Coolant spilled all over my engine bay(loose cap)...

[1cleanm6]

Guys today i was driving and i stopped on a hill and my coolant light came on. I didnt think much of it as my 335 use to do this on hills but was perfectly fine. I get another coolant signal 15 miles later and i pull over (on a flat road) at a gas station.

I discover coolant spilled all over my engine bay area and the cap loose however still on. FUCKING GREAT!! So i call road side, and ask WTF to do, as im worried maybe something happened to my engine. After one hour she comes back and says its fine to put water and drive it it doesnt need to be towed away.

Im confident this is something done by the the tech, cause she didnt even know the 6 speed manual tranny oil had to be replaced at 1200 miles. -_____-

Now i have never touched the coolant cap its a freeking new car. My only guess is during the 1200 service the tech checked it and didnt tighten it correctly. Another thing i noticed is my cap is kind of strange in my opinion. It just easily looks into place, with a little force itll come loose. Is this normal?

Now how the hell do i proceed since theres coolant all over my engine, do i call the bmw dealer and cuss their mothers out for this? Will they even believe me? Will they even clean the mess!

Sorry im just so mad on how this can happen...

[SonnyJack]

First take a deep breath............feel better?

Now, second thing is that I would strongly suggest not driving too far with just water. As hot as these things run that could be a disaster. Second, just go by the dealer and open the hood and explain what happened and calmly request that they clean the mess, but also ask them to confirm that nothing else is wrong. Unfortunately shit happens and dealers screw things up all the time. Just don't go postal and they'll probably take care of you just fine.

Keep us posted.

Originally Posted by Boosted335

Guys today i was driving and i stopped on a hill and my coolant light came on. I didnt think much of it as my 335 use to do this on hills but was perfectly fine. I get another coolant signal 15 miles later and i pull over (on a flat road) at a gas station.

I discover coolant spilled all over my engine bay area and the cap loose however still on. FUCKING GREAT!! So i call road side, and ask WTF to do, as im worried maybe something happened to my engine. After one hour she comes back and says its fine to put water and drive it it doesnt need to be towed away.

Im confident this is something done by the the tech, cause she didnt even know the 6 speed manual tranny oil had to be replaced at 1200 miles. -_____-

Now i have never touched the coolant cap its a freeking new car. My only guess is during the 1200 service the tech checked it and didnt tighten it correctly. Another thing i noticed is my cap is kind of strange in my opinion. It just easily looks into place, with a little force itll come loose. Is this normal?

Now how the hell do i proceed since theres coolant all over my engine, do i call the bmw dealer and cuss their mothers out for this? Will they even believe me? Will they even clean the mess!

Sorry im just so mad on how this can happen...

[AMOCHOSTO]

Originally Posted by SonnyJack

First take a deep breath............feel better?

Now, second thing is that I would strongly suggest not driving too far with just water. As hot as these things run that could be a disaster. Second, just go by the dealer and open the hood and explain what happened and calmly request that they clean the mess, but also ask them to confirm that nothing else is wrong. Unfortunately shit happens and dealers screw things up all the time. Just don't go postal and they'll probably take care of you just fine.

Keep us posted.

Good advice.

[///M Rakete]

When the coolant is cold, in other words the system isn't pressurized, the cap will seem easy to manipulate. Once pressurized it will resist being turned to some degree.

[WillC310]

Make sure you use distilled water.

[JCtx]

Yeah, techs are supposed to check all fluids on any car that goes to service. Pretty stupid to open the coolant cap when hot, but that's probably what the tech did (and the ensuing mess). I just can't imagine not closing the damn cap properly, or at least when the O-ring engages. Crazy. Anyway, if you didn't get any warnings on your iDrive, that means your engine didn't overheat, so it should be fine.

[sehrgut]

Never use water instead of coolant! Sad that you have to look shit over before taking it back from the dealer.

[flagger]

What is the best way to clean out the engine bay if he wants to do it himself? Pressure washer? Steam? Engine degreaser? ...???

[ckncwmn]

Originally Posted by flagger

What is the best way to clean out the engine bay if he wants to do it himself? Pressure washer? Steam? Engine degreaser? ...???

Engine degreaser with a little pressure washer is what I'd do. O also aggitate with a brush if its stubborn.
Sorry to hear that man. Just like someone said people makes mistakes we are human you know. I understand you'd be pissed about this but hey car is from what I heard is ok. Just go to the dealer and tell them what happened and they'll chew up the tech that did it So best of luck

[donovan]

Well, definetly calm down. Its not hydrochloric acid which will eat away the life of the engine bay lol.

I agree with cleaning it up so it wont stain and it just looks nasty. Definetly get some coolant back in there with distilled h2o. When thats done just go back to the dealership if you want.

[///M Rakete]

Originally Posted by sehrgut

Sad that you have to look shit over before taking it back from the dealer.

Yep, but I do it before leaving the lot. It's just amazing sometimes.

[raiste]

For short periods of time, there's no danger using just distilled water. Water has a higher heat transfer rate than a water/coolant mix. For the long term, however, it is best to run a mixture to prevent corrosion.

If you never see sub-zero temps, a 40/60 ratio of coolant to water mix is acceptable. Or even a 30/70 (coolant/water) ratio is acceptable during the summer months. Some performance cars like the GTR have the option to come with a 30/70 mix from the factory.

[vm]

Originally Posted by raiste

For short periods of time, there's no danger using just distilled water. Water has a higher heat transfer rate than a water/coolant mix. For the long term, however, it is best to run a mixture to prevent corrosion.

Exactly. Water is much more efficient and better than ethylene glycol (the main ingredient in coolant) at heat transfer and the only reason ethylene glycol is there is to lower the freezing point of water so your coolant won't freeze in winter. In addition to the ethylene glycol, coolant has a number of corrosion inhibitors to prevent corrosion in the metal parts of the cooling system. There are some coolant formulations for Tropical countries were you use a 90-10 water-coolant mixture because the coolant is mostly the corrosion inhibitors as the freezing point of water is good enough.