 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / BMW Cars / March 2005E39 bodily fluid?
the other day I found a small pool of what looked like plain water on the garage floor about center of the car's engine bay when parked. It was about the viscosity of thin oil and had no noticeable smell. It wasn't brake fluid or engine oil. It only happened once. Is there anything in the front end of a stick shift E39 that could have leaked a fluid like this?  SignatureDean Dark Air conditioning sometimes leaks water from round that area. Thats normal I believe. MC > the other day I found a small pool of what looked like plain water on > the garage floor about center of the car's engine bay when parked. It > was about the viscosity of thin oil and had no noticeable smell. It > wasn't brake fluid or engine oil. It only happened once. Is there > anything in the front end of a stick shift E39 that could have leaked > a fluid like this? > Air conditioning sometimes leaks water from round that area. Thats > normal I believe. It's just condensation. It would not feel "oily", IMO. Jeff > MC > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> -- >> Dean Dark > the other day I found a small pool of what looked like plain water on > the garage floor about center of the car's engine bay when parked. It > was about the viscosity of thin oil and had no noticeable smell. It > wasn't brake fluid or engine oil. It only happened once. Is there > anything in the front end of a stick shift E39 that could have leaked > a fluid like this? If it was oil, check the pipes from the power steering reservoir. These often leak. They're crimped in place, and the crimps are crap. Remove the offending crimp and replace with a worm drive clip. Signature*If God had wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. Have you had the car long? If the liquid is clear, not oily and has no smell then it is water. My E39 will drain its A/C condensation onto the garage floor around an area just forward and below the gear shift lever. That's what's intended. It does that even in Winter. We have real Winters here and sure enough there was a small puddle there just a couple of weeks ago. I leave my A/C on to clear humidity from the cabin. >Have you had the car long? If the liquid is clear, not oily and has no >smell then it is water. My E39 will drain its A/C condensation onto [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >there was a small puddle there just a couple of weeks ago. I leave my >A/C on to clear humidity from the cabin. Thanks for the idea, but no, this is not a/c condensate water, it sat on the floor without drying up for more than a day which is what drew my attention to it. It's a clear fluid (like water) but it's like a light oil in consistency. I'll check the power steering reservoir, as Mr. Plowman suggested, once I figure out where it is. It's not listed in the drivers' handbook... SignatureDean Dark > On 27 Feb 2005 16:28:29 -0800, "Michael Low" > <metrocomm@ca.inter.net> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > listed > in the drivers' handbook... It does sound like power steering fluid. The hoses to / from the reservoir are known to leak. Usually juist requires replacement of the original crimp-on clamp with a worm-gear clamp (like a small radiator hose clamp). -Fred W The water condensate from my car also stayed on the floor for longer than a day but it was 100% water. Dextron III ATF is what the steering system uses and it is not clear. It is a medium-weight red oil. Try soaking up some of the fluid. If it stains red and is oily then you have an ATF III leak. The power steering reservoir of my 540 is on the left next to the strut tower. The black cap has a splined star-shaped grip pattern. If you have that much ATF coming from the system you may feel a vibration from your steering wheel when the engine is cold and you turn the wheel to its limits. Refilling the ATF can be a pain if the system got low enough to collect air bubbles. Make sure tha car is level and cold when you check the level. > The water condensate from my car also stayed on the floor for longer > than a day but it was 100% water. Dextron III ATF is what the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > and > cold when you check the level. Some use ATF (red) and some use Pentosin (clear) for power steering fluid. It should say in the owners manual. -Fred W Thanks for the input. I've never seen Pentosin before but you're right, Pentosin CHF7.1 is listed by BMW as their recommended steering system fluid. But a quick check on the Internet picked up a description of CHF7.1 as being green in colour. Is that right? Otherwise, it is Dextron III in my car. I looked in the last E39 manual (for N. America) and there is no mention of what the owner should use. It seems to suggest you have the garage do it... not a good idea as Dave pointed out. > Thanks for the input. I've never seen Pentosin before but you're > right, Pentosin CHF7.1 is listed by BMW as their recommended [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > the > garage do it... not a good idea as Dave pointed out. Nope, the can is green, the fluid is clear. The reservoir will have a green ring around the fill cap hole if you are supposed to use the Pentosin CHF7.1. If that is what is called for, that is what you need to use. Nothing else. Use of generic "power steering fluid" or ATF will likely cause problems if mixed with the original pentosin fluid. -Fred W Thanks for informing us about CHF7.1 but from what I've seen on their website the can is actually white and the lettering and cap are green - 2 people who posted on the following message thread on ROADFLY clearly said CHF7.1 is green: http://bimmer.roadfly.org/e32/messages/archive/msgsy2001w16/18305.html I'm not sure if you are also in North America but it appears that in NA we use Dextron III ATF in the E39. I'm not sure if Pentosin is readily available in Canada. I agree mixing Dextron with Pentosin can cause problems but if you have the Bentley E39 manual it does clearly tell you to use Dextron III ATF. Pentosin's