i feel your pain PJ... i plan on going through a lot more stuff, but until then, ill just keep doing what i can to deal with the problem
BMW Parts Whore... BUY THEM PLEASE!!!
I have found that if I turn the car on and off a few times it will run fine. Although I try not to do it that much in respect for my battery.
Yup, revs climb real slow. But when cold (overnight), runs decent. This is confusingOriginally Posted by [XRSIST]
Maybe it is electrical and not the VANOS... hmm
I'm really tempted to bring it to the stealership and have them diagnose it and I'll fix it. I've never brought my car to a mechanic for anything. This would be very degrading to myself
My E39 is having similar symptoms.. But my problem is only at startup after sitting a while.. Has to be completely cold. When I turn it on it sorta shakes like its gonna die and then the idle regulates itself within a minute and the car is fine.. I checked the plugs and it had NGK R5s (4 prong).. I didnt even know NGK made a 4 prong plug. Anyway the plugs looked fine, no oil anywhere, but the end of the boots where a little white.. Im guessing TPS.. That or crank sensor.. I really dont know where to begin and dont wanna take it to the stealer..
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I have the same problems...including the idle wander until I come to a stop. In my case, all this shows up much more when the engine is cold and improves as the car warms. My guy at BavAuto says that he thinks the leaking valve cover gasket could be the culprit, as it could be allowing a small vacuum leak. Also, my ABS/ASC isn't working, so that could be confusing the car by not properly registering the fact that I'm still rolling to the stop sign. I dunno...these cars are way more complex than anything I've owned before. I'm planning to fix the ABS and leaking valve cover and see what happens...
Eric
1994 325is - Boston Green - 119,000 miles - currently in 'winter mode'
Mine drives perfect after the show it puts on for the first 30 seconds at startup.. No symptoms of bad ICV once Im driving.. Could the MAF be fouling up ? I would think that the problem would always be there if that was the case..
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OK, let me put in an update, since I'm noticing a lot of similarities with you guys.
First - I have a leaky valve gasket too. Nothing too big, but 2 or 3 of the cylinders have a little oil at the bottom.
Second - A few of my coil boot tips are also white. The contact inside is a little white too. Don't know if that's normal or not either.
Third- I cleaned my ICV a week or so ago, and it started doing the same thing - nasty shaking on starting it up. However, it seems to have gotten a little better.
Don't know if this leads us anywhere closer...
Dan
Dan
I am thinking (and hoping) it's the leaky valve covers. Change yours and let us know if it goes away
I found a book of maintence and service records on my car, it also had a leaky valve cover and was fixed, idk if that has any relevance?Originally Posted by PJ Steamboat
Here's what I would suggest after all the work I have done on my car, including removing the intake manifold, auto to manual swap, etc... Before we begin I would like to note that in my experience it is never the problem that you think it is. Your mind can create all kinds of crazy assumptions and over time you start to believe them. Sometimes they are right, but most of the time it is something else. Engines are rough machines. A pinhole leak in a valve cover gasket, a little oil in the spark plug wells, white residue on the tips of the coils, dirty sensors and bad fuel are not usually the problem. When these engines get running they burn off and work out most of the problems on their own.
Anyway, here's what I would check for first...
- Get a Bentley Manual
- Follow the procedures to check every electical component you can... and you can test almost all of them. This includes, crank sensor, coil packs, throttle position sensor, coolant temp sensor, etc...
- Go buy or rent a fuel pressure test guage. Follow the procedures in the manual to make sure you fuel system is functioning properly.
- In a dark garage remove each coil pack one at a time and crank the engine with the fuel relay out of the car so it doesn't start. Make sure each cylinder is getting a spark.
- Check the compression of the engine.
OK, if you do all that and something turns out bad obviously you have found your problem. But if you have done all that and everything is working then you probably have a vacuum leak. Of course at this point you could also still have a faulty fuel injector. I am not aware of any way to check these so if there is anyone out there who knows how, let us know!
Next I would suggest taking off the intake manifold. This is a big job but it is how I fixed my violent idle/poor running problem.
Clean EVERYTHING under the manifold and check all the wires, fuel lines and vacuum hoses. Take everything apart (CAREFULLY) and inspect each individual component. Clean your ICV and replace all replacable gaskets. It is when I was putting my intake manifold back together that I discovered that my charcoal canister purge line was disconnected from the throttle body. I would never have seen this had I not taken everything apart and then put everything back together slowely and making sure to note everything single vacuum component and connection.
The above suggestions will not cost you much at all and the time you spend working on your car is invaluable and should be fun.
Let me know how everything works out for you guys!
