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Author Topic: Yes, another crank no start.  (Read 17716 times)

colin86325

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #30 on: December 28, 2012, 07:27:50 PM »
Have you checked the engine ground to the frame rail?  Sometimes the wire is completely rotten under its plastic insulation.

Also check the ground point near the ECU.  It's a bolt that has numerous brown wires attached to it.
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Dusty B

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #31 on: December 28, 2012, 08:22:20 PM »
Quote from: colin86325;118793
Have you checked the engine ground to the frame rail?  Sometimes the wire is completely rotten under its plastic insulation.

Also check the ground point near the ECU.  It's a bolt that has numerous brown wires attached to it.



I did check the engine to frame rail ground. It has a good connection and virtually 0 resistance when ohming out.

I did not see the ground by the ecu you're talking about though.... ill have to take another look at it tomorrow. At this point I'm really not expecting a ground issue as everything is functioning.

Anyone have known good afm, Bosch crank sensor or tps? Running out of ideas.
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Geoff

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #32 on: December 29, 2012, 08:43:30 AM »
Bummer...is it possible the exhaust is blocked by a bad cat or something along those lines...
        Geoff
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Dusty B

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #33 on: December 29, 2012, 09:23:41 AM »
Quote from: Geoff;118805
Bummer...is it possible the exhaust is blocked by a bad cat or something along those lines...
        Geoff


Bummer is right. Haha. Don't think the exhaust is plugged. When you put your hand over exhaust while cranking get strong exhaust pulses of air/fuel mixture. Maybe ill pull everything from the headers back off, just for the sake of ruling it out.
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keflaman

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #34 on: December 29, 2012, 12:09:43 PM »
Quote from: Dusty B;118806
Bummer is right. Haha. Don't think the exhaust is plugged. When you put your hand over exhaust while cranking get strong exhaust pulses of air/fuel mixture. Maybe ill pull everything from the headers back off, just for the sake of ruling it out.


Here's a quicker easier way if you have the tools (if not, it's a good excuse to buy some more:D)

http://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-catalytic-converter
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Geoff

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #35 on: December 30, 2012, 07:49:54 AM »
those are good ways to tell,  but unfortunately they rely on the car running
                                                                                    Geoff
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Dusty B

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #36 on: December 30, 2012, 09:08:44 AM »
Well after all my chasing I believe I found the problem. Borrowed a brand new MAC compression tester. Cylinders #1-3 all have less than 45psi and #4 had 130psi. In addition to this, all cylinders except #4 had droplets on the piston crowns. I had originally thought it was normal residue you find on older engine components, but now appears to be water. After this I removed the brand new radiator and dumped it out into a clean 5 gal bucket. Nice new coolant then all of a sudden....... oil sludge! Whomp whomp. Everything is off and out besides the head itself as I didn't have the correct star sockets for the headbolts with me. I suspect this thing has been over heated badly and given a decent warp of the head.

Exhaust cam has a decent score on it as well as the corresponding #2 bearing journal it rides in. Machine shop flapper wheel may be able to clean it up, too soon to tell though. Debating what to do for cams and a headfasket as I'm debating a small Turbo setup since its all apart already.

Pretty upset now cause I've been chasing a ghost. Compression test was first thing done and now looks like the original gauge used was faulty.... at least I've learned alot so far though!
« Last Edit: December 30, 2012, 09:21:00 AM by Dusty B »
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keflaman

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #37 on: December 30, 2012, 04:24:14 PM »
Quote from: Geoff;118855
those are good ways to tell,  but unfortunately they rely on the car running
                                                                                    Geoff


DOH!


Again...:o
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Geoff

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #38 on: December 31, 2012, 07:22:15 AM »
i hate those problems that lead you all around and you wind up back where you started..very frustrating indeed..well at least you found the problem, and now fixing it should be fairly  do-able...one of my pet peeves is diagnostic tools that give the wrong diagnosis,  and  another is new parts that are low quality compared to the one you have...unfortunately, that seems to be a wave of the future
                                                       Geoff
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deansweet

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #39 on: December 31, 2012, 07:57:18 AM »
All of us who wrench our own cars have been in this position so don't beat yourself up about it.