website only show German and Brasilian office locations. So I would say Dextron III ATF is fine to use if your car came with it in the steering system. If for some reason it has Pentosin CHF7.1 then you should try to locate some Pentosin. If you can't find any it would be better to check with BMW to see if there are any differences in the seals used before flushing it out and completely replacing with Dextron III ATF. Otherwise BMW NA seems to have no problems with using Dextron III ATF or their dealers would not be using it. > Thanks for informing us about CHF7.1 but from what I've seen on > their [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > http://bimmer.roadfly.org/e32/messages/archive/msgsy2001w16/18305.html Ooops. Sorry for the confusion. I was mixing it up with Pentosin CHF11S, which is what my older bimmers use and is sitting in my garage right now. Here's the link to the german manufacturer's web site: http://www.pentosin.de/eng/products/products.html > I'm not sure if you are also in North America but it appears that in > NA > we use Dextron III ATF in the E39. I'm not sure if Pentosin is > readily > available in Canada. Yes, I'm in the US. Apparently, some but not all E39's came with ATF in the steering. Some came with Pentosin CHF7.1 and some with CHF11S. > I agree mixing Dextron with Pentosin can cause problems but if you > have > the Bentley E39 manual it does clearly tell you to use Dextron III > ATF. Bentley, while good manuals, are not the end-all, be-all reference. They can (and do) occasionally publish mistakes and/or ommisions. > Pentosin's website only show German and Brasilian office locations. It is available in the US: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=Pentosin&btnG=Search > So I would say Dextron III ATF is fine to use if your car came with > it [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > III ATF. Otherwise BMW NA seems to have no problems with using > Dextron III ATF or their dealers would not be using it. I would stick with whatever came in the steering box, period. Yes, the right stuff is available, just a bit harder to find. -Fred W > > Thanks for informing us about CHF7.1 but from what I've seen on > > their [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > clearly > > said CHF7.1 is green: http://bimmer.roadfly.org/e32/messages/archive/msgsy2001w16/18305.html > Ooops. Sorry for the confusion. I was mixing it up with Pentosin > CHF11S, which is what my older bimmers use and is sitting in my garage [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Yes, I'm in the US. Apparently, some but not all E39's came with ATF > in the steering. Some came with Pentosin CHF7.1 and some with CHF11S. I wonder if those were cars imported from Europe by their owners. Otherwise it would only make servicing more troublesome for BMW. > > I agree mixing Dextron with Pentosin can cause problems but if you > > have [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > It is available in the US: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all&q=Pentosin&btnG=Search For small quantities maybe it would be simpler to get it from a dealer. > > So I would say Dextron III ATF is fine to use if your car came with > > it > > in the steering system. If for some reason it has Pentosin CHF7.1 [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > I would stick with whatever came in the steering box, period. > Yes, the right stuff is available, just a bit harder to find. Yes, if Pentosin can be located it would be far simpler to just stay with it. > -Fred W >The water condensate from my car also stayed on the floor for longer >than a day but it was 100% water. Dextron III ATF is what the steering [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >got low enough to collect air bubbles. Make sure tha car is level and >cold when you check the level. The ATF reservoir is at the correct level. Interestingly, the driver's handbook doesn't even identify it. As you say, the ATF fluid is a dull red color, and is not what was on the floor. I think this will have to remain a mystery for now. I suppose it's possible I could have driven through a puddle of something strange that later dripped off onto the garage floor. A perfectly clean, colorless oil, whatever the hell that could be... Thanks for all the suggestions. SignatureDean Dark > The water condensate from my car also stayed on the floor for longer > than a day but it was 100% water. Dextron III ATF is what the steering > system uses and it is not clear. It is a medium-weight red oil. Try > soaking up some of the fluid. If it stains red and is oily then you > have an ATF III leak. On my '97 E39, it's not red, but near clear. The usual slightly 'yellow' oil colour. Which confused me when I saw it on the floor - I thought it was engine oil, as like you I expected red Dexron. Because of work pressures, I'd no chance to sort it myself, so asked the dealer to do so as an oil service was due. The under tray had also signs of it - and one of the pipes from the steering reservoir, which was the source. On collecting the car I lifted the bonnet to check, and the under tray hadn't been cleaned, or the hose, and the crimp was also obviously original. But they'd charged 70 gbp to remove the hose, clean, and refit - according to the invoice. But had, in fact done nothing whatsoever. ;-( Signature*Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. I wonder if the garages use different fluids depending on the continental location. Pretty shocking about your experience with your dealer. I supposed you took them to task for it - so what was their excuse? Doh!! Maybe you gave the car a really good "ride" and it's just, uhm,.......fully satisfied? Actually my E39 is definitely a female... on second thoughts, never mind... I think I know what you'll suggest next. > Actually my E39 is definitely a female... on second thoughts, never > mind... I think I know what you'll suggest next. Can't resist. So you E39 has to sleep on the wet spot? Somebody has to. ;#) |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.