M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Engine + Driveline => Topic started by: ecalder on April 14, 2011, 08:52:00 AM
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Hey guys my car has been running stellarly for the last year and a half! I feel like I have really lucked out with the way the PO maintained the car.
My buddy bought a pack of fuel injector cleaner, it was buy one get one free. So I added the other one to my tank figuring it couldn't hurt much.
Well now my engine is doing somthing funny. When I'm in neutral and I accelerate (medium acceleration, not pedal to the floor and not sunday driving either) the engine will hesitate at first, almost up to 4,000 RPM and then everything is perfect after that. It's almost like it is missing a cylinder or something and then as the RPMs get higher it catches back on.
Has this ever happened to any of you?
I have a COP kit on there, which I installed myself over a year ago with no problems so far. Also I have not changed the injectors nor do I know when the last time they were changed.
Let me know if this is a common problem! I'm on my 3rd tank of gas since the fuel injector cleaner, I thought maybe it would go away after that stuff flowed through but no dice. Also I just replaced all my rubber fuel lines and fuel filter and it seems that the problem is a bit worse than before?
Oh and PO changed spark plugs day before he sold it to me.
Any ideas?
THANKS.
Erick
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Hmmm I decided to start from the easiest and pull the plugs... One was missing the prongs completely. Going to get new plugs! Hopefully this will do it...
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My first choice would just replace the plugs and injectors. I bought OEM plugs and mustang 4 pintle injectors off of ebay, car is running flawlessly.
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LOL, hesitation from missing plug electrodes! Glad you figured it out. What brand are the plugs?
Maybe I should ask what brand the injector cleaner is...if it melted a spark plug electrode, imagine how good it'll be on valve deposits!! :D
+1 on the Ford injectors (& new o-rings).
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Man! It's been a rough couple of days with my car!
I pulled her out of the garage yesterday afternoon to make sure all was good before today's track day. As soon as I backed up I saw a trail of fluid in the ground and it didn't take long before I realized it was gasoline! So I tracked down the pinhole leak and decided to change the hose, which was the one that went from the gas tank into the fuel filter. Well turns out to even get to the hose clamp I had to move the return hose out of the way so while I was at it I decided to change at as well, along with the fuel filter. This morning I went to drive it confident that othe fuel wasn't leaking and ran across the hesitation. So I posted about that but track time was at 3 so I decided to investigate. Luckily I found the spark plug was the culprit! Bosch +2 Platinum was what was in there and that's what i replaced them with because the ones y'all recommended on the sparkp plug recc page were not in stock immediately. So I was super pumped I drove out to the track and had a total blast I don't think my car had ever run this smoothly honestly. I attribute it to the combo of new fuel filter and plugs.
O k so i went to refuel. I topped off on accident I dont like to do that because my car smells like gas for a while after I fill up all the way (no idea why or where it comes from). Anyways at start of the third session I was going around the carousel at around 5k rpm and the power just cut out completely! I was able to immediately pit in and cruised for a few yards and when I went to accelerate again it was fine. I let it cool down for a bit to think about what could have happened then I went back out. I didn't even get down the pit before it happened again. It is like I was redlining at 5k but not with the needle bouncing at the line, it would die and if i accelerated nothing would happen then a couple of seconds later it would pick back up again.
So I decided to go home because I was worthless on the track and didn't want to get stranded in angleton! The drive home went swimmingly, but I didn't get past 5k which is around when it happened. After the 30 minute drive on the freeway I tried pushing it again and for about 5 minutes it was back to normal I could redline no problem. I was perplexed but the took a sharp turn and immediately following that it happened again, this time at 6k.
So I have no idea what's up, but since it's not a hesitation I feel like it's a fuel supply problem. Maybe changing the hoses and filter made a weak link out of the fuel pump? Is there a break in procedure for a new fuel filter I missed?
Ah and to add icing to the cake my wheels started squealing, but instead of squealing while braking which is normal after a track day with my hawk hps pads this time it was when the car was rolling. Wheel bearings? Is that the sign they're going out?
Anyways thanks for reading. I'd love to know if anyone else has experienced this? I have another track day on Sunday and id love to get it resolved before spending $150 for it to happen again!
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Sounds like either fuel starvation (filter on backwards, clogged sock on fuel pump?) or an electrical issue that cuts the pump out.
Just my WAG...
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there's a race track in angleton? link please.
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msrhouston.com
Every other Thursday they have an event $75 for 3 three 30 minute sessions including dinner. Pretty laid back atmosphere, you should check it out...
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a930 I looked at your thread on replacing your fuel lines, yours looks different than mine. My "in" side is the side that's round and my "out" side is the side that's crimped... Unless I was just really tired when I installed it. I'll have to double check tomorrow. But would it have run so smoothly for an hour on the track if it was backwards?
Fuel system is new for me. "Clogged sock on Fuel Pump" is this replaceable or do I need to replace the fuel pump altogether?
I'm worried if it is electrical then the fuel pump pressure test won't work right because it will be being cut off by the computer instead of a defect in the pump?
Excuse my ignorance, I've never even seen a fuel pump.
