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Engine + Driveline / Warm Start Stall/Surge
« on: August 31, 2011, 10:06:15 PM »
I recently bought a 1991 318i (M42) for my son's first car and it had the same problem. It started fine cold but after being shut down hot for more than a couple of minutes it would start fine then begin to idle rough and if you attempted to drive it would surge and come close to stalling. If you let it idle for a minute or reved it up over 3000 RPM OR shut it off and restarted it would clear itself and be fine until the next hot start.
The solution turned out to be a very simple one. There is a single wire connector in the wiring harness under the cover on the firewall covering the DME/Fuel Pump/O2 Sensor relays that should be disconnected if the car has a catalytic converter and connected if it doesn't. I disconnected this connector and everything is fine! I wish I did this first however on the bright side I have a spare of pretty much every sensor plus a ECU (Luckily I got them cheap on ebay).
We have only had the car a couple of months and I must say I've learned a lot about it and love it. It is excellent to work on and a pleasure to drive. I'm looking for a clean '91 is for myself! I hope this helps someone as it seems we weren't the only ones troubleshooting this snag.
The solution turned out to be a very simple one. There is a single wire connector in the wiring harness under the cover on the firewall covering the DME/Fuel Pump/O2 Sensor relays that should be disconnected if the car has a catalytic converter and connected if it doesn't. I disconnected this connector and everything is fine! I wish I did this first however on the bright side I have a spare of pretty much every sensor plus a ECU (Luckily I got them cheap on ebay).
We have only had the car a couple of months and I must say I've learned a lot about it and love it. It is excellent to work on and a pleasure to drive. I'm looking for a clean '91 is for myself! I hope this helps someone as it seems we weren't the only ones troubleshooting this snag.