My Car is sick

PowerHouseDan

RIght need a bit of a rant here, my Mech has had my car for a week and still has not found out what is wrong with it... First they though the Head Gasket was gone but the Engine is ticking over grand.... Then they though the Ecu was gone as the car started givin trouble after i got a car wash and thought the Ecu was gone they got a Bmw Mech to hook it up to a Computer Everything came back all clear... But the Car still wont start... And they told me today its leaking Fuel, Wasnt leakin Fuel when i gave it to them...Its a 94 316i and i hate it.......

mike65

So they went from head gasket to ECU in a single leap? You say its ticking over then it won't start which is it?

Mike.

PowerHouseDan

Sorry i ment the Engine is not Sizzed ....Well they went from Head g with the symptoms and the Ecu after asking the Bmw what could be the Problem and the computer is showing the All clear...

mloc123

sounds like they don't know ****. What are the problems with it?

PowerHouseDan

Just will not start.... What happened was about a month ago i went for a car wash... about 5 min later car cut out and car started but wouldnt stay started.. Brought it down to the Mech and it was fine the next day???? Then last week i got a car wash, about 5 min later car cut out and just would not start... And still wont

mloc123

sounds like an electrical problem then, what type of carwash was it? drive through or powerhose? Do old 316s use a distriputer or coil pack? At a guess I 'd presume the leads/dizzy/plugs were wet or damaged from the wet. If you can get the car back....

number the leads plugs on a piece of paper(for putting it back together) and disconnect the leads. Take a plug out and test each lead to make sure current is being sent, to do this get somebody to turn the car over while you put each lead on the loose plug and make sure it sparks. Do this with all the leads/plugs to check they are all working.

Next hing is check the fuel supply, I presume its injected. Check where the fuel leak is, there may not be enough preasure for the injectors if its serious. Disconnect the fuel pipe on the end of the injector rail(be careful ) Get a bucket/basin and hold the pipe in it, get somebody to turn the ignition till the fuel pump primes and mak sure there is a steady constant flow of fuel if not your fuel pump may be at fault.

DukeDredd

PowerHouseDan wrote:

RIght need a bit of a rant here, my Mech has had my car for a week and still has not found out what is wrong with it... First they though the Head Gasket was gone but the Engine is ticking over grand.... Then they though the Ecu was gone as the car started givin trouble after i got a car wash and thought the Ecu was gone they got a Bmw Mech to hook it up to a Computer Everything came back all clear... But the Car still wont start... And they told me today its leaking Fuel, Wasnt leakin Fuel when i gave it to them...Its a 94 316i and i hate it.......

I (and another couple of people) fecking told you months ago not to go near that car because it was going to break your heart with problems. If i remember correctly you had the choice between it and an Integra. No sympathy for ya - sorry! You should listen to fellow Munster fans - we'd never point you in the wrong direction

PowerHouseDan

Man you have some memory that was almost 12month ago... It was flyin up to last week...Would you give out to me if i told you i was buyin a 97 318is coupe over in the Uk... after i sell this?

kluivert

Sounds like there was way to much moisture in the engine.

Try changing the Leads and sparks and look at the ignition.

When you turn the key does the lights on the dash come on.

Sounds like they dont know what they are going for.

DukeDredd

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Would you give out to me if i told you i was buyin a 97 318is coupe over in the Uk... after i sell this?

Arrrrggghhhh! I'll save the told you so's for when you come on here in a few months with a blown engine or something!! Seriously though, best of luck with the new one - hope it treats you better than the current one. I've been though this mill before but i only bought one, didn't go and get another one after i managed to get rid of the piece of crap i had.

michaelanthony

If money is an issue, take it to a BMW dealer to diagnose it. Then get it repaired by your own mechanic with parts from a scrapyard.

MercMad

Maybe you have a bad earth lead somewhere. This can cause havoc, stopping the fuel delivery or the spark or both, and obviously moisture would aggrevate this !

It should be easy to diagnose, though by anyone worth his/her salt IMO

Does this car have an alarm/immobiliser ?

