BMW Mystery??? 2001 BMW 325i

Asked by dek2000 Aug 18, 2016 at 02:55 PM about the 2001 BMW 3 Series 325i Sedan RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a BMW 2001 325i with 210K.  The other morning, my Trans warning
icon came on when I went into DRIVE.  I slowly drove the car to a local
mechanic.  He said there was a leak in the cooling system and Tranmission
fluid had leaked and mixed with the coolant system.

He reco a new Radiator and some hoses ... and adding new T fluid as well.

I went to pick up the car to take it home to ponder this.

When I drove the car home .. the T warning icon DID NOT go on ... the car
drove OK ... A week later, I started the car and it was still OK.

If his diagnosis was right, I don't see how the car could be running OK
again .. when we did not do anything.

Confused?

Advice on where to go from here to get to the bottom of this without
spending a lot of money.

2 Answers

157,115

If coolant mixes in with the transmission fluid it will soon ruin the transmission. A replacement radiator is much less money than a transmission. Have him show you where the fluids are mixed and what they look like if you need confirmation. There is inside the radiator a transmission fluid line loop that sends transmission fluid through the radiator to cool it. If this fluid line gets a crack or hole due to corrosion the 2 fluids will mix together. Sometimes the mixed fluids will stay in the radiator and sometimes engine coolant can find its way to the transmission.

Thank you. If that is really the problem, why would the car start working OK by itself again???

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