Messages

1

Engine + Driveline / Fast Idle Issues

« on: June 04, 2009, 01:11:32 AM »

Alright back to the crappy 1500-1300 randomness. I'm seriously ready to start kicking kittens. The idle stays strong at 1400 then randomly jumps to 1500 and bogs to 1300 every few seconds... it's like it stutters down to 1300 then jumps back up to 1500 when the car has been driven a lot and it's good and warm.

I doubt this is related but my temp gauge is going nuts on me too. It works 95% of the time then it randomly crashes to nothing for a few minutes then back up.

Any ideas?

On another note I scored a 96 318ti today for 800 bucks in mint condition minus the headliner from a random guy that lost his job... I'm about to drop this 318i to some poor sap on craigslist and let them figure out the idle at this point.

2

Engine + Driveline / Fast Idle Issues

« on: May 29, 2009, 02:24:52 AM »

So I cleaned the ICV quite a bit but there really wasn't any buildup in it and I also replaced every single vacuum hose under the hood.

Now the car no longer stutters from 1500-1300 every few seconds.

Now when I start it the rpm's are good while it is cold, they hang out around 7-800. Once she warms up it jumps up and stays at 1400 for good at idle, no stutters just a constant 1400. O2 sensor is new so I marked that off the list, I'm also going to put on a different FPR tomorrow that I have sitting around so I can mark that off the list also.

Anyone have any other suggestions on how I can get the idle down? It runs like a champ but the excessive idle annoys the hell out of me so I would like to get it fixed.

3

Engine + Driveline / Fast Idle Issues

« on: May 20, 2009, 10:43:25 AM »

Im running a e36 318i with a m42b18 engine.

So out of the blue my car won't run below 1300-1500rpms at idle. When I start it it idles normal, 7-800 or so rpms then after a few minutes it gets up to 1300-1500 and fluctuates between them.

Every 5 seconds or so it acts like it stalls for a millisecond and goes from 1500-1300 then back up again.

Any ideas on what might be causing such erratic behavior? I'm going to clean the ICV extremely well today and all the vacuum lines seem good, other than that I'm not sure where to start.

4

Engine + Driveline / M42B18 Engine Swap Questions

« on: February 15, 2009, 11:54:55 PM »

Colin,

They are both M42b18's. As far as production months on them I don't honestly have a clue.

Pretty much what I have done was just take everything from the 95 engine and swap it over to the 93 engine so I can use the ignition coil, same belt setup and computer with it from the original engine, the 95.

I have a few more pieces to put back on tomorrow but I just stripped the new engine down to the head and built it back up from there so there shouldn't be any issues. It's the same block, head etc there were just a few differences between the 93 and 95 M42b18's I'm guessing. The belts/ignition coils/fuel rail were the 3 main things that stuck out so I just swapped a few things out and hoping she kicks right over.

Tough to get any information from anyone concerning these, so I'm just winging it at this point. Almost makes me wish I just did a swap to a larger engine but I love a good ol' 4 banger, that's why I bought the car.

5

Engine + Driveline / M42B18 Engine Swap Questions

« on: February 13, 2009, 10:35:34 PM »

Alright guys new to the M42 forums and the whole BMW scene so try and not be too brutal on me.

So I'm doing an engine swap on my 95 318i (e36) since I bought the car for dirt cheap with a cracked head. Figured it would make for a fun project and for the price (600 bucks, body and interior in mint condition) I couldn't pass it up.

I am just swapping the engine with another M42B18 and I ended up getting one locally from a 93 318i for a hell of a deal (just the engine and wiring harness came with it, no accessories). Again me being a noob to the whole BMW scene I didn't realize that this wouldn't be a simple bolt on since there are a few things different even though they are both M42B18 engines. I would've bought another 95 if I knew there were going to be issues. The sad part is I bought it from the yard almost 2 months ago and I just now got around to doing something with it so I don't think they would take it back after 30 days for a 95 engine with higher miles so I'm looking for some advice.

The wiring harness is different from the original (95 engine) and the one I'm putting in (93 engine), the main difference being there are 4 extra connectors compared to the old one which is for the different ignition coils. The 95 has a single box ignition coil with one wire from the wire harness into it and the 93 seems to have the per cylinder coils with 4 wires from the wire harness. The fuel rail is also slightly different in the 2 engines. The belt routes also do not look the same so I am not sure if I will be able to use all of my old accessories.


Now my main question is will I be able to use my ignition coil and the computer from the original engine (95) on the 93 318i engine, I'm assuming it shouldn't be an issue with me taking original wire harness (95 engine) and using it on the 93 engine. The only difference in the harness visually is that I would have to cut the 3 wires into the fuel rail from the 95 engine and splice them into the 93 fuel rail to make it work. I would also be using the Ignition coil from the 95 since I would be using the 95 wire harness spliced into the 93 fuel rail. I am also not sure at this point if I'm going to be able to make the accessories work since the 93  engine seems to use a different type of belting than the 95 without doing some slight mods.

If this sounds crazy or if the 93 uses a different computer than the 95 can someone that possibly knows give me a heads up before I start cutting and splicing things. My main concern at this point is the computers in the two, I cant seem to find out if the 93 actually uses a different computer than mine.
Bosch DME 0 261 203 282 is what came on the 95.

I just don't want to have to fork over the extra money on buying a 93 computer and the ungodly expensive ignition coils if I don't have to. I know most of you are e30 people but everyone over at Bimmerforums seem to be a bunch of a-holes and told me to come here, that's how I found this gem of a site.

Also if anyone is in the St.Louis area and might want to take a look at it I wouldn't mind paying you for a small amount of time.