X5 3.0 Diesel straight 6 Gasket?

[Gav Lar]

Hello all,

X5 3 litre diesel straight six on a 53 plate here..!

It's overheating and the expansion tank is pressurising, yet there is no sign of a free guinness when you remove the oil filler cap for inspection, so it would appear that no water is getting into the engine, just air getting into the water.

Probable cause is head gasket, and its been into the garage over the past two days, where the engine was completely flushed out with a wynns engine flush treatment, before being drained down and then hosed through with normal water, which was followed by a mixture of water, blue anti freeze, and two bottles of seel steel... or steel seel (it looks like two bottles of lime green bogey water).

It was run up, then left to cool down, but the expansion tank was once again, greatly pressurised.

If you leave it to run with the cap off, it dribbles over the top of the neck for a while, then suddenly everything shoots down inside the tank, which is followed by a few impersonations of a canadian, hot water geizer.

Having spoken with a guy at a machine shop, he states that the straight six is the worst for head gaskets, as the block and head are both alluminium, and as a result, most attempts to skim and replace / repair the head gasket will result in the threads being ripped out of the block.

 

In another post, i noticed that the 3 litre i engine has two thermostats, with the second being under the expansion tank, thing is, if the diesel engine has the same, i can't see it being that as it does periodically chug the water down before spouting it all back up again... although it could be stuck in the open position perhaps???

 

I am in desperate need of a fix on a budget here, so any and all help would be grateful... the mechanic says that the engine management was also unplugged, and having plugged it back in there's about 20 or so faults, however he says most are not worth worrying about and can probably be reset.

The mechanic i trust, as i'm a cab driver and he's the guy who keeps my work car on the road, so there's no question of him trying to pull my pants down as it were.

i've sent him a screen shot about the SNIFF TEST? which was mentioned in the previous post with the petrol engine that has a similar or identical issue, so i'll speak to him about that tomorrow.

 

In an absolute worst case scenario, what are my options for replacing the engine? by which i mean is there any other BMW diesel engine that would fit into the car... like the 2.5 or the 3 litre v6 or v8 perhaps... Another 3 liter straight six could end up with the same problem.........

 

Any and all help appreciated in advance guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gav Lar]

Almost forgot...

 

When driving it, i keep the heater on full, as it draws heat from the engine and delays the over heating (not that i drive it much at the moment), but... what i did notice was the fact that periodically, it would blow cold air into the car, even though the guage said halfway hot, and there was no warning message telling me to check the coolant level. That message does come on from time to time, but it just seemed weird that for no reason it would stop blowing hot and start blowing cold.

[Gav Lar]

Really sorry about repeat postings on my own thread, hope it doesn't break forum rules.

 

I've been looking on the bay of fees for a worst case scenario, aka engine replacement, and there's loads of them on there... but whats the difference between E39 and E57?

Or is there any difference between a car engine 3.0 diesel and the x5 engine 3.0 diesel?

Sorry if it sounds daft but this is my first X5 so i'm a total fish out of water here.

[Greydog]

Morning Gav

Your engine is M57 which has cast block and alloy head. I would change the Water Pump Thermostat and the one under the expansion tank, I would even consider changing the expansion tank as it is plastic and if over heated can become brittle and split (voice of experience) 

Have a look at www.realoem.com, put the last 7 digits of your Vin in the search box it will bring up your car. The site is a BMW parts site so you can compare part numbers with other models to see what is transferable. Also check out www.newtis.info for help with how too's.

The M57 TU engine is used in many BMW models as well as Range Rover/Landrover, again compare part numbers. If you click on a part number it will bring up a list of models it was used in.

The BMW 3.0 diesel is as tough as old boots and head gasket issue is rare, so I would suspect thermostats as first port of call. 

Good Luck

Dave

 

[Gav Lar]

Cheers for that... I'll keep you posted

[Gav Lar]

He's ordering the two thermostats from europarts. The water pump seems to be ok as it is pumping water through.

Those thermostats are about 40 quid each though..!

