Continually driving with a low coolant light on could cause severe damage to the internals of the engine. When the light comes on there may be no immediate danger that would require you to abandon your vehicle, but stopping your car is heavily recommended. Given that the coolant is blue, it could be that the cooling system has been adversely affected by the use of a coolant type it wasn't designed for, though I'm not sure if I would blame it for this vehicle's coolant loss woes.If there is any light you should be attentive of it is the low coolant light for sure. I'd recommend cleaning the oil spots and monitoring to see if the stains return in the short term. The power steering reservoir is also a possible culprit. If the oil hasn't been changed recently, there may be a leak associated with the neighboring oil cooler or a crack in the oil filter housing. Given the oil filter housing is in the nearby vicinity I wouldn't be surprised if the stains are the remnants of a recent oil filter change. The reason for this should be obvious, but the consequences of engine damage from overheating is far worse than any impact of using the wrong fluid on the cooling system.Ĭoolant evaporates and leaves a milky-white stain behind that's oil on the radiator hose If the recommended coolant/coolant grade is not available and the coolant level is low, top up the reservoir with distilled water and have the system evaluated by an authorized dealership as soon as possible. In a pinch, any coolant is better than no coolantĮven litigation-wary vehicle manufacturers will invariably recommend this in owner manuals (paraphrased from my W12 Touareg manual): I am attaching following picture that may provide more hints, because there is fluid exhausted with force from what I think is radiator hose: The coolant is pouring on the street (in this case there could be something dipping below the car)Ĭoolant gets burned together with fuel and goes out through exhaust pipe (not sure what hints are for this case).Īre the any possible root causes that could explain why coolant disappears? I guess there are three possibilities:Ĭoolant is leaking in oil compartment (in this case the oil may become milky) I suppose it is also important to find out why coolant has disappeared. If it is better not to drive around in current condition, can I simply pour in a liter of distilled water to get the car around for a day or so? I guess this would dillute the water:coolant ratio from 50:50 to something like 60:40. If coolant reservoir is not completely empty and low coolant light is turning on only intermittently, is it ok to drive around for a day or so for short trips until this gets properly fixed? Does this kind of job imply also coolant change? if so, then I guess there is possibility that it is not the blue BMW coolant in her car anymore and in this case the coolant should be flushed if its type can't be determined anymore? She got engine gasket replaced outside BMW a year ago. I would be inclined to buy and pour in new coolant, however, after googling around I have few doubts now: Nevertheless, the float stick was still floating and there was still some fluid left inside the reservoir. I checked the coolant reservoir and float stick was slightly below the "low line". In the last few days the "low coolant" light has been intermittently turning on on my friend's BMW X3 (2007 ~70K miles).
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