Author Topic: e36 no start (Read 8330 times)

chapellej · « **on:** May 19, 2011, 02:01:11 PM »

My 92 e36 318i does not start, i replaced the starter, alternator, and ignition switch. When i turn the key nothing, all the lights and everything works just no start, i got the battery tested and its good. It did start and ran fine then i went to work and nada. Got a boost and it started. So i go to start it today and same deal no go..... any ideas guys?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2011, 02:58:19 PM »

Did you happen to pressure wash the car recently? Heavy rains? If so, check the drain on the passenger side of the car, might have a flooded DME/ECU. It's infamous...just google "wet DME".

DesktopDave · « **Reply #2 on:** May 19, 2011, 03:02:00 PM »

I think there is an inhibitor relay & an under-voltage relay as well. I know the unloader relays should be turning everything off when the starter engages. Also, EWS might be part of the trouble. The key antenna dies & locks the DME...no start.

Let me check into all that before I shoot off my mouth about it.

chapellej · « **Reply #3 on:** May 19, 2011, 05:23:57 PM »

i did wash the car but the dme is dry as a bone, and i was always wondering if there is an some sort of inhibitor that would prevent the car from starting but my car is a manual not auto.

DesktopDave · « **Reply #4 on:** May 19, 2011, 05:34:03 PM »

There is an under-voltage relay, designed to protect the expensive bits from running below 12VDC. On my e30 it's above the steering column. Symptoms include no power to anything whatsoever...not like your trouble.

I'm unsure of any way to test EWS directly, but I think that's a later addition, maybe from '95 on. It'd only prevent spark IIRC, so that doesn't match your symptoms either.

What's the voltage right off the battery terminals? Just thought about something else...is the engine grounding strap intact and not heavily corroded?

chapellej · « **Reply #5 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:41:35 PM »

battery is fully charged and the ground strap bad but used shrink tube to reseal it. What i dont get is that it started and ran fine then no start. I get a boost and it starts and then today same deal no start.

chapellej · « **Reply #6 on:** May 19, 2011, 06:43:49 PM »

also to add the alternator is used from an 88,000 km car, but a bad alternator would not cause the car to not start would it?

DesktopDave · « **Reply #7 on:** May 19, 2011, 09:09:56 PM »

I've seen ground straps that looked good but were corroded internally. We ignited one with high resistance once...there is a LOT of current flowing through there. I'd bent it a little while installing a different motor and (what was left of) the braid burned like a cigarette.

Are there any fusible links in the e36?

chapellej · « **Reply #8 on:** May 20, 2011, 09:43:50 AM »

i am going through all the wiring today to see, i will update later this is so fustrating. Car sat all winter and now this...... booo

DesktopDave · « **Reply #9 on:** May 21, 2011, 08:29:39 AM »

Did you check the battery voltage when the car fails to start? There isn't any relay clicking or anything like that, is there? It really seems voltage related, so I'd be trying to track that down systematically.

BTW, those early e36's had a problem with the key switch too. Are you sure the switch is back together the right way? On occasion I've had to go back & re-do a fix that I thought was right, especially if the car has new symptoms.

bmwman91 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 21, 2011, 11:11:34 PM »

Do you smell raw gas when you are trying to start it? You may not be getting fuel. It isn't too hard to trace it from there, of that's the case.

chapellej · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2011, 11:44:05 AM »

am geting fuel for sure so no gas smell, and the ignition switch is new. I hot wired the car and it started before replacing the ignition switch. I replaced it and the car started no problem. I drove it for about half an hour and then it wouldn't start after then it started and the same the next day. Got a boost and it fired up, and now it is dead again the battery is fully charged and i am getting 14 v when i try and start, the relays click also when i turn the ignition, i am going to pull all the intake off again ( for the hundredth time) and check my starter wiring as well.

DesktopDave · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2011, 05:40:42 PM »

Maybe a broken wire in the starter harness? Works some of the time, not others?

chapellej · « **Reply #13 on:** May 26, 2011, 06:29:38 PM »

problem solved, the wire that runs to the starter from the harness below the intake was broken and thus was causing intermitant starting thanks guys for giving me support and ideas!!!!!

ClubSport · « **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2011, 11:18:10 PM »

Hi, I'm having the same problems on my E36 M42. No crank, no solenoid click, nothing. Dash lights up normally, and no codes from the stomp test. There is 13V on the starter motor.

I put a meter on the ignition switch and I get 13V on the black/yellow wire when the key is turned to crank, but when doing the same test it's not getting to the solenoid. Is there a relay or something between them? I tried both of my keys, jiggled the keys in the ignition, and turned the steering wheel side to side, but it seems like the problem is not in the ignition switch itself.