[stashtrey]

Last week while replacing my serpentine belt and pullies I made a bonehead mistake. managed to crack a large coolant line that runs from the reservoir to the eater pump, across/along the subframe cross member to the AT trans cooler and ending up under thr charge pipe connecting to the heater (?)!!

Talk about the worst possible thing to crack!! I cracked it while jacking up the front end from the center jack point. I used a block of wood between the jack and jack point and positioned it a little off...as I got to the high point the wood started to make this terrible cracking and the car shifted and "crunch"!!....all my coolant dumped out the middle of the car like a faucet on full blast. To say I had a little panic attack is an understatement.

Turns out this hard plastic section of the octopus of a coolant line sits right in front of the jack point. I cracked the shit out of it!

After inspecting it and finding the part online I quickly realized I was in for a real PITA job replacing it. Once the part arrived I began pulling the damaged one out...not too bad until you get to thr driver side where it snakes up under the PS/AC pun/compressor. BMW managed to place a single brace/screw in the most difficult to reach spot I've ever come across on this car. Alternator removal and lower bolt? Piece of cake! Lower OFH bolt next to the manifold? Please?!

I had to order a set of flexible socket/nut driver extensions off Amazon just to prepare to attempt to reach that lone bastard of a screw. Once I got down there to get it out I tried to reach it from thr top, bottom, side etc. My hand could barely even get in there to toucb it let alone get a socket on it. I ended up cutting the coolant line and cut away at the mounting point using a hand saw. After an hour of trying and loads if cursing BMW enginners I managed to snake two sections of flexible extensions with a wobble/elbow on the end down in there from the top and finally got the socket on there by some miracle. Used milwaukee mini impact and the little bastard broke free!! Pure bliss.

Once the coolant line was out...which was quite the ordeal removing all the hose comextions from the water pump, reservoir etc I got the new one in. I tried for another hour to get the new line secured in that ridiculous spot and gave up. It is pretty stable and the line is rigid hard plastic so it isn't going anywhere. Filled it up, bled it and thank god zero leaks....back in business.

Moral of the story...be very careful using that front jack point or you may suffer the same fate.

Some pics of my ordeal.

This post has been therapeutic!

[NoSlow5oh]

Glad you got it fixed. I would have given up on that bolt as well.

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by NoSlow5oh

Glad you got it fixed. I would have given up on that bolt as well.

Thanks bro. Yeah...if only I had double jointed hands and fingers...may have had a chance.

Makes me very curious what a dealer would charge to replace/fix it...I'm thinking they would remove the alternator, PS pump, AC compressor, vaccum canisters, fmic and all hoses/intake stuff. Likely would not be cheap! Think I will call them up and ask for an estimate.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Mine cracked on its own couple months ago ... glad you got it fixed

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Mine cracked on its own couple months ago ... glad you got it fixed

Did you do the work yourself or have someone else do it? Curious if you were able to get that driver side screw out and back in....what a PiTA!

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by stashtrey

Did you do the work yourself or have someone else do it? Curious if you were able to get that driver side screw out and back in....what a PiTA!

One of our shops did it
Took them less than half an hour

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

One of our shops did it
Took them less than half an hour

Ha! Well...it took me a few hours but 3/4 of that was soent trying to get to that damn screw. Thanks, Mike.

[CptJoe732]

It's really annoying these are one piece. I really wish you could just change out the connection then re attach the hose. I cracked the one that runs right up the front of the motor to the hpfp. It was a pain.

[XM_Rocks]

Originally Posted by stashtrey

Last week while replacing my serpentine belt and pullies I made a bonehead mistake. managed to crack a large coolant line that runs from the reservoir to the eater pump, across/along the subframe cross member to the AT trans cooler

I thought I was the only one to pull bonehead moves when doing simple maintenance.

I actually knicked the hard coolant line that runs at the top of the motor when doing my serpentine belt.

All of a sudden tons of coolant starts shooting out and thus my day was ruined, a simple 1 hour task on my day off turned into a mess.

I was so pissed.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

I've almost came to the conlcusion there is no way to work on this car without breaking something else LOL

Plus tasks that should take X amount of time always need to be tripled.

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by XM_Rocks

I thought I was the only one to pull bonehead moves when doing simple maintenance.

I actually knicked the hard coolant line that runs at the top of the motor when doing my serpentine belt.

All of a sudden tons of coolant starts shooting out and thus my day was ruined, a simple 1 hour task on my day off turned into a mess.

I was so pissed.

I know the feeling obviously. I was so deflated when inheardbthe crunch of the line and saw the coolant pouring out. Like...you've got to be kidding me! A 30 minute belt/pulley change has noe turned into a week of waiting for the part and more work.

Took a nice long drive yesterday and the car is running well so job is a success.

Oh...FYI I broke my belly pan/skid plate when this happened...well a good chunk of it. I found an OEM style replacement online for $30??!!! $36 shipped. It isn't OEM but says it is a direct replacement. I'll post a link as it is over $100 cheaper than anywhere else. Nice reason to replace yours if it is as trashed as mine!

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by CptJoe732

It's really annoying these are one piece. I really wish you could just change out the connection then re attach the hose. I cracked the one that runs right up the front of the motor to the hpfp. It was a pain.

Bingo! When I got down there to inspect the damage I thought...oh no sweat, just needs the hard plastic center section....then noticed the hose clamps were permanent. Thought I might have been able to saw it apart and use some hose clamps to splice the piece in but no dice wince the driver side is one piece plastic all the way up. Very frustrating design!

[stashtrey]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

I've almost came to the conlcusion there is no way to work on this car without breaking something else LOL

Plus tasks that should take X amount of time always need to be tripled.

Amen brother. It really is amazing thinking about all the worke I've done and had done on this var. I've damn near become a pro mechanic since I purchased it and have amassed a pretty respectable assortment of tools.

However...that is part of the fun, IMO. I actually enjoy wrenching and spending time in the garage. Just would rather be upgrading and doing maintenance vs repairing and replacing expensive parts. Lmao.

[Jklad]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

I've almost came to the conlcusion there is no way to work on this car without breaking something else LOL

Plus tasks that should take X amount of time always need to be tripled.

+1 this is so true!! I always estimate the time it should take me to do a job and multiply by 3, bc something unexpected always happens. I only work on the car if I have nothing else planned for the day just in case I do something stupid.