Coolant tank warning on V8

[dazzasgotav8]

Not sure if this has been covered before but upon checking my coolant level at weekend as you do , removing the cap my floaty thing didnt pop up thats strange i thought hasnt been using coolant up to now adding coolant still didnt rise but yet i could see the coolant level now , whys the float not rising decide to remove coolant tank for a better look and found this slight problem

IMG_1032.JPG (50.57 KiB) Viewed 4390 times

, only thing i can think is it must of broken up as i removed the cap as all the bits where in the coolant in the tank , glad i decided not to drain the whole coolant as all that would of gone into the engine , not sure what coolant should be in my engine as some say blue some say red but whats in there is a greeny yellow so i opted for what was already in there , so new tank and coolant flush this weekend long as parts arrive

[Leslie]

I've thought it would be quite easy to trap the top of it down the side of the rad cap if its sticking up out of the water a long way and snap it as the cap is narrow at the bottom if its like the older style caps on e46 etc

[marti]

They break up due to age / mileage and being brittle....next thing to happen would be a split in the expansion tank...so well caught.

[dazzasgotav8]

little update on me way to work this morning i get the low coolant warning and guess what i now have a split in my coolant tank , lucky i have the new tank at work so swapped this over before i left only topped up with water for now to check no other leaks then it will be coolant flush and refill at weekend , my advice would be if you have not changed your coolant tank put it on the to do list asap .

[henrym3]

Or run the system at a lower temperature/pressure and fit the 1.4 bar diesel cap.

[dazzasgotav8]

Or run the system at a lower temperature/pressure and fit the 1.4 bar diesel cap.

i guess i could fit one of them , any one no the part number or is it just any diesel cap off a x5 ???????

[henrym3]

You can’t fit the cap alone,you can only do cap if you fit the lower temperature thermostat

[marti]

Have you checked you water pump for leaks???

[henrym3]

+1 on water pump. Mine had no visual signs of leak when you looked at it. But if you look underneath it where the weep hole is if you see coolant stains then it’s leaking. Use a mirror to see underneath the pump

[dazzasgotav8]

just to confirm my lose of coolant was due to the coolant tank splitting ,, does anyone have any more info on the thermostat and cap i need ??????????

[henrym3]

You can do a straight thermostat swap for the e32 7 series BUT they are like rocking horse poo, not even the dealers have any or you can buy a modification set up of that well known site, about= £70. This entails modding your thermostat inlet housing and adding the spacers provided. This of course gives you a fault code as you are no longer using the DME to open the thermostat. You can fit a 10 ohm resistor which keeps the code from reappearing. I went this route about 2 years ago and have never seen a temp’ reading above 93 degrees. Normally runs in the 88/90 degree area. Lower temperatures means less pressure, less stress on hoses etc etc. Added bonus is that the gearbox runs cooler.

[henrym3]

Look at this item on the bay 263659153410

[dazzasgotav8]

i am very keen to do this modification is there any other bits needed that arent in that kit , i am thinking to get a spare housing so i can have all the parts needed without touching whats on the car before i start ..

[dazzasgotav8]

just realised i have the N62B44 engine not a M62 ..