M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Engine + Driveline => Topic started by: trackjunkie21 on March 01, 2011, 10:58:45 AM
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Found out the reason why my car acted as strange as it did. Here were the symptoms. Sometimes car sputtered, as if it would turn off which triggered the CEL light to flash instantly and turn off in the matter of a millisecond. Car had a rough idle, sometimes it sputtered to a really low RPM and then caught itself right before shutting off, stalling. This last symtpom, was the worst of them all. Car would shut off and never turn back on. Car would crank but there would be no spark and no fuel. All these problems were caused by a minor oil leak in the front of the engine bay. Oil would drip from the dipstick tube and the oil filter housing and get splashed everywhere by the fan. The fan would blow the oil onto the VR wheel and the CPS. When the CPS become covered in oil, no more spark reading, and the DME would automatically shut off the injectors. Sprayed the VR wheel and the CPs today with some throttle plate cleaner and it started right up. This isn't the first time it has been happening, I have verified this to be the cause of the problem 100% Hopefully this will help you guys aswell.
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I fixed the same problem on my car twice. Sure, the car didn't run...but the CPS looks brand-spankin' new.
I was frustrated about it for a while, but then I came to a different conclusion...I suspect I'm not giving BMW engineers enough credit. I think of our beloved M42 as having a built-in corrosion prevention system now.