Messages

1

General Topics / bad starter?

« on: July 05, 2012, 08:04:29 AM »

So yesterday my car didn't start, happy 4th to me!

I didn't take too much time to diagnose the problem yet and am looking for input on what to troubleshoot and how to proceed.

The car is a 91 318is with m42.

Thought that at first it was just a dead battery, but had no luck off of a jump. And voltage seems to check out, if that matters.

The car is making a single click when the ingnition is turned, but is not turning over the motor at all. When I try to start it the interior lights dim. Everything else in the car is working properly, windows going up and down fine, fan runs, all lights are working. So I don't know if it could be an electrical problem.

Last weekend I installed the ge keyless entry set up. I did tap into the red ignition under my dash to power that system. I did so with a butt connector to splice that wire into the line. Could this be suspect? It seemed to work fine for a few days though.

My money currently is on the starter being the problem. I have a pepboys one bought and ready to swap in tonight. (I know I should get an oem starter, but I need the car up and running asap. I figure I can buy one of those and swap the pepboys one out on my own schedule, not wait for it to leave me stranded again.)

Anybody have any ideas or anything that I maybe looking over?

Any ideas on how to troubleshoot what I'm dealing with?

Big thanks to anyone with some input


****Update****

I finished the job today, here is what I did.

Checked all of the grounds using continuity test. Everything checked out.

Double checked the battery voltage. Everything checked out there.

Now I went ahead and climbed back under the dash, where I had recently installed a keyless entry system from german engineering. Great piece, I love the flip out key, works great, easy to install, and just a great thing to have on a dd.

I had tapped the ignition wire for the 12v to power the keyless brain. Double checked this connection and the neighboring ground, making sure that I did not bump or short anything. This all checked out.

Then went to the started, and sure enough I had voltage there and the starter was still not kicking over. Must be this.

To replace the starter I did all of my work from the top. Just took off the upper manifold and was given enough room to swap the starter. Pretty straight forward to swap it out, 2 bolts with star heads though. Make sure you have that star socket set.

Hardest part of the whole deal was just using some blind feeling to thread the nuts on with fingertips. (That sentence reads kind of dirty ha)

Buttoned it all back up, Andddd.....

Viola!

The car started perfectly. Now it is just a waiting game until this pepboys starter fails . So I am going ahead and ordering a re-manufactured Bosch unit to have waiting on the bench.

Thanks for the input guys!

2

Exterior / passenger side rain gutter?

« on: June 19, 2012, 12:10:10 PM »

We are working on a '91 318is that I picked up for my son's first car.  we just noticed the other day that the trim piece (rain gutter) on the passenger side is missing.  Any ideas on where to source something like this?

Someone just stole mine off my car the other day!

I guess it fit your car well?

I need to find this piece now too

3

Interior / Interior Lights

« on: May 28, 2012, 07:05:53 PM »

on one side, you will see in the middle, a metal tab. Get a small screw driver, and go underneath and push towards the middle of the acutal like to push the tab away from body and then pull light out from the side of the tab. Just be careful not to rip headliner if brittle/old. Sometings using a plastic tip will work.

Thanks big time for the tip. You saved me from shattering one of these old brittle plastic dome lights

If bulbs check good I'd take a look at the door jamb switches and ensure they are grounding to the body.

Turns out my the drivers side dome light just needed a bulb. The passenger side one though had the switch mechanism busted, causing both circuits to contact the bulb and blew it too by the looks of things.

The passenger side is going to need a replacement dome light.



But...

The drivers side is working, but the function that allows the light to come on when a door is opened does not work.

How should I go about troubleshooting this system?

I think it could be the door switches as I am not getting power to the bulb when the door is ajar.

How do I test the door switches? Any possible fixes for them?


Thanks again for the help

4

Interior / Interior Lights

« on: May 22, 2012, 05:40:25 PM »

My interior lights haven't worked since I got the car and it is something that bugs me.

I want to try and replace the bulbs. I was looking at them though and I am not entirely certain how the pop open.

It looks like there is some prying needed, but I don't want to assume that and snap the brittle plastic.

Hopefully it is just the bulbs.

Any tips?

Thanks

5

Interior / Sunroof Knob - Check it out!

