Massive Oil Leak

[Mystic3]

"Freeze" plug had me baffled

[marksae]

Correct, part # 07119901197

Yeah you just tap it in. There wasn't a lot of room to swing the small hammer so I also added some Loctite 620 to try and get it to hold better. Good luck!

Would taking the fan off give more room to work?

[eacmen]

Correct, part # 07119901197

Yeah you just tap it in. There wasn't a lot of room to swing the small hammer so I also added some Loctite 620 to try and get it to hold better. Good luck!

This. I’ve also seen people use jbweld as well.

[sapote]

Thanks robgill for the picture. It was the freeze plug! I just used a mirror with a light and I was able to see that mine is missing.

Missing plug should cause massive air leak through the CCV causing lean condition. Why codes not popped up?
The working CCV maintenances about 5" water column negative pressure under atmosphere and this should keep the plug from going loose. You might want to check if the CCV clogged and causing positive crankcase pressure pushing the plug out. Run engine anb connect a clear tube with water to the dipstick and see how high it pulls the water up to the dipstick -- should be 4 to 6" water.

[Phoenix///M3]

Yes exactly. With those pressures the compromised area won't necessarily be visible to the naked eye. Given its on the passenger side, it makes the VANOS line the likely culprit by a long shot.

Lived this last summer. Here's where the stock line can fail due to metal fatigue right at the bracket which I found broken.

This is after I flexed it a bit by hand to expose the hole. Entire passenger side of engine bay was covered in oil and burned on the headers.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[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.

[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.).

[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]

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.

[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.

[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]

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?

[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.

[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.

[marksae]

See post #19.

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