[FistOfBob]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and was wondering if anyone could help me out with this. Last week I towed my (2006 e90) to the dealership because It would not start, turns out it was a bad starter, the car has 79k miles. The repair was under warranty, since I purchased an extended warranty when i bought the car. While in the shop they informed me of a leak coming from the valve cover, and said they would replace the seal as well. Everything was under warranty so great news for me Upon receiving my car yesterday, I decided to look under the hood just for ***** and giggles, and discovered a loose connection coming from near the windshield reservoir . I believe it's a ground wire, my question is, should this wire be hooked up to anything and if so where? Please view photos attached for reference.

Thanks in advance.

Yea its a ground wire, not sure without looking at my car where it suppose to bolt into, but its not suppose to be hanging out like that.

[itsstock02]

Connects somewhere to the engine block.

[Efthreeoh]

It grounds the engine to keep eddy currents at bay so that the coolant doesn't start eating cooling system components. Just take it back the the dealer for repair.

[SpeedBuggy]

Ground Wire, Connects under the engine cover, bolt should have a blue colored head. Definitely needs connected, take it back to the dealer, I believe it is a one use bolt and would need replaced.

[FistOfBob]

Thanks guys, I will take my car in sometime this week and have them check it out. Thank again for all of the help.

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by FistOfBob

Thanks guys, I will take my car in sometime this week and have them check it out. Thank again for all of the help.

yea no rush, if it was important they would have welded it on at the factory.

[GMWNashville]

Believe it or not I've seen that wire being loose fry dme's...I'd have it put back on in a hurry.

[john231]

Needs to be grounded to the engine block.

[9352e90]

That's very interesting. So your car ran fine with that ground wire off? I had a similar experience that resulted in a very expensive repair bill?

[FistOfBob]

Yes, as of now the car is running fine. No trouble codes or anything. I'm going to swing by after work and have them put it back on. Also seems somewhat unprofessional that they would leave a loose connection, regardless of its importance.

[9352e90]

Hmmmmm. Long story short, my old dealer did an oil change then the next day when I went to start my car it wouldn't start, but an hour later it did. Then when I was driving, the car completely shut down, engine electronics, brakes, etc. When to restart it and turned right over. I took it to the dealer where the proceeded to replace my charge me for 3 hours of diagnoostic work, replaced my key reader, then finally told me that the problem was actually the result of a loose engine ground wire (the exact same ground wire in your pic). They claimed that they couldn't have possibly knocked it off during the oil change, but considering they were the last ones under the hood (only 24 hours before the problem occurred) I don't see how it was anybody other then their tech. Needless to say, it cost me about $600 to have the stealership figure out what THEY did. I find it interesting that your car ran fine with that ground wire off though.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by 9352e90

Hmmmmm. Long story short, my old dealer did an oil change then the next day when I went to start my car it wouldn't start, but an hour later it did. Then when I was driving, the car completely shut down, engine electronics, brakes, etc. When to restart it and turned right over. I took it to the dealer where the proceeded to replace my charge me for 3 hours of diagnoostic work, replaced my key reader, then finally told me that the problem was actually the result of a loose engine ground wire (the exact same ground wire in your pic). They claimed that they couldn't have possibly knocked it off during the oil change, but considering they were the last ones under the hood (only 24 hours before the problem occurred) I don't see how it was anybody other then their tech. Needless to say, it cost me about $600 to have the stealership figure out what THEY did. I find it interesting that your car ran fine with that ground wire off though.

. I doubt they would remove a ground wire during an oil change. But if you believe that they did, why did you pay $600?

[FistOfBob]

Update:

Drove my car to the dealership after work, and they quickly took care of it. With no hesitation, I was out of there within 15 min. I'm glad to know everything (visible) is returned to it's adequate location.

[FistOfBob]

Originally Posted by John 070

. I doubt they would remove a ground wire during an oil change. But if you believe that they did, why did you pay $600?

I don't think you should have payed the $600 if it was not your fault. When they replaced my valve cover gasket, they called me to inform me about a bolt that broke and was now partially stuck. They would have to drill and tap the lodged bolt in order to remove it, since it no longer had a head. They wanted to charge me $560 out of pocket to do this? I didn't break the bolt, It was intact when I handed the car over to you, why do I have to pay? Long story short, I did not pay the $560 to remove the bolt.

[9352e90]

I agree, but for some reason the delay didn't see it that way. I was surprised by their inability to quickly diagnose the problem, and even more surprised when they claimed that couldn't possible have caused the problem. Car was working fine, bring it in for an oil change, next day ground wire is loose/off? That dealer will never receive another dollar from me for service or repairs as long as I have the car.