My worst was the Audi A4 1.8Turbo we bought for our 16yr old before we had the 318is drop in to our laps. It would start, run for about 5seconds and die... After reading one cause after another i ended up replacing the ECM, the fuel pump/filter, pulled and had the nozzles cleaned, bought two MAF's(one cheap jap and a brand new OEM$!), plugs, wires, coil packs, etc... All this and the car still didn't run longer than 5seconds.

It was the plenum that comes from inter-cooler to feed side of turbo... It had a nasty tear in bottom where you couldn't see and I picked that part up used for $28...



At 1st i was somewhat depressed and pissed at myself as I had leaned over and visually inspected the intake hosing but never physically removed to inspect and ended up with a few $'s spent that I didn't need to but what I gained from that(as you mentioned above) was a lot of experience/knowledge.

The car ran exceptionally after all the updates.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2012, 08:00:53 AM by deansweet »
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Dusty B

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #40 on: January 02, 2013, 12:39:22 PM »
Haha. Thanks for the kind words.

I'm no stranger to the chasing though. I used to be a Ford mechanic. Ever since working for the dealer I've vowed to never own another one.

Been playing with subarus for almost a decade now, and that's another fun car to put you through the ringer (granted none of mine have been stock at all).

Next time I'll make sure to do a compression check with two gauges though, learned my lesson on that one....

Hopefully pulling the head tonight. I don't have a straight-edge and doubt I'll make it to the machine shop before it closes tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to update on what the headgasket looks like though.
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Dusty B

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Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #41 on: January 03, 2013, 06:34:30 AM »
Pulled the head off last night. Cylinders number 1,2, & 3 all were bright and shiny clean (piston crowns and clyinder head combustion area/valves) from the steam bath they were given for I-don't-know how long.

Won't be able to make it to the machine shop till this weekend at the earliest. Next weeks task will be to clean up the nest under the intake manifold.

I'll have to take a look around in some build threads, but does anyone ever build thier own intake manifolds for these cars?
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Dusty B

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Re: Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #42 on: March 21, 2013, 02:01:54 PM »
So as sad as I am, I may be forced to sell this toy. Haven't had time to work on it, as I've been working to complete my rotated turbo setup on my legacy GT wagon. Also found out that the woman and I have another little one on the way, so it seems sensible to scale back a project. So if anyone is interested in a good parts car pm me (even though she is way too nice to be called a parts car). I say parts car now because there are some issues with the paperwork for this vehicle that have surfaced. It's not stolen (CT Troopers VIN checked), or salvaged, but there's no title now. So even if I finish her she'd be an auto-x or track car.
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DesktopDave

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Re: Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #43 on: March 21, 2013, 08:20:25 PM »
Sad to hear that - the little BMW is a truly sweet driver's car.  It's a toss-up though.  With the title issues, likely head replacement and general unknowns, the BMW is heading well into the red.  If it was me, I'd procrastinate!   ;D   Fix up the Subie like you said, then reconsider where you want the BMW to be.

BTW - I'm pretty sure you can drop the glove box door by unscrewing the four little philips-head screws above it in the dash.  Sometimes that'll give you enough wiggle room to push the latch catches in with a screwdriver or long pick.  The catch has a cheap pot-metal actuating lever that tends to crack.  You can replace it pretty easily - the latch unscrews from behind the glove box door and comes apart into two pieces.

We've had great luck with Subarus as well.  I've considered an XT6 or SVX on several occasions...I love the oddball cars.   I very nearly bought an EJ22ET Legacy GT once...while they're not very powerful in NA-spec, it'd be fun regardless.  My wife drove a nice old Impreza LS automatic for years, perfect match for her.  I mainly recall it being terrifically easy to work on.  And oh-so-slow.  We sold it to my FIL and the little teal beast runs on and on.  I'm not even sure how many miles it has...but I'm sure it's over 200K by now.  I occasionally ask if she'd like a newer one with more letters on the trunk... ;)
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deansweet

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Re: Yes, another crank no start.
« Reply #44 on: March 22, 2013, 07:31:51 AM »
If you lived close to Dayton-Cincinnati Ohio I'd be there.
As of right now I could loan you the torx socket you need to get the head off and repaired.  That'll save you a few $'s


Congratulations on the new baby!
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