Edit: I forgot that most of you guys have Vanos! Luckily for me I don't need to worry myself with that - 1992's rock - good luck!
Last edited by Pink Floyd; 09-23-2005 at 02:03 PM.
I'm getting the VERY slow idle shaking, chugging, choking at start up as well. I found before that turning to acc. position and turning the AC off and then starting it wouldn't die. The last couple of days even that isn't helping. I did notice this past weekend that cyl. 1 & 2 have some oil in them and got the gasket to change this weekend along with some new plugs. I'll see if this will change it at all and post my findings. Also, there is some little sensor on the front of the throttle body (I think that's what it is - I believe it is the idle speed control valve as best as I can tell in the Bentley) that makes an awful racket when the key is in the acc. position. I noticed it when I got my Peake tool yesterday and was clearing oil service & inspection. It's just a buzzing, vibrating mainly. Don't know if this is normal or not. Just trying to figure out quickly if it's a keeper or not. Only have about 2 months or 1000 miles left on the warranty from the dealer. Any help would be awesome. I already love this car and would be if I have to take it back at this point.
Nevermind the buzzing I guess... just went to the index and I guess it's supposed to do this. The rest is still a problem though.
im pretty sure it's the transmission
Transmission? In regards to who?
My bet is on a vaccum leak. Something so stupid can mess with your car so much. I have similar problems and I'm almost posotive its a vaccum leak.
I'm almost positive my problem is not a vacuum leak. If it were a vacuum leak, my idle quality would suffer (and suffer serverely to make the motor run that poor even at WOT.)Originally Posted by bmwhighroller
I'll be testing the vanos next weekend. Stay tuned!
Next weekend as in tomorrow or Sunday, or NEXT weekend? I'm anxious to hear what you come up with...
Dan
Dan
[QUOTE=Pink Floyd]Here's what I would suggest after all the work I have done on my car, including removing the intake manifold, auto to manual swap, etc...
This is a great post....and great advice for solving difficult problems!
I have the same problem on my 83 528e. Someone suggested the TPS, don't I changed mine to no effect. At full throttle the car runs fine, at idile runs fine, it is the standard acceleration where the hesitation comes in. It will accelerate 400rpm the loose 50 then another 400 and loose 50. It is so annoying and help would be appreciated.
not sure what mine is, but it just feels like the power is not there (I think this is normal though because its really NOT that bad...i 'm just comparing it to my trans am lol) but SOMETIMES (happed like twice so far) the car will bog SO bad off the line that i'm like uhhh am i in the wrong gear? did the car stall? and BAM! it picks up again lol
i guess the VANOS sticks open?
Just to add to this saga, my 325 didn't bogg or hesitate at all on the way to work this morning. Is it coincedence that it is the coldest day I've driven it this year? This truely is a mystery.....
These cars have such similar problems, yet it seems like every single car has a diffrent way to fix it.. its very ennoying. Mine was bad vanos. It was the original one with 14xxxx miles on it. At times I was slower than a geo. I could have gotten places faster on foot.. After new unit went in car felt better, but I think more can be done.
I also had that horrible rattle noise under the valve cover. New chain tens. fixed that so a certain point. Its still there but its hard to hear. Right now I can small gas out of my exhaust (I hope its the coils not giving hot enought spark to burn all of the fuel not the cats...) and Im gettin around 21 - 22 mpg. Im sending in my injectors to RC to have them cleaned, have new seals put on, etc. Its $24 an injector but I think it be good to have them cleaned out and get the flow pattern back. I got a new pump in the car (the pump died on me when I was going up a hill, that was fun) and a filter that has a few thousand miles on it. Im also going to get the new bav auto coils next week. Im hoping the smell of gas will go away and mpg will improve. I think they are still stock. Yes I do have new spark plugs.
Today Im putting in new coolant hoses. Im going to look over all the vacuum hoses and check my intake manifold for cracks. Right by the TB I got a hissing sound. I have heard stories of the manifolds cracking. If not that I got a air leak someplace because that hiss is very loud.
About the mpg going up and down in cruise I think that is normal because when going up and down hills your car needs more or less gas. Plus the cruise keeps the car at the same speed so if you are going from a flat to a hill the car will need more gas to go that same speed at the hill so I wouldnt worry about that.
One if these days Im going to spend a few hours checking wires and connections. Ill post if I find anything interesting today. Keep this thread going.
-Serge
Welp I'm heading home today from boston around noon time, and after some lunch and time to let the car cool down, I'm going to test the vanos. The tool arrived so we'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!
-Chris
-gluck
-Fill us in
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Did you already change your o2 sensor ?Originally Posted by theruss1an1
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