**NO START NO EMS light** Help Please

[danlolasdad]

Hey guys, I have a problem with an E36 318is ill try to explain as simply as possible with some images. basically i have a 318is that needed some attention clutch, starter etc mess under the intake ive done it all before many times the wiring loom was a bit untidy so i chucked that as i have a donor in my yard. im repairing the red car and the green is the donor. Red car was starting and driving but running poorly at idle now it does not start and i have no engine management light. i replaced clutch, starter, engine harness DME, new spark plugs,prop shaft. removed mess under intake




Notable differences

the red car has a single coil pack split into 4 and one round plug OEM


the green car had individual coils with individual plugs OEM left of pic


the DME on the left is from the green car the one on right is from the red car


the BODY harness to engine harness plug has 3 extra pins on the GREEN car pins 4,5,6 when i traced these wires into the cabin they ended up at unused plugs hence do nothing on the green car "i may need to confirm that for pin 6 the pink with grey striped wire"
 
inside view

underside view


Now the same BODY plug on the RED car does not have these 3 pins
inside view


apart from these differences the engines are identical same knock sensors same tps same wts afmx2 cam and crank triggers etc etc. I have used the GREEN components in the red car the firing order is 1342 i have arranged the coils as per red car setup i assume is the same in most/all M4x setups i havent seen different
                                                                                coil 1 cyl 1
                                                                                coil 2 cyl 2
                                                                                coil 3 cyl 3
                                                                                coil 4 cyl 4
the 3 wire connectors are connected as they were on the green car so the DME will determine firing order


I have no engine management light and the car wont start. it rained lightly when i was working but both DMEs are bone dry. all fuses in main box of red car are fine could i have a relay issue or perhaps popped a fuse somewhere inside the car.I can probably figure this out but some help from accomplished M4x owners might get me
sorted sooner ill update with vin details from both cars later if thats a help. Thanks for reading.

[danlolasdad]

Just an update I had some time with the car this evening I can confirm I have spark and fuel pressure. Here are the vin details of both cars. Also the 3 wires I mentioned definitely weren't being used in the green car.

[DesktopDave]

Does that car have EWS?  I thought all the silver DMEs were EWS-enabled.  I don't recall which wire to cut and which wire to splice...something about a small box behind the glove compartment, key switch antenna, etc.

If I find anything that looks right I'll post it up...those extra wires might be the starter disable circuit.

I also seem to recall there being a wiring difference to injectors...both versions of the M42 use two banks of two injectors each, but the 1-3 pair and 2-4 pair are swapped in the DME harness.

How do you find all these M42s?  I'm jealous...

[danlolasdad]

Hi Dave

The red car is 1994 it has a normal key and no security system that im aware of apart from central locking ie. doors, trunk and filler cap lock when key is turned in either door. there is no OBC in this car.

The green car came from northern ireland its a 1993 it had an obc of some description i can check tomorrow. The key was broke theres a space for a fob in it. It did start fine without this when i got it.

What is the difinitive way to tell if car has EWS & will a unit in the car say EWS on it. Id be positive neither cars have it but I could be wrong.

[danlolasdad]

Im so dumb linking cyl 1 to coil 1, cyl 2 to coil 2, cyl 3 to coil 3, cyl 4 to coil 4, as per a single coilpack and letting the DME sort the firing order wasnt the answer the 3pin plugs for the individual coils exit the loom in their factory determined lengths but are paired as if using wasted spark anyway I swapped my plugleads to sort the firing order and now im running again  neither of the DME's had ews cos i can swap them with no issues. I did a diagnostics when finished too. Cant believe I got caught with a firing order issue  oh well first time for everything

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zf6s8a25m91pvul/20130313_112541.mp4

[DesktopDave]

Glad you got it sorted - I was really hoping it'd be something simple!