Massive Oil Leak

[marksae]

Hi, Can we kindly follow up this up with a conclusion and DIY for replacing the cap

I removed the radiator and fan to gain enough room to hammer the freeze plug back on. There's also a metal water pipe that runs in front of that plug that I removed since it partially blocked being able to hammer the plug straight on.

My car hasn't had any issues since I replaced the plug. I did apply some Loctite 620 on the plug before reinstalling it.

Good luck.

[BL92]

Hi, Can we kindly follow up this up with a conclusion and DIY for replacing the cap

[Arith2]

On the front of the engine there is a plug that is pressed in but its covering an oil passage, not coolant. Maybe it was a leftover hole from casting?

Calling it a freeze plug is probably incorrect, but it certainly looks like a freeze plug and installed the same way.

You appear to be correct. Looks like is may be the oil feed to the cams or something. It covers something up rather than it having any purpose as a freeze plug.

[eacmen]

I've never heard of freeze plugs just falling out for no reason. This is not common on any engine. Those suckers are really in there and are ideally permanent. They designed to prevent blocks from cracking when your coolant freezes solid. Coolant freezes at like -30°

On the front of the engine there is a plug that is pressed in but its covering an oil passage, not coolant. Maybe it was a leftover hole from casting?

Calling it a freeze plug is probably incorrect, but it certainly looks like a freeze plug and installed the same way.

[Arith2]

I've never heard of freeze plugs just falling out for no reason. This is not common on any engine. Those suckers are really in there and are ideally permanent. They designed to prevent blocks from cracking when your coolant freezes solid. Coolant freezes at like -30°

[marksae]

See post #19.

Thanks for the details. I'll have to do my research and inspect mine.

[sapote]

One concern I have is the root cause of the freeze plug falling out. Was this just a simple case of an old part wearing out? Freeze plugs typically don't just fall out on their own. Would excessive crankcase pressure cause the plug to fall out? Could the rear freeze plug be susceptible to falling out as well? Could the front plug fall out again? I think I'm going to order two extra freeze plugs just in case.

robgill, how many miles did your car have when your freeze plug fell out? How many miles have you put on your car since replacing it?

See post #19.

[eacmen]

One concern I have is the root cause of the freeze plug falling out. Was this just a simple case of an old part wearing out? Freeze plugs typically don't just fall out on their own. Would excessive crankcase pressure cause the plug to fall out? Could the rear freeze plug be susceptible to falling out as well? Could the front plug fall out again? I think I'm going to order two extra freeze plugs just in case.

robgill, how many miles did your car have when your freeze plug fell out? How many miles have you put on your car since replacing it?

Yeah agreed, it is a fairly common failure though.

However, Might be a good idea to make sure the PCV oil separator isn’t clogged.

[marksae]

One concern I have is the root cause of the freeze plug falling out. Was this just a simple case of an old part wearing out? Freeze plugs typically don't just fall out on their own. Would excessive crankcase pressure cause the plug to fall out? Could the rear freeze plug be susceptible to falling out as well? Could the front plug fall out again? I think I'm going to order two extra freeze plugs just in case.

robgill, how many miles did your car have when your freeze plug fell out? How many miles have you put on your car since replacing it?

[sapote]

The old part only has one tab (11367831700). The superseded part (11367837614) has two mounting tabs.

OK, this is why my 2006 has 2 tabs. I guess BMW learned from single tab breakage and improved with the added top tab.

[marksae]

Pulling the front clip off of these cars is super easy, but it does require that you drain the radiator. If you need to do any cooling system work soon, it might be a good idea to do it now and pull the whole front clip off. That'll give you a LOT more access. You can even pressure wash some bits with it off (you should of course wrap up all electrical things with plastic, don't hit any rubber seals directly with the pressure washer, etc.).

I was planning on refreshing my entire cooling system anyway, so this freeze plug repair will likely drive me to get it done. This will give me a good opportunity to access more areas to clean.

I just watched the YouTube video for removing the entire front end. It doesn't look too bad. I'll consider it once I remove the radiator and see how much room I have to work with.

[heinzboehmer]

I believe the pipe has 2 mounting tabs: one held down by the vanos upper right bolt, and one further down on the timing cover. I see only one tab (broken) on the pic.

The old part only has one tab (11367831700). The superseded part (11367837614) has two mounting tabs.

[sapote]

Below are pictures of my VANOS oil line with broken tab and insulation cut open.

I believe the pipe has 2 mounting tabs: one held down by the vanos upper right bolt, and one further down on the timing cover. I see only one tab (broken) on the pic.

[heinzboehmer]

Okay, so I took off the VANOS solenoid. Here's a pic of the missing freeze plug on the cylinder head. I didn't see it in the undertray. I'll need to take the car further apart to attempt to clean all the oil. Maybe I'll find it. I just want to make sure it's not stuck somewhere it shouldn't be.

Pulling the front clip off of these cars is super easy, but it does require that you drain the radiator. If you need to do any cooling system work soon, it might be a good idea to do it now and pull the whole front clip off. That'll give you a LOT more access. You can even pressure wash some bits with it off (you should of course wrap up all electrical things with plastic, don't hit any rubber seals directly with the pressure washer, etc.).

[marksae]

Okay, so I took off the VANOS solenoid. Here's a pic of the missing freeze plug on the cylinder head. I didn't see it in the undertray. I'll need to take the car further apart to attempt to clean all the oil. Maybe I'll find it. I just want to make sure it's not stuck somewhere it shouldn't be.



Below are pictures of my VANOS oil line with broken tab and insulation cut open. My tab fracture didn't go all the way into the line itself. I noticed the broken tab actually didn't fit that well to the tab that's attached to the line, which tells me the tab was likely broken for a while. The two sides were likely vibrating against each other grinding away the original fractured mating surface.