« on: May 04, 2012, 06:50:07 AM »

I would go $20-$25 too. That sounds pretty reasonable I would think for this knob in a small run.

But then again I don't know what kind of time actually goes into making it.

Looking at it it doesn't look like it takes too much time or material.



Keep me posted though on if he will make some more.

6

Interior / Sunroof Knob - Check it out!

« on: May 03, 2012, 10:07:54 AM »

YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS PLEEEEEASSSE!!!

I need one. It is one of the annoying things about my car, I don't have a knob. Some sort of OCD causes it to drive me bonkers.

If there is a group buy I want in.

I will watch this thread.

7

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 30, 2012, 06:38:11 AM »

Awesome find. Hey LoneWolf, was the rough running during all the revs and gears or just at idle?

Yeah the rough running was through all RPM, but more noticeable at idle. Makes sense considering it was running on two cylinders because of that broken wire

8

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 28, 2012, 07:41:22 PM »

UPDATE



Success!!!

Turns out the plug boar wire damage was worse than I had thought. The brown/yellow wire was completely broken through and the red/white wire was nicked. After re-splicing those back together and wrapping it up well with tape, the car ran perfect.

I don't have any vacuum leaks and the car is running great!

Replacing the waterpump, thermostat, fixing the oil leak at the oil canister, and doing the mess under the intake has really given me a piece of mind. I can't believe how well it idles now.

Thank you guys for all of your input and help!

All I have next is replacing the tensioner, but I am going to wait a few weeks. Only other mod I want to do is replace the clutch fan set up with the later model electric one.

I would probably suggest that the oil canister o-ring and gasket be replaced when you do the mess under the intake. It will eventually leak anyways, might as well do it while you have more room to work. Mine cracked off like old brittle plastic.

9

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 09:43:22 PM »

I also crushed the injector wires between the manifold halves one time.  I was making a roadside repair on a cross-country trip and neglected to take care in my haste.  I did smush a few wires but no harm was done.

I'd start spraying around with carb cleaner to try to detect a vacuum leak.  It's possible the intake manifold gasket was damaged when the wires were compressed.

Oh ok, good to note.

It wasn't smooshed under the manifold but actually pinched under the washer and against the manifold when I tried to torque down the rear manifold bolt. It actually took a little chunk out I think.

Hopefully I have some luck Saturday.

thanks for the tip on the carb cleaner, I hadn't thought of using that as a way to detect vacuum leaks

10

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 07:59:02 PM »

The air valve is in the middle of some hoses on the driver's side, coming out of a big black cylinder thing. It is sort of in front of & below the power steering fluid reservoir.

As long as you can't see a gap between the upper & lower manifolds, you are good. Torquing it down might not fix anything if the alignment sleeve/pins are crushed between them already. The alignment sleeves are at the base of the two really long studs coming out of the lower manifold. Since you got rid of all the junk under the TB, I guess it is super easy for you to pull the upper manifold & check! I am sort of jealous about that.

I will take a peek at that air valve.

I really like how clean everything is now that the whole mess is gone really. and I went ahead and relocated my icv so it is not tucked behind the engine.
It looks a lot better organized, if it only ran like it looks right now:(

I did just think about somthing.... When I relocated my ICV I used heater hose. But it is not the very flimsy kind.

When the car was running it did not look like that hose was collapsing or anything. That problem would be something I could visibly see correct?

11

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 06:13:00 PM »

when some folks have done the mess under the intake, there was a few issues with the manifold not seating correctly.  Sometimes they hang up on a locater pin.  If you did not replace the intake bellows,  they can develop sneaky cracks, especially after having been moved around.
                                                                    Geoff

I actually replaced my intake boot with a newer one, as the previous one had cracks all the way through. This newer one is showing fatigue but not broken all the way through I dont believe. I will pull it to inspect it better.

I want to replace it with a new one though soon anyhow, maybe I will spring for it soon.

Looked at the manifold and it seems like it is solidly seated. I torqued it down.

Where are the locator pins you are talking about that it can get hung up on? Just to double check.

How about the line from the fuel pressure regulator to the TB, I know I have missed connecting it once upon a time. As for your oil leak are you getting pooling on a "lip" the block right below the oil pressure sender, if so I would bet on a cracked sender, which is a cinch to replace.

I am pretty sure that is connected, I remember seeing some wear on it though.