The ditributor cap is at the rear of the engine bay near the scuttle, there are electrical connections in this area too so it could be getting wet and has now packed up. The cap should be IP65 protected so it may have had a hairline crack in it for a while !

Gurgle

PowerHouseDan wrote:

the car started givin trouble after i got a car wash

OK, admit it.

Did you power-wash the engine?
Did you spray a power wash into the exhaust?

PowerHouseDan

No.
No.

I am bringin it to a Bmw Garage Monday My uncle knows the Mech so should sort me out.Been over a week now and Nothing...

Gurgle wrote:

OK, admit it.

Did you power-wash the engine?
Did you spray a power wash into the exhaust?

AMurphy

does/did the carwasy you brought the car to have an up from underneath floor washer spray.
I tend to agree with the previous comment that you have water logged electrics somewhere, howefver if your car wash has an up from underneath spray, then you definitely have have electrical problems.

However, don't you love this. You have a mechanic put it on a computer and it is "fine" yet a computer is not needed to determine if it is getting, sparks, fuel and has adequet compression... back to first principles boys, it'snot rocket science.

btw, does this car have an O2 sensor or not?.

michaelanthony

Powerhousedan, did you get your car fixed?

PowerHouseDan

Nope when down to my Mech yesterday to see wat the story was.. They took the engine apart on saturday and they found a clip in one of the valves(dont ask me) now the injectors are overheatings... and they said they cant fix up so needless to say after them havin it almost 2 weeks i was not happy, So i Rang a Bmw Mech he said he wouldnt go near it after them being at it cos he doesnt no what they did to it...I just said to him to be honest i am up sh$t creek i am moving away sunday week and dont move without my car, so he said he would sort me out but cant look at it until next week but he reckons its not a big job and that my mech was bullsh%tting( My main mech was on holidays for the week so one of his workers were lookin at it.

michaelanthony wrote:

Powerhousedan, did you get your car fixed?

MercMad

They took the engine apart on saturday and they found a clip in one of the valves(dont ask me) now the injectors are overheating

..............what a load of crap !!

I hope this second guy sorts you out !

PowerHouseDan

Yeah i no the walkin to work is annoying me at this stage.... The Bmw mech will get it sorted alright just will he have it sorted on the day before i go is another question..So Fingers crossed

mike65

Which garage/s did you use?

Mike.

PowerHouseDan

Prefer not to say tbh but the Bmw Mech that is going to look is Steven Murphy Bmw Specialist Think its called Motor Care or something

michaelanthony

Do the BMW garage charge you to diagnose the problem and/or give you an estimate?

PowerHouseDan

I dunno tbh honest but i no 4 people who use him and ment to be very reasonable

PowerHouseDan

Just a bit of a update about the Car, The Bmw Guy looked at my car and said it was the Ecu was gone as he had the same problem with another car the previous week, so he is after getting a 2nd hand ecu and was fitting it yesterday so hopefully that will of fixed it, will no this morning...................

PowerHouseDan

UPDATE:

They put the Ecu in and it didnt work but they are waiting for a call to see will it need to be reprogrammed..... Thought that if the car didnt have an immob it didnt have too...

DublinDilbert

Hi Dan,

Sorry to hear about the car problems, as a fellow E36 owner i feel your pain...

Is it an aftermarket immobiliser? from memory the EWS system only came in back in 1995.

I have PDFs of all schematics for my E36, if they are of any use to ya? although they outline the EWS system, and how it interacts with the main engine ECU.

If it is an EWS system it shouldn't require re-coding, as the key code is held in the EWS ECU, and the EWS signals the main engine ECU if it's ok to run or not. you should be able to check the state of this wire to see if the EWS is saying everything is ok.

Hope some of this helps...

JHMEG

Put simply an engine only needs 3 things to work:
1. Air: check that the intake system/filter is not blocked.
2. Spark: pull a plug, crank, does the plug spark?
3. Petrol: You should smell it from the cylinder that you pulled the plug from.