[Gav Lar]

On 1/17/2019 at 8:43 AM, Greydog said:

Morning Gav

Your engine is M57 which has cast block and alloy head. I would change the Water Pump Thermostat and the one under the expansion tank, I would even consider changing the expansion tank as it is plastic and if over heated can become brittle and split (voice of experience) 

Have a look at www.realoem.com, put the last 7 digits of your Vin in the search box it will bring up your car. The site is a BMW parts site so you can compare part numbers with other models to see what is transferable. Also check out www.newtis.info for help with how too's.

The M57 TU engine is used in many BMW models as well as Range Rover/Landrover, again compare part numbers. If you click on a part number it will bring up a list of models it was used in.

The BMW 3.0 diesel is as tough as old boots and head gasket issue is rare, so I would suspect thermostats as first port of call. 

Good Luck

Dave

 

Question.

In the event that replacing both thermostats does not resolve the issue, what would be the main issues with replacing the head gasket?

As in, would specialist tools be required for holding the cam in place for example, or would it be a conventional means of unbolt, remove, skim the head and then replace using a torque wrench etc.

 

[Greydog]

Hi Gav

Check www.newtis.info it is a BMW technical information site which is used by BMW dealerships for "how too's" certainly when rebuilding the V8's tools and procedures are needed for locking the cams and for timing the Vanos. I would assume the straight 6 is the same but I have never rebuilt the diesel so newtis would be my first port of call. The rest is straight forward just remember the head bolts are stretch bolts and should be replaced, pretty standard on modern engines though not cheap (voice of experience after rebuilding my 4.6 V8).

The other thing to remember is the system can sometimes be difficult to bleed all the air out of, could explain your hot/cold and the impression of a geyser. 

[Gav Lar]

4 hours ago, Greydog said:

Hi Gav

Check www.newtis.info it is a BMW technical information site which is used by BMW dealerships for "how too's" certainly when rebuilding the V8's tools and procedures are needed for locking the cams and for timing the Vanos. I would assume the straight 6 is the same but I have never rebuilt the diesel so newtis would be my first port of call. The rest is straight forward just remember the head bolts are stretch bolts and should be replaced, pretty standard on modern engines though not cheap (voice of experience after rebuilding my 4.6 V8).

The other thing to remember is the system can sometimes be difficult to bleed all the air out of, could explain your hot/cold and the impression of a geyser. 

So the car could just be suffering from back pressure then?

I mean it's air one way not water into the oil... and the sniff test didn't change colour so no fumes getting in there.

It's a strange one for sure, as head gasket would normally result in creamy oil.

[Greydog]

So a sniff test has been done and was negative, that should indicate that the cooling system is not being pressurized by a leaking head gasket. If there is no sign of water in the oil or oil in the water again that indicates that there is no leak from the cooling system into the oil, so far so good. 

Modern water pumps (not just BMW) have a design life, normally around 75000 miles once they start to fail the knock on effect can make it difficult to diagnose. I have seen a water pump that looked perfect (sons Toyota) but under pressure the impeller stalled causing overheating particularly under load, no oil in the water no water in the oil? The Toyota Dealer said new engine??? He used the truck for a few months as his work was local and all he needed to do was top up the water a couple of times a week. When the weather improved we decided to have a look, getting to the water pump was a a real challenge but once we got it off the problem was obvious it was cheaply made with the impeller (plastic) pressed onto the shaft, but it could be moved by hand. A new one sourced from ECP with gaskets and coolant came to about £100 from memory. The Toyota Dealer said they had never known a water pump fail like that ?? Their 2.2 diesel had a known head issues and they were changing engines under extended warranty, didn't cover my sons so they wanted £2k+ I dont think they looked just quoted new engine??? Sons pick up has now performed faultlessly for the last 3 years (touch wood) interestingly the ECP water pump had a metal impeller held by a lock nut. If the system has an airlock and the water pump is not performing properly you will have little chance of successfully bleeding it due to the airlock stalling the pump. If you are going in to change thermostats I would check the water pump.

Good Luck.