Oil in coolant scam
Discussion
Hi All,
First time posting on here, long time reader.
3 guys came to view my E71 BMW X6 yesterday and I fell for the oil in the coolant scam.
What they basically do is bring three people, have a look round the car, 2 distract you with questions about the boot while the other puts oil in the coolant. One then takes it for a test drive and comes back and they do more inspections and find the oil in the coolant and act all shocked and start saying its a head gasket problem. I knew it wasnt as there were no other symptoms. They still wanted to purchase the car with cash for discount price but I said no and drove off. I noticed the engine light came on and said "Increased Emissions".
After doing some research on google, I found out this is actually quite a common scam. Im so very annoyed at myself because Im normally wary of these things.
Now Ive got oil in the coolant so ive flushed it out. Then while leaving the car idling for a bit it cut out. It turns out the fuel pressure sensor was loosely unplugged too. I plugged it back it and the car has plenty of fuel but its still failing to start. Any suggestions? My friend reckons it couldve knackered the high pressure fuel pump or that it needs some more diesel in it to circulate through again.
Any suggestions guys?
First time posting on here, long time reader.
3 guys came to view my E71 BMW X6 yesterday and I fell for the oil in the coolant scam.
What they basically do is bring three people, have a look round the car, 2 distract you with questions about the boot while the other puts oil in the coolant. One then takes it for a test drive and comes back and they do more inspections and find the oil in the coolant and act all shocked and start saying its a head gasket problem. I knew it wasnt as there were no other symptoms. They still wanted to purchase the car with cash for discount price but I said no and drove off. I noticed the engine light came on and said "Increased Emissions".
After doing some research on google, I found out this is actually quite a common scam. Im so very annoyed at myself because Im normally wary of these things.
Now Ive got oil in the coolant so ive flushed it out. Then while leaving the car idling for a bit it cut out. It turns out the fuel pressure sensor was loosely unplugged too. I plugged it back it and the car has plenty of fuel but its still failing to start. Any suggestions? My friend reckons it couldve knackered the high pressure fuel pump or that it needs some more diesel in it to circulate through again.
Any suggestions guys?
POT24 said:
Hi All,
First time posting on here, long time reader.
3 guys came to view my E71 BMW X6 yesterday and I fell for the oil in the coolant scam.
What they basically do is bring three people, have a look round the car, 2 distract you with questions about the boot while the other puts oil in the coolant. One then takes it for a test drive and comes back and they do more inspections and find the oil in the coolant and act all shocked and start saying its a head gasket problem. I knew it wasnt as there were no other symptoms. They still wanted to purchase the car with cash for discount price but I said no and drove off. I noticed the engine light came on and said "Increased Emissions".
After doing some research on google, I found out this is actually quite a common scam. Im so very annoyed at myself because Im normally wary of these things.
Now Ive got oil in the coolant so ive flushed it out. Then while leaving the car idling for a bit it cut out. It turns out the fuel pressure sensor was loosely unplugged too. I plugged it back it and the car has plenty of fuel but its still failing to start. Any suggestions? My friend reckons it couldve knackered the high pressure fuel pump or that it needs some more diesel in it to circulate through again.
Any suggestions guys?
Get the codes read to see what's being listedFirst time posting on here, long time reader.
3 guys came to view my E71 BMW X6 yesterday and I fell for the oil in the coolant scam.
What they basically do is bring three people, have a look round the car, 2 distract you with questions about the boot while the other puts oil in the coolant. One then takes it for a test drive and comes back and they do more inspections and find the oil in the coolant and act all shocked and start saying its a head gasket problem. I knew it wasnt as there were no other symptoms. They still wanted to purchase the car with cash for discount price but I said no and drove off. I noticed the engine light came on and said "Increased Emissions".
After doing some research on google, I found out this is actually quite a common scam. Im so very annoyed at myself because Im normally wary of these things.