If no spark or weak/intermittent the distributor/coil/ignitor is the next place to look. I'm not familiar with this car so I'm assuming it has these and that the ignition isn't electronic cos it's fairly old.
If water gets into any of these, they won't work. And you'll get no spark or bad spark.

If you suspect no petrol getting in, check all the cylinders. One injector could be blocked.

If no petrol in all cylinders it's either the fuel pump, the relay that controls the fuel pump (sometimes called the Main Relay, a notorious problem in older Hondas), or the fuel filter. Most cars energise the fuel pump for 2 seconds after you turn the key to the ON position (after Accessory, before Start). Listen closely and you should hear the pump. You might even hear the relay click too.

If no petrol, the ECU could be knackered as it control the injectors. Is the car leaking water into the passenger compartment? ECUs rarely go belly up tho.

If you have air/fuel/spark the only two conditions you need are:
1. Compression. A lack of compression usually indicates a blown head gasket, assuming of course that the car didn't over heat or run without oil. In that case the head or block could be warped or cracked.
If the oil looks watery or the coolant looks oily that's a rough guide to a blown HG, tho a better inspection is needed.
2. Timing. No good having a spark if its happening at the wrong time. Again this indicates a problem with the rotor arm in the distributor. Off with the cap and inspect visually.

Bear in mind that if you have been cranking the engine over and over again and if petrol is getting into the cylinders that they will be well and truly flooded, and the car won't start anyway.

Many cars "know" not to fire the injectors if you hold the accelerator to the floor while cranking, thereby clearing out the flood. But this petrol has to go somewhere and there is a good chance it will end up in your exhaust, briefly, but will possibly damage your cat. Your car is post Jan 1 1994 so it needs its cat for the NCT.

Alternatively leave out the plugs for a few hours during the day to clear the flood as the petrol evaporates. Overnight is not really recommended as moisture (dew) will accumulate in the cylinders.

Hope this helps, it's all I can think of right now!

PS. I'm going on Dublindilbert's theory that there is no factory immobiliser in the car. If there is they usually work by preventing the fuel pump or iginition from firing. The older VAG cars work on the former, and the car will turn over briefly and die (no fuel). Hondas usually work on the latter. Dunno about your's tho.

PowerHouseDan

More news they reckon the Ecu they got from england wasnt the right one for the car or wasnt working so they managed to find one in the breakers and fitting it as we speak so hopefully. He is 95% sure its the Ecu and hopes to have it at end of the day

MercMad

BTW the BMW factory immobiliser breaks 3 circuits, ignition, fuel and starter motor !

Hope the new ECU works !!

PowerHouseDan

New Update: The Other Ecu worked Car will now start and stay started but not running 100% so he is going to hold onto it this morning, He said there is alot of excess Fuel going to the engine and running crap and it tryin to be started so many times, and its overheating a small bit but he reckons i will have it in the morning.

mike65

The fuel/air mix proberly needs leaning off.

Mike.

PowerHouseDan

Yup that is what he is doin in the morning for me...

JHMEG

Fuel/air is usually controlled by the ECU (when engine is warm). Unless the O2 or another sensor is gone and the ECU is running open-loop. ie a default mix, usually rich.

PowerHouseDan

Yeah i dunno what the story is hopefully i will have it.

PowerHouseDan

Just got my car back, Its a small bit rattle from the exhaust drives from only there is some rattle from the Clunch pedel when resting your foot on it...

mike65

Could you say that again?!

Mike.

PowerHouseDan

Good News i made it to Wales in my Car but fairly sure the Drive Shaft has had it, Getting someone to look at it during the week.....So really its not good news.

san01

just brilliant, loved this, cheered me up no end after my builder woes on diy forum (dont ask) also have car trouble:mad: . But thank you for this sure it wasn't meant to be funny but it was, if you know what I mean!!:D

PowerHouseDan

No i dont no what ya mean but ok.....

Seth Brundle

Moral of the story: go with a decent specialist based on other users experiences!
What was the garage who diagnosed all the bizarre stuff (how do you get a clip into a valve?) and were they a large outfit or some run-down shed down a dirty lane?