[N54Society]

My car has been functioning fine for a long time. Mods are in the signature.
I've had the valve cover + gasket, OFHG, and all sorts of hoses, all the pulleys, serpentine belt and more replaced less than 10k miles back. I've had absolutely no issues. All of the sudden I get to work and my low oil light comes on. I get some oil and refill a couple of quarts and drive home. I then see oil all over my windshield and on the front of my car. I'm talking about absolutely soaked the front of the car. As if something is spraying it with high pressure. WTH! It seems to be slightly on the passenger side but I can't see where it's coming from. The turbos look dry from looking down there but I haven't put the car on ramps yet.

No new mods, nothing. I did hit a huge pot hole like 2 weeks ago at night going pretty fast. It bent my rims on the driver's side. Not sure if that's related. I'm about to flash a light on the car to see if I find anything. Has anyone seen this before? Oil all over the front of the car. My catch can looks to be full but I'm not sure. I also noticed that the car is low on oil AGAIN even though I just added two quarts. No lights other than the low oil. Maybe the oil cooler line is dislodged?

Please, any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[Nicky92]

oil cooler line maybe?

[JM98]

Originally Posted by Nicky92

oil cooler line maybe?

I vote oil cooler/ oil cooler lines

[cwbmw]

Ya it almost looks like the line went flinging around after it broke off, causing oil in really weird places.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by Nicky92

oil cooler line maybe?

Originally Posted by JM98

I vote oil cooler/ oil cooler lines

Originally Posted by cwbmw

Ya it almost looks like the line went flinging around after it broke off, causing oil in really weird places.

I think you guys are right. Does this fitting look broken or separating to you?



Here's a close up:

View post on imgur.com

Check out the splash zone. It's directly adjacent to that hose:

[JM98]

Looks like the crimped area is separating. You could try starting the car and seeing if it leaks from there.

[N54Society]

Now the question is which hose/connection is it? I wonder if I should turn the car on and try to get a quick visual in the day?

EDIT: Looks like JM98 suggested that too.

[N54Society]

The hose I have circled in red actually doesn't look like an oil line after studying RealOEM. It appears to be an A/C line. Would you guys agree? My car is 6MT so there are no lines that go to the transmission, right?

[MadeInPhilly]

that is pretty obvious there is a big oil leak. you have oil on your front bumper. turn the car on, take the undertray off an see where it is leaking. once you get pressure you should see where it is leaking.

[jwebb335xi]

Originally Posted by MadeInPhilly

that is pretty obvious there is a big oil leak. you have oil on your front bumper. turn the car on, take the undertray off an see where it is leaking. once you get pressure you should see where it is leaking.

Absent finding the leak quickly, have it towed and repaired! Don't stave that engine of oil.

[msjt]

You said you filled a couple quarts. When the light comes on, you should only add one.

[homemade_f81]

Originally Posted by vbp6us

The two hoses that are closest to the headlight warning label in this picture are likely the culprit, one of them anyway. These are the oil cooler hoses - that's the only place where you have oil in that area. Follow them down to the oil cooler and up to the oil thermostat housing - I would venture a guess that your leak is somewhere here.

The that you circled earlier is an A/C line and it's definitely not the problem. Hope that helps.

D

[Stroker1]

I had similar issue. Running on interstate went into limp mode with codes which read as low oil and oil sensor plausibility. Pulled over to find entire underhood area soaked in oil. After adding 3 qts oil started engine and observed pinhole in oil cooler line. I replaced hose set and underhood insulation. What a mess. I was fortunate to catch early so no engine damage resulted. Its not all that uncommon for high mileage oc hoses to fail like this. Perhaps another maintenance item to add to the ever growing list as the n54 ages.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by MadeInPhilly

that is pretty obvious there is a big oil leak. you have oil on your front bumper. turn the car on, take the undertray off an see where it is leaking. once you get pressure you should see where it is leaking.

Yeah that's the plan this weekend. I don't run with the undertray but given the spray up top, it's something up above.

Originally Posted by jwebb335xi

Absent finding the leak quickly, have it towed and repaired! Don't stave that engine of oil.

Yes, that's what I plan to do if I can't identify it quickly this weekend.

Originally Posted by msjt

You said you filled a couple quarts. When the light comes on, you should only add one.

This was a precautionary measure and I'm glad I added two quarts. It almost dumped that amount in just driving 5 miles to work.

Originally Posted by swedishpowah

The two hoses that are closest to the headlight warning label in this picture are likely the culprit, one of them anyway. These are the oil cooler hoses - that's the only place where you have oil in that area. Follow them down to the oil cooler and up to the oil thermostat housing - I would venture a guess that your leak is somewhere here.

The that you circled earlier is an A/C line and it's definitely not the problem. Hope that helps.

D

Thank you! I think you're right. I've realized the pic I had a red circle on is indeed an A/C line. You just confirmed it.

Originally Posted by Stroker1

I had similar issue. Running on interstate went into limp mode with codes which read as low oil and oil sensor plausibility. Pulled over to find entire underhood area soaked in oil. After adding 3 qts oil started engine and observed pinhole in oil cooler line. I replaced hose set and underhood insulation. What a mess. I was fortunate to catch early so no engine damage resulted. Its not all that uncommon for high mileage oc hoses to fail like this. Perhaps another maintenance item to add to the ever growing list as the n54 ages.

Thanks for sharing this. I didn't realize these hoses can go bad. I do have 125k miles on my car now.

I'm going to add some oil and try to find where the leak is coming from. In the mean time, I'm thinking of replacing the lines with aftermarket ones that use AN10.

Any idea what the AN10 fittings are called which would fit on the stock oil cooler? The ones in this picture are intended to go to oil filter housing. I don't feel like replacing the oil cooler itself, just the lines, which are AN10. On the oil cooler side, it needs "slide on" fittings to AN10. I hope that makes sense.

[N54Society]

As a follow up, I ended up buying AN10 hoses to replace the oil cooler hoses.

It appears that I have a slit in my oil cooler line:

[cwbmw]

Glad you found the problem. I wonder if that slit was caused by wear on the hose itself, or if somehow a particulate from outside the vehicle got in and cut it somewhat, eventually leading to the tear.

[N54Society]

UPDATE: Those AN fittings ended up being a bad idea. They came loose on the oil cooler side and it's tight area to get into. The radiator side leaked too. I ended up fixing that side by dremeling out some material on the plate. That sealed perfectly.

[N54Society]

Originally Posted by cwbmw

Glad you found the problem. I wonder if that slit was caused by wear on the hose itself, or if somehow a particulate from outside the vehicle got in and cut it somewhat, eventually leading to the tear.

I think it's just old hoses. Thanks...like two years later lol.