New E85 owner - fluid leak

P

Pumchdrunked

Member
 Essex
Hey all, nice to meet you.

I recently acquired a MY05 3.0i manual roadster with 142k miles on the clock. The car seems fine and drives quite well, although it suffers from "sticky steering" and occasionally the rack, or whatever, groans when turning the wheel. The previous owner suspected a worn driver's side engine mount, so I'll get to it at some stage. Other issues include a noticeable howl from the engine compartment when the car is up to temps, but no idea what is causing it - intake leak perhaps?

The question I have for the forum is regarding a leak that seems to be settling at both sides of the rear bumper, leaving oil on my driveway, which I hate. My guess is it's to do with the drain holes and hydraulic fluid from the roof motor (not relocated). I've attached a picture below. The roof works fine, no issues. Is it a case of removing the rear wheels and cleaning the drain holes, or is there more to it?

TIA
 

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  • Z4 leak.JPG
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Welcome aboard.

The 'howl' could well be a hole in the inlet pipe elbow where it joins the throttle body.
If roof hydraulic fluid is leaking out enough to drip on the floor then your roof would have stopped working by now. It is also highly unlikely that both sides would fail, because as soon as one side leaks all the pressure will be taken out of the system so the other side wouldn't then burst.
Plus, the drain holes are in front of the rear wheels.

I'm not too far north of you and have done a few roof motor relocations (60-ish), so if you'd like that sorted I'm happy to help.

Check your brake flud level isn't dropping.
Are you sure it is actually oil?
Nothing spilt in the boot under the false floor?

Sticky steering is a five minute tweak of the spacer ring on the electric motor.

For the groaning, I am not sure how a worn engine mount would cause it?
Spray silicon grease on the UJs both ends of the intermediate steering shaft in the engine bay.
Then RH wheel off, slip the bellows rubber off the end of the steering rack, wind it to full right lock and apply grease to the rack teeth. Wind it lock to lock a few times to distribute the grease evenly.
 
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By way of an update, I've just been out to the car to have another look. The rear of the car is up on ramps, the bumper is dry at the bottom on both ends, the brake fluid is full to the brim, but now there's a stain on the floor near the driver's side front bumper. Just the one side. I've no idea where to check next. Oil level is good.
 
Pumchdrunked said:
By way of an update, I've just been out to the car to have another look. The rear of the car is up on ramps, the bumper is dry at the bottom on both ends, the brake fluid is full to the brim, but now there's a stain on the floor near the driver's side front bumper. Just the one side. I've no idea where to check next. Oil level is good.
Click to expand...
And you’re sure it’s oil? Not just residue washing off, possibly that horrible stuff they black tyres with?
 
Thanks guys. I haven’t had a sniff of it yet, but it’s a weird one.

I’ve come from Porsches, having recently sold a MY03 Boxster S and 997 C2 - difficult cars to work on for sure, but this leak from the extremities of the car has got me stumped.

Are there drain holes at the front? The oil stain seems to be coming from the front bumper area. If it wasn’t so cold, I’d whip the wheels off and have a proper gander. Is there a chance that the hydraulics from the roof pump could be mixing with water ingress to pool inside the bumper areas?
 
The last owner hasn't sprayed a wax/oil around the underside, and it's finding it's way out?
 
Pumchdrunked said:
Thanks guys. I haven’t had a sniff of it yet, but it’s a weird one.

I’ve come from Porsches, having recently sold a MY03 Boxster S and 997 C2 - difficult cars to work on for sure, but this leak from the extremities of the car has got me stumped.

Are there drain holes at the front? The oil stain seems to be coming from the front bumper area. If it wasn’t so cold, I’d whip the wheels off and have a proper gander. Is there a chance that the hydraulics from the roof pump could be mixing with water ingress to pool inside the bumper areas?
Click to expand...
I’ve already said if the roof hydraulics were leaking it would empty very fast and the roof wouldn’t work. The system only holds a small amount and it’ll empty in a single up and down.
 
I was thinking the same thing as I think all the 3 litre cars had them, but the OP says he's finding the fluid at the back of the car. Although it may be parked on a slight slope.
 
Thanks guys. For sure there’s some sort of fluid swilling around at the base if the car, moving from the rear and now appearing to have exited at the front bumper area.

I haven’t had a chance to have a deeper look, but as it is leaving an oil based stain, my hunch is either hydraulic fluid - ruled out by enuff above, or coolant perhaps. Other than a pressure pump, are there any other ways of diagnosing coolant leaks in the M54 engine? It’s not obvious from the top of the engine bay, but something is definitely leaking.

Edit: I’ve just had thought. The car had an empty window washer reservoir, so I topped it up with fluid, pink fluid. Perhaps this is where the leak is coming from. Are these cars known for having issues with cracked reservoirs, or maybe I put too much in there.
 
Pumchdrunked said:
Thanks guys. For sure there’s some sort of fluid swilling around at the base if the car, moving from the rear and now appearing to have exited at the front bumper area.

I haven’t had a chance to have a deeper look, but as it is leaving an oil based stain, my hunch is either hydraulic fluid - ruled out by enuff above, or coolant perhaps. Other than a pressure pump, are there any other ways of diagnosing coolant leaks in the M54 engine? It’s not obvious from the top of the engine bay, but something is definitely leaking.

Edit: I’ve just had thought. The car had an empty window washer reservoir, so I topped it up with fluid, pink fluid. Perhaps this is where the leak is coming from. Are these cars known for having issues with cracked reservoirs, or maybe I put too much in there.
Click to expand...
As @MikeyH suggested, it is common for the headlight washers to leak. Best thing to do is pull the pipe off the front pump on the washer bottle and put a short piece of blanked off pipe in its place, then pull fuse 40 to stop that pump working. They are not a legal requirement on that age of car.

However, if you can hear fluid in the car then it is possibly in the sills. People shove wires down the roof drain holes to clear them and dislodge the two halves of the drain pipes. Then they think the drains are clear but in fact the water is now running into the sills. If you get under the sills and prise the rubber jack pads to one side you may get water running out.
 
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I finally managed to get under the car for a proper gander. It seems that the leak is coming from the washer fluid reservoir, or somewhere else.

Thoughts and guidance welcome.

Water leak 2.JPG
 
Common fault

The o rings in the join between the hose and the actual washers perish so that’s an easy check/fix

If it’s not that then the washers themselves are at fault- not a difficult job to source and change
 
Thanks, folks, you guys are very helpful. I've ordered a replacement part and will swap it out once it's received.

As an aside, compared to Porsche Boxster 986 ownership, these cars are a breath of fresh air. They don't appear to be designed specifically to discourage the home mechanic from having a go at straightforward jobs. I'll be tackling the inner and outer tie rods next.


Z4 leak 2.JPG
 
While you're in there, check both horns work. One each side and usually one fails but no-one notices until the second one does. You have easy access right now if you need to replace them.
 
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