THANKS for the WAG!
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I thought e30's were famous for fuel starvation on hard turns? To the left, under 1/4 tank, IIRC. Might just be a design problem.
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I've heard that, but I have a full tank for sure.
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Does the fact I have the Mark D 93 Octane chip in there affect being able to use the mustang 4 pintle injectors?
My first choice would just replace the plugs and injectors. I bought OEM plugs and mustang 4 pintle injectors off of ebay, car is running flawlessly.
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Stomp test gave me the dreaded 1244 camshaft position sensor code! Crap from what I read it is common although the solution not so much so...
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what suspension you running at the track?
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IE Stage 3 Springs/Bilstein Sports - a great combo...
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I had an extra ECU which I swapped into my car and took it for a spin. Same problem. It seems to happen under heavier load (as I was going up a hill) and I could hear an almost popping (not a backfire though) from under the car when I tried to accelerate during the "limp mode". I let go of the accelerator and a few seconds later it was back to normal.
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It's hard to troubleshoot multiple systems at once.
If you can get a fuel pressure gauge into the supply
line for the fuel rail, that'll help diagnose the fuel system.
the cam sensor fault does have multiple causes- but it's
worth making sure the sensor's actually working and hooked
up. They do fail. And the wiring gets brittle and fatigues, the connector
corrodes or breaks...
How old are your plug wires?
hth
t
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IE Stage 3 Springs/Bilstein Sports - a great combo...
is IE Stage 3 Springs the same as H&R race? if so i might as well just keep my H&R race spring.
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Cool I took it to a muffler shop to investigate... My muffler looks charred they told me sometimes the muffler can burn up! But unless it was the fuel injector cleaner I'm not sure how else it could have happened. If replacing (or deleting) the cat fixes my problem then I'll be able to think differently about the sensor code, these might be two totally independent problems from each other.
I need to make sure I didn't jump timing too, I did have that bad spark plug.
My plug wires are the ones that come out of the harness (ECU?) and they're probably original, but they go straight into the coils.
The car's 22 years old it is about due for a fuel test anyways. I'll look that up on here and report the results.
THANKS man.
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stillmatick I believe the HR Race springs are actually preferred and what SPEC E30s run, I just got an incredible deal on my IE3s I jumped on it. Definitely stick with your springs...
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It's not the catalytic converter, shop took it out and I drove around with out it and it's still doing the same thing. I'll follow up on the other stuff...
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stillmatick I believe the HR Race springs are actually preferred and what SPEC E30s run, I just got an incredible deal on my IE3s I jumped on it. Definitely stick with your springs...
how much did you pay for ie3? because i got my H&R race for 250.
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Well, whatever was going in caused what I believe to be a spun bearing or something in the engine. I took the mechanic out around the block to replicate the problem today and when I reproduced it the engine really didnt like it this time. Now there is a knocking sound in the engine and the mech says I likely threw a rod bearing due to fuel starvation.
Great. RIP m42. You served me well.
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threw a rod bearing due to fuel starvation lol seriously that's bs.
what shop did you go to?
is it a fast knocking sound? probably you dropped a valve.
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maybe your fuel starvation issue is from a bad electric pump connection. clean/ make it snug. might help! Maybe you have a failed injector thats not giving enough gas and it detonates?
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Stillmakic, I took it to a stupid muffler shop that does my state inspections because it is around the corner from me. How can I tell if it is a valve? Just take off the valve cover? To me it sounds like it is coming from the TOP of the engine (head) not as much the bottom but I don't have a stethoscope to zero in on the sound. I'll have to take a look.
B318M42W If in fact I get this engine back up and running I'm thinking I'll re-do the entire fuel system just to be safe. I'm sure after 22 years my car could use a new pump and I don't think the injectors have been changed for a while. When you say electric pump connection do you mean under the gas tank cover under the back seat?
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yeah, the one thats plugs right into the pump. make sure it's nice and snug/wont move when hard cornering
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Thanks guys I'm looking for an engine! I'm even thinking m20 if it was at the right price. BUT I LOVE MY M42... I'm torn between having a super reliable beast of an engine and getting to race in Spec e30. Damn. Anyways if anyone knows of an m20 that's in good shape I'm on the market. Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully I can get the fuel issue fixed before this happens again!
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most the time when someone dropped a valve you block will also be damage. best to get another m42 motor and stroke it.
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You'll have to pull the head to really get an idea if what's up in there. If there's nothing obvious, then you'll have to get into the bottom end. At this point, there are a number of things you can speculate. This might be a good opportunity to rebuild the motor. Metric Mechanic sells some pretty nifty stuff you could install in the motor to really beef it up for track duty (360 deg thrust bearing, enhanced oiling grooves on main bearings, lightened pistons/conn rods, etc).
Good luck!
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8 months ago my fuel pump stopped working. Weird thing was it did it now and then but not always...
First thing i did was checking the cam and crank sensor. I'll have the values laying around somewhere, if you want i'll post them here.
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stick with m42 op.it will make your life easier when dropping it in,plus is a better motor than m20.
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op ask this dude,he have a m42 motor for 500.
http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/2343968472.html