I just noticed a couple spots of "blue blood" on the driveway, anyone know which of the vital fluids that would be ? I assume its from the gearbox ? Something not re-installed properly after the warranty clutch replacement perhaps ? It appears to be coming from that area. She has an appointment at MOA next Friday.

BTW- DeWayne apparently left MOT

 

Sadly DeWayne was let go by the dealership ( no word why )

 

The coolant is a light blue color. Mine leaked from the thermostat housing.

 

That's too bad, he was always very good to me.....


That makes sense, I thought I had been smelling some antifreeze lately but passed it off as another car since it always seemed to go away. I'll take a look tomorrow. I've heard the thermostat housing is an issue with the R53s

 

It can be difficult to see a leak from the thermostat housing. I could see some white residue (dried coolant) around the housing area. Mine seemed to leak during the night when the engine cooled. I could not see any leak when the engine was warm or driving (maybe it would just evaporate). Check your coolant reservoir level to see if it is low. My leak started very slow and got worse over about a month's time.

 

quik, that sounds like my leak, I had noticed a somewhat dry spot on the driveway and thought it was from one of the other vehicles. I motored a bit and let her sit overnight, next day there was another spot. Looking at the underside I could not see any drips so I put a jar underneath it. The next day I had about an 1/8th inch of blue. It does not seem to have increased since then leading one to believe there is a certain temp that it leaks at. So for now its driving the other Mini-van, Preston, chrysler powered but no BMW parts

 

Check the coolant tank level. You can top it up with distilled water until you get it fixed.

 

Thanks ! Will do, I won't be driving her till I take her in, one for the leak and the other is our weather is getting ready to go downhill, where there's rain and snow, Wensleydale don't go ! Hah !

Glad to hear that this is just another one of the problems off the "usual list" and not the gearbox !

Its tough getting old......almost 40, I always thought:

Gold/brown/black = Oil
Red/reddish black = Trans
Brown & smelly = diff lube
Clear & stinky= Brake fluid
Green/Yellow = Coolant

Now we have red and blue and pink and so on....

 

oh man...I liked DeWayne...he was a nice guy. Good luck with the leaking...

 

Thermostat replaced and we're back in business !

 

Glad to hear Wensley's OK Mike.

 

Thanks !

 

I, too, had this same issue in the past couple of weeks. Took it to MoS, it was the thermostat, and we're off and running.

I was also confused by the blue color and was worried because I have the limited slip differential and thought it might be related to that. Thankfully it wasn't.

And, I was also told this is a recurring problem - I have an '05