Now Ive got oil in the coolant so ive flushed it out. Then while leaving the car idling for a bit it cut out. It turns out the fuel pressure sensor was loosely unplugged too. I plugged it back it and the car has plenty of fuel but its still failing to start. Any suggestions? My friend reckons it couldve knackered the high pressure fuel pump or that it needs some more diesel in it to circulate through again.
Any suggestions guys?
Get the coolant system flushed properly and refilled before you try and start it again
Get it recovered to a decent local indy and get the above bits done!
Thanks for response so far guys.
My friend who is a mechanic cleared the codes after he plugged the fuel pressure sensor back in *facepalm*
We investigated a bit further after putting some fuel in that one of the fuel senders under the rear seats is not working (no voltage) so I dont think any fuel is being sent to the engine.
They claimed they were Turkish but after reading around I have my doubts. I think they said Turkish because I was of similar complexion and wanted to be on a level. Kept calling me "brother"....
Im picking up a fuel sender today and will fit it in on Monday so hopefully lets see. I can only hope that they wouldnt do too much damage (as they still want to buy it) so its not in their best interest to.
My friend who is a mechanic cleared the codes after he plugged the fuel pressure sensor back in *facepalm*
We investigated a bit further after putting some fuel in that one of the fuel senders under the rear seats is not working (no voltage) so I dont think any fuel is being sent to the engine.
They claimed they were Turkish but after reading around I have my doubts. I think they said Turkish because I was of similar complexion and wanted to be on a level. Kept calling me "brother"....
Im picking up a fuel sender today and will fit it in on Monday so hopefully lets see. I can only hope that they wouldnt do too much damage (as they still want to buy it) so its not in their best interest to.
POT24 said:
Thanks for response so far guys.
My friend who is a mechanic cleared the codes after he plugged the fuel pressure sensor back in *facepalm*
We investigated a bit further after putting some fuel in that one of the fuel senders under the rear seats is not working (no voltage) so I dont think any fuel is being sent to the engine.
They claimed they were Turkish but after reading around I have my doubts. I think they said Turkish because I was of similar complexion and wanted to be on a level. Kept calling me "brother"....
Im picking up a fuel sender today and will fit it in on Monday so hopefully lets see. I can only hope that they wouldnt do too much damage (as they still want to buy it) so its not in their best interest to.
You can see live view on some OBD readers, I know I can on mine and you should be able to see what pressure you’re getting at the low and high pressure fuel sensors. If you suspect that no fuel is being delivered to the high pressure pump then don’t keep cranking the engine as you might damage the high pressure pump. Have a look around the area of the pump and make sure the scum bags haven’t unplugged anything else.My friend who is a mechanic cleared the codes after he plugged the fuel pressure sensor back in *facepalm*
We investigated a bit further after putting some fuel in that one of the fuel senders under the rear seats is not working (no voltage) so I dont think any fuel is being sent to the engine.
They claimed they were Turkish but after reading around I have my doubts. I think they said Turkish because I was of similar complexion and wanted to be on a level. Kept calling me "brother"....
Im picking up a fuel sender today and will fit it in on Monday so hopefully lets see. I can only hope that they wouldnt do too much damage (as they still want to buy it) so its not in their best interest to.
Hmmm okay will try to see if I can that then. I heard you can get laptops that show live diagnostic readings for £120?
Will check around to see if anything else is unplugged. My biggest fear is the HPFP being damaged everytime we try something and tests if it works by cranking the engine. Very angry as the car had not a single issue before this.
Will check around to see if anything else is unplugged. My biggest fear is the HPFP being damaged everytime we try something and tests if it works by cranking the engine. Very angry as the car had not a single issue before this.
No I haven't, will try that, thanks.
It cranks like theres no fuel going through, which we found out was the sender. Im wondering if any air bubbles would also no be in the fuel line due to cranking and no fuel being pushed through?
