler now since the coolant system is getting fixed.

I feel worse asking but still ,what could be damage done by running the engine with low coolant for a month?

[CeeWhizzle]

Originally Posted by neroneuman

Thanks Guys.

I have 49k miles on my 08 TiAg e90 335i. Actually I drove a month with the low coolant warning. I understand that is a big mistake now Last week when I had the oil change, the coolant was topped up. I checked the coolant level now and its very low.

I didn't see any coolant on the ground wherever I had parked. I checked the codes with the actron CP9125 pocket scanner. It didn't show any error codes.

I will change the waterpump and thermostat now and whatever is leaking. I'm also thinking to add a 7/5inch intercooler now since the coolant system is getting fixed.

I feel worse asking but still ,what could be damage done by running the engine with low coolant for a month?

Running on low coolant can lead to increased turbo and engine wear or severe damage from the turbos. As they are not getting enough cooling and the coolant is not absorbing the heat and causing the seals and body to overheat, then to the engines cylinder walls getting hot and damaging the cylinder walls, piston rings, and more.

The good news here is that so long as the radiator was "almost full," there's almost no chance of damage- the coolant in the reservoir bottle is just that- reserve capacity to keep air from getting drawn in when the engine is shut down and the coolant cools down and contracts.

[neroneuman]

Cool. Some saving grace to me

I will take this opportunity and make her FBO, so that she breathes and cools better.

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

If you're already low you have a leak somewhere.. Best to get her up to operating temp and park on a clean surface and then let it sit there idling for 5-10min, then turn car off come back in 4-6 hours and try and see if there is any spots on the ground.

One problem is that these cars have shields on the bottom so a small leak may be difficult to spot.

Mike