Brand new lower rad hose leaking. Question about radiator

RenaissanceMan · 11-26-2018, 07:52 PM

Just replaced the radiator in our 06 325i. Decided to also change the upper and lower hoses. Needed to do the job today so I purchased the parts in stock from the locals... The lower radiator hose, which came from O'Reilly leaks like crazy from the sensor port and the connection to the radiator while bleeding the system. Changed out the o ring seal with another new one and still the same issue. I'm assuming the O'Reilly hose is not perfectly built to spec but was just curious if anyone else experienced this before with a non-bmw hose on an e90? Have no problem spending the extra coin on OE but as I said was just trying to finish this today. Only other thing I can figure is that maybe I have wrong fill plug on pass side of the radiator bottom and it is blocking flow???? The radiator came with 2 types of plugs for the openings at the bottom of both sides of the radiator. Thx in advance for any ideas-

Efthreeoh · 11-26-2018, 08:08 PM

I used BMW OE hoses and had the same issue; the old sensor leaked. Just get a new sensor and replace it. Do it fast enough and you'll not lose much coolant.

triax37 · 11-27-2018, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RenaissanceMan

Just replaced the radiator in our 06 325i. Decided to also change the upper and lower hoses. Needed to do the job today so I purchased the parts in stock from the locals... The lower radiator hose, which came from O'Reilly leaks like crazy from the sensor port and the connection to the radiator while bleeding the system. Changed out the o ring seal with another new one and still the same issue. I'm assuming the O'Reilly hose is not perfectly built to spec but was just curious if anyone else experienced this before with a non-bmw hose on an e90? Have no problem spending the extra coin on OE but as I said was just trying to finish this today. Only other thing I can figure is that maybe I have wrong fill plug on pass side of the radiator bottom and it is blocking flow???? The radiator came with 2 types of plugs for the openings at the bottom of both sides of the radiator. Thx in advance for any ideas-

I replaced the upper radiator hose with a REIN from Autozone and the connection to the radiator would not seal 100% - a small amount of coolant would sneak through. I returned it and bought an OEM - perfect fit, much tighter to the radiator, and no leaked coolant since. Don't know about the lower hose, but will probably will replace that proactively soon...

Basedtiger · 11-27-2018, 09:33 PM

The type of plug does matter, one is for automatic and the other one is for manual transmissions.

RenaissanceMan · 11-27-2018, 09:42 PM

So I replaced the sensor and all looked dry during the bleeding phase, but after running the car the lower hose started to leak at the quick connect fitting at the radiator. I guess this hose is definitely not going to work. Ordering a BMW brand hose and will report back.

11-26-2018, 07:52 PM	#1
RenaissanceMan New Member 8 Rep 15 Posts Drives: '06 325i sedan Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Music City, USA iTrader: (0)	Brand new lower rad hose leaking. Question about radiator Just replaced the radiator in our 06 325i. Decided to also change the upper and lower hoses. Needed to do the job today so I purchased the parts in stock from the locals... The lower radiator hose, which came from O'Reilly leaks like crazy from the sensor port and the connection to the radiator while bleeding the system. Changed out the o ring seal with another new one and still the same issue. I'm assuming the O'Reilly hose is not perfectly built to spec but was just curious if anyone else experienced this before with a non-bmw hose on an e90? Have no problem spending the extra coin on OE but as I said was just trying to finish this today. Only other thing I can figure is that maybe I have wrong fill plug on pass side of the radiator bottom and it is blocking flow???? The radiator came with 2 types of plugs for the openings at the bottom of both sides of the radiator. Thx in advance for any ideas-
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11-26-2018, 08:08 PM	#2
Efthreeoh General 17491 Rep 18,832 Posts Drives: The E90 + Z4 Coupe & Z3 R'ster Join Date: May 2012 Location: Virginia iTrader: (0)	I used BMW OE hoses and had the same issue; the old sensor leaked. Just get a new sensor and replace it. Do it fast enough and you'll not lose much coolant. __________________ A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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11-27-2018, 09:33 PM	#4
Basedtiger Private First Class 41 Rep 117 Posts Drives: BMW 335i Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Modesto, CA iTrader: (0)	The type of plug does matter, one is for automatic and the other one is for manual transmissions.
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11-27-2018, 09:42 PM	#5
RenaissanceMan New Member 8 Rep 15 Posts Drives: '06 325i sedan Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Music City, USA iTrader: (0)	So I replaced the sensor and all looked dry during the bleeding phase, but after running the car the lower hose started to leak at the quick connect fitting at the radiator. I guess this hose is definitely not going to work. Ordering a BMW brand hose and will report back.
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