Im a bit of beginner when it comes to the software side of things admittedly, so will ask my friend if we can do that too.
It cranks like theres no fuel going through, which we found out was the sender. Im wondering if any air bubbles would also no be in the fuel line due to cranking and no fuel being pushed through?
Im a bit of beginner when it comes to the software side of things admittedly, so will ask my friend if we can do that too.
Doesn’t sound like a fault with the sender then, as you’d have no level on the binnacle.
That said, it being a sensor, I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see 12v at it. I presume it’s going back to the engine ecu, so likely to be 5v at most.
With the connector off, how many wires, and what voltage on each wire with the ignition on ? Any ground on any of the wires ?
That said, it being a sensor, I wouldn’t necessarily expect to see 12v at it. I presume it’s going back to the engine ecu, so likely to be 5v at most.
With the connector off, how many wires, and what voltage on each wire with the ignition on ? Any ground on any of the wires ?
Edited by RUSSELLM on Sunday 22 March 16:51
Hmmm, could it be something like an air bubble then?
I keep having to remind my self that the fuel pressure sensor was unplugged, so therefore I assume perhaps a litre of fuel was still being pumped in till it cut out. Unless it the high pressure fuel pump :/
Pardon my ignorance as I am not too mechanically minded as you can see.
I keep having to remind my self that the fuel pressure sensor was unplugged, so therefore I assume perhaps a litre of fuel was still being pumped in till it cut out. Unless it the high pressure fuel pump :/
Pardon my ignorance as I am not too mechanically minded as you can see.
I think I avoided a similar scam a few weeks ago when selling my F30 320d, 4 eastern European guys all calling me Bro and being over friendly they said they were turks too but I wasn't so sure. When I asked who's buying the car because the rest of you can vacate my driveway they replied "we all buying it" that was enough to tell me this was a oil in coolant scam.
When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
RUSSELLM said:
If the car thinks it’s run out of fuel, it could be as simple as something like a fuel prime/pump enable.
Not sure how you do it on a BMW. It’s a couple of computer presses on the cars at work
Hmmmm, need to find out if his diagnostic comp can do something like this. I read that M57 dont self prime like the N47 ones. In any case I feel like I should just manually bleed the fuel just in case to create circulation and remove any air.Not sure how you do it on a BMW. It’s a couple of computer presses on the cars at work
NicheMonkey said:
I think I avoided a similar scam a few weeks ago when selling my F30 320d, 4 eastern European guys all calling me Bro and being over friendly they said they were turks too but I wasn't so sure. When I asked who's buying the car because the rest of you can vacate my driveway they replied "we all buying it" that was enough to tell me this was a oil in coolant scam.
When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
I think I will do the same and part ex after im done. Altho with this corona stuff might hang on to it for a bit as Im not even spending much on fuel which is the biggest expense.When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
Had no idea people go to these lengths to knock the price off a car. Lesson most certainly learnt. Will just spread awareness of this scam from now on and quash rumours that its just a made up Facebook story.
POT24 said:
NicheMonkey said:
I think I avoided a similar scam a few weeks ago when selling my F30 320d, 4 eastern European guys all calling me Bro and being over friendly they said they were turks too but I wasn't so sure. When I asked who's buying the car because the rest of you can vacate my driveway they replied "we all buying it" that was enough to tell me this was a oil in coolant scam.
When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
I think I will do the same and part ex after im done. Altho with this corona stuff might hang on to it for a bit as Im not even spending much on fuel which is the biggest expense.When I told them sorry but only one of you allowed on the drive they all left without saying anything!
I reckon if I hadn't had read so many of these type of threads on pistonheads in the past I would have let all 4 of them have a look around.
Ended up part exchanging the car at a dealer just to avoid any more aggro.
Had no idea people go to these lengths to knock the price off a car. Lesson most certainly learnt. Will just spread awareness of this scam from now on and quash rumours that its just a made up Facebook story.
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