swapped engine... car runs like crap

[pseudolith]

so, long story short, my engine had blown gasket. cylinders 3,4,5 had TERRIBLE compression.

spent the past week swapping out engine for another 328i engine (came from an automatic, with allegedly less miles) got the engine from bavauto recycling compression & leakdown tested. (awesome service)

anyway... i finished today. did a cycle of cheap penzoil to clean out engine, now running 10-40 castroil gtx

idles great, sounds great, runs like ass. slower than my engine w/blown gasket(s?) the car HUGELY hesitates from a stop feeling like it's gonna stall (its a manual) it hardly pulls through the RPMs & the only pull i feel is @ 4k++

what could it be?

maybe the engine was sitting @ the junk yard too long and needs to be broken in for a while?

maybe the cars brain needs to readjust for a few hundred miles?

what else?
:help

[Cablekid]

Throwing any CEL'S?

I would let it work it self out.

Did you touch any of the vacuum lines?

[pseudolith]

did i touch vacuum lines?

lol i swapped the engine out

the vacuum lines i'm 99% sure of, but the electrical connections not so much.

no CELs yet.

any ideas?

could it be a crappy VANOS on the new block?

[WTFGERMAN]

i had this problem with my car make sure you plugged in the cam positioning sensor, or maybe it needs replacing.

if the sensor is bad or unplugged it wont throw a cell for some weird reason and it will sputter and feel like crap before 4 k then pull like normal.

[pseudolith]

the cam position sensor is in the front of the block by the vanos?

i left the one that came w/the block, didnt think to replace it with my old one.

as a matter of fact, i left all those sensors in w/o replacing them.....

should i wait to see if the car works itself out? is it normal to feel THAT much lost power?

[WTFGERMAN]

the cam position sensor is in the front of the block by the vanos?

i left the one that came w/the block, didnt think to replace it with my old one.

as a matter of fact, i left all those sensors in w/o replacing them.....

yes thats the one make sure all the plugs under the manifold are plugged in good mine was just unplugged

[pseudolith]

are they all plugged in? yeah. correctly? i dunno. i dont know where to find a diagram.

it was a huge puzzle figuring out where all the stupid wires went. plugged em in wrong the 1st time, and the car wouldnt start unlesss i gave it gas. now its all good. it just runs like ass.

[m2pc]

No, it should pull pretty strong right out of the gate. There's some fine tuning done by the ECU as it goes through adaptation, but the engine shouldn't feel sluggish or slow. Something's gotta be wrong with the A/F ratio or timing.

A disconnected CPS sensor will surely throw a code and CEL, especially on OBD-II cars. Mine died from just R&Ring it and I kept getting "Cam Position Sensor" as well as a ton of fuel metering and other codes.

Are you sure the front O2 sensors are plugged into the correct spots on top of the intake manifold?
They are easy to mix up especially if the leads aren't routed via the bracket on the back of the head. Mixing those up can cause all kinds of strange power issues.

Are you 100% certain you got all the connections under the manifold correct? I remember when I did mine I didn't take careful notes and ended up with a rat nest of plugs that all seemed to fit each other like 10 different ways.
Maybe you can compare with another E36 in your area that's running fine.

Does the engine sound "loud" like an exhaust leak? My car acted this way (no power, no CEL) after I replaced my head. Turned out to be incorrect timing.

[atlantisvip]

Your spark plugs and MAF ?

[pseudolith]

No, it should pull pretty strong right out of the gate. There's some fine tuning done by the ECU as it goes through adaptation, but the engine shouldn't feel sluggish or slow. Something's gotta be wrong with the A/F ratio or timing.

A disconnected CPS sensor will surely throw a code and CEL, especially on OBD-II cars. Mine died from just R&Ring it and I kept getting "Cam Position Sensor" as well as a ton of fuel metering and other codes.

Are you sure the front O2 sensors are plugged into the correct spots on top of the intake manifold?
They are easy to mix up especially if the leads aren't routed via the bracket on the back of the head. Mixing those up can cause all kinds of strange power issues.

Are you 100% certain you got all the connections under the manifold correct? I remember when I did mine I didn't take careful notes and ended up with a rat nest of plugs that all seemed to fit each other like 10 different ways.
Maybe you can compare with another E36 in your area that's running fine.

Does the engine sound "loud" like an exhaust leak? My car acted this way (no power, no CEL) after I replaced my head. Turned out to be incorrect timing.

thx for the insight. i'll replace the CPS with my old one to see what happens, double check connections, drive it today, and then find another e36 that's willing to let me 'show you mine if you show me yours' :stickoutt

[mipktb]

All of these are good suggestions. Check CPS, MAF, O2 sensor and vacuum lines.

Also, check the plugs. They can tell ya alot...

[pseudolith]

UPDATE::

ok, today car threw a CEL, so i went to my uncles garage to get it checked.

it was throwing a code for the camshaft position sensor.

replaced it with the old one, cleared the code, started the car, ran AWESOME! zoom zoom!!!!

drove it back into san francisco & stopped at a pet store, come back, start it, the CEL is back & my car is in limp mode.

what now? should it buy a new CPS? could it be something in the wiring?

[stu328i]

so did you change the (ckp)crank sensor or the(cps) cam sensor?

[Necrodomis]

Check the DME.

[pseudolith]

so did you change the (ckp)crank sensor or the(cps) cam sensor?
fixt.


i changed the CPS

[stu328i]

sweet

[pseudolith]

sweet

lol no i dont mean the car is fixd.... i fixt my post where i wrote crankshaft instead of camshaft

problem still exists.



btw... it would seem that i forgot to plug in the reverse (sensor?) wire into the transmission.. all it does is turn on my reverse lights, right? can it be causing me any problems?

i'll plug it in tomorrow......