Possible to replace it with the manifold still on? What size is that vacuum line?

I have't done the "mess under the intake" mod myself since I tend to take the car out to the eastern Sierra, sometimes in really cold weather. I can't risk icing my throttle shut!

Anyway, if all the nonsense hoses are gone, then that makes the hunt for a leak easier. As someone else mentioned, check to make sure that the upper intake manifold is properly seated on the lower one. Nelson is right about the FPR line...I forgot that once, too.

How about that little air valve at the charcoal canister? Maybe you put it in backwards (which would let in unmetered air). The electrical connector should be on the engine side, rather than the fender side.

Hmmmm I hadn't thought about the air valve there, I don't think I even messed with it?? Where exactly is it located?



Thanks a lot guys for all the responses and input! Keep em coming:D

12

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 01:44:28 PM »

I deleted everything except the vacuum coming off the valve cover that goes to the throttle body and the one coming from the icv to the intake boot.

That is the right way to do the mess under the intake right?

And isn't part 17 in that diagram splter for when they were all connected?
If so that was gone with the mess

13

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 12:58:40 PM »

Thanks for the input! It is a huge help.

I am heading into work now so I wont have time to give it all a look until tomorrow sometime. I am very curious what kind of damage I did the to plug board wire

I think the rough running is a vacuum leak though, it seems to be "sucking" when it idles down.

I am going to go ahead and put hose clamps on everything just to be safe, especially that barb.

The one you mention under the throttle body, you don't mean the barb fitting in the intake boot do you?

Thanks again!

14

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 11:37:34 AM »

the oil filter cannister has an o-ring and a paper gasket where it attaches to the engine, I guess either one could leak.    the wire,  if damaged could definitely be a problem, I'd address that.
                                                    Geoff

Yeah I am most worried about that wire. It is hard wired into the fuel rail I believe.

The engine won't idle evenly, It keeps wanting to stall especially when coming down from revs and doesn't seem to run smooth.

I am wondering if the wire being damaged is causing the injectors not to fire properly?

Orrr I could somehow have a vacuum leak? But I am not sure how considering everything just got simplified???:confused:

Update Still stumped on the rough running, fearing it is linked to that plug board wire I pinched. Going to take a better look at the damage to the wire.

I did order the oil canister gasket and o-ring. It should be here by the weekend. Will I have to drain my brand new oil should most of the oil be in the pan and away from the higher oil canister, allowing me to remove it without draining?

Thanks!

15

Engine + Driveline / After the mess under the intake

« on: April 24, 2012, 10:55:33 AM »

Well I went ahead and tidied up the mess under the intake.

I everything went smooth until my last bolt....

The last bolt I had to torque was the rear upper intake bolt. In my haste, I did not realize that the nut had the fuel rail wire under it . When I started to torque on it I noticed something felt mushy:confused:


Fuel injector line by LoneWolfman, on Flickr


When I looked I realized I had pinched the wire very hard and broken through the insulation. The wire itself looked intact, so I wrapped it in some electrical tape.

This seems like a big screw up on my part.

When I fired the car up, mind you it hadn't been run in almost a month, the car ran rough. Could this damaged wire be causing this?

I was thinking as well it could be my gas.

Any input on how to repair would be great


I also have another issue to contend with, an oil leak

I can't seem to find narrow it down all the way.

While doing the mess under the intake I went ahead and dropped the lower pan to check the upper pan bolts. I found one bolt in the pan and the rest were all finger tight :eek:

I went ahead and pulled them all, applied loctite, and torqued them down.

I had hoped that this was the cause of my oil leak. But I still have one.

The leak is coming off of the front somewhere and dripping down on to the top of the lower pan then off.

It doesn't look like it is the upper pan leaking. It looks like it starts from up higher.

The seam/gasket under the oil filter can looks pretty suspect. I degreased the engine in hopes of getting a better look.

If anyone has any tips or input on my oil leak that would be great too!

I just want to get it back running so I can enjoy it!

Thanks!

Edit: Started the engine after the degreasing. I was able to see right where the oile started to come from, Under the oil canister.

It doesn't seem to be leaking from the front, but instead back where I can't see, then it runs out to the front.

Anyone know what gasket is there to leak or if this is common?

Thanks!