E92 M3 High Oil Temperature

[Abdulsamad]

Hello Everyone,
I just bought my car a month ago and it has 82k miles. The weather got warmer in Northern California and I noticed that Oil Temperature is not normal and fans are way too loud and I think that they're operating at their best performance to cool down the engine. Once I've got home, I checked all coolers, found that the bottom half of the oil cooler was covered in oil. I pressure washed the oil cooler and all the oil went off but I was still suffering from the same issue. Could that be a bad thermostat ?

[Siajoon]

Well first thing is first what is the SES light telling you?

[pbonsalb]

Why was the oil cooler covered in oil?

[amrazM]

stop messing around, take your car to a shop that works on these cars and have it fixed properly. the first mistake here is youre seeking information in which you'll take to a shop and you the customer will tell the shop how to fix the car based on shit you were told on the internet. take your car to a proper shop and have it diagnosed and fix properly.

[roastbeef]

Fix the obvious oil problem.

[Johal E32]

I see you are in Sac. Check out Valley Motorwerks

https://www.yelp.com/biz/valley-moto...rancho-cordova

[nrubenstein]

yeah, uh, the cooler should not be covered in oil. you need to figure out what is leaking before you destroy your engine.

[Abdulsamad]

Originally Posted by Siajoon

Well first thing is first what is the SES light telling you?

Engine Coolant Sensor and increased emissons.

[Abdulsamad]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Why was the oil cooler covered in oil?

Not sure why. I just bought it a month ago

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Abdulsamad

Engine Coolant Sensor and increased emissons.

So seems you should replace the sensor, and Tstat while you're in there. Tstat usually fail in open mode so probably not causing the issue, but if you're lucky maybe simply the sensor that is broken.

Oil on the cooler sounds worrying. Track that leak down.

[Redd]

How were u driving before the oil went up to that temp? If you're doing spirited driving that temperature u show is pretty normal. Once u slow down and cruise the oil temps shd come back down fairly quickly. If it does not come down then u have a problem.

[Abdulsamad]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

So seems you should replace the sensor, and Tstat while you're in there. Tstat usually fail in open mode so probably not causing the issue, but if you're lucky maybe simply the sensor that is broken.

Oil on the cooler sounds worrying. Track that leak down.

Thanks for replying. How do I track that leak ? I took my car to two shops and none of them knew where it was coming from. They said it's a bad oil cooler but I don't that it's a bad cooler because it looks like that power steering fluid is leaking.

I've also checked coolant temp through OBD and it was around 17C once I took that picture. It's usually around 75C.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by Abdulsamad

Thanks for replying. How do I track that leak ? I took my car to two shops and none of them knew where it was coming from. They said it's a bad oil cooler but I don't that it's a bad cooler because it looks like that power steering fluid is leaking.

I've also checked coolant temp through OBD and it was around 17C once I took that picture. It's usually around 75C.

Maybe youre joking around here but: Coolant should come up to 79C pretty quick (thermostat temp), if it takes long time or even stays at 75C, the thermostat is broken.

If it said 17C when the engine/oil temp was hot (picture), its another good sign the coolant sensor need to be replaced.

As for the oil leak, if its green and look like PS fluid, it probably is? The fluid will boil over and splash around at hard driving/steering but can't see how it comes down the oil cooler. Are you sure its not the PS fluid cooler that is leaking mate?

[Abdulsamad]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Maybe youre joking around here but: Coolant should come up to 79C pretty quick (thermostat temp), if it takes long time or even stays at 75C, the thermostat is broken.

If it said 17C when the engine/oil temp was hot (picture), its another good sign the coolant sensor need to be replaced.

As for the oil leak, if its green and look like PS fluid, it probably is? The fluid will boil over and splash around at hard driving/steering but can't see how it comes down the oil cooler. Are you sure its not the PS fluid cooler that is leaking mate?

I will replace Thermostat and coolant sensor. There was lots of oil buildup on the Transmission cooler and not oil cooler. I thought transmission cooler was the oil cooler.

Also, I was driving and at the end I pushed it a little bit. As soon as I turned it off, radiator leaked all the coolant. what's that part the goes into that hole called ? It's right above the drain plug.
.

[Helmsman]

Trans cooler behind the right fender liner? If so I'd assume leak in that cooler. Stop driving, fix the leak, fill up the trans. Haven't heard of this leak before but guess something could fly in there and damage the cooler.
Can't make anything out of the pic.

[tbuck]

Originally Posted by Abdulsamad

As soon as I turned it off, radiator leaked all the coolant.

I would echo the comments made above to take the car to a qualified shop. If you do not have even a basic understanding of the car you are working on, enough to know which cooler is which, what type of fluid goes where, and that you turn to people on the web for advice on repairs to which you can not even describe what is really going on, then you have a recipe for a costly disaster. Sorry for the tough love here, but trying to save a few bucks with a DIY may end up costing you an engine. Take it to a shop that works on these cars.

[Helmsman]

Originally Posted by tbuck

I would echo the comments made above to take the car to a qualified shop. If you do not have even a basic understanding of the car you are working on, enough to know which cooler is which, what type of fluid goes where, and that you turn to people on the web for advice on repairs to which you can not even describe what is really going on, then you have a recipe for a costly disaster. Sorry for the tough love here, but trying to save a few bucks with a DIY may end up costing you an engine. Take it to a shop that works on these cars.

Yep, I totally agree here. Do it while it runs.