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atypic
03-26-2009, 04:54 PM
Hello, and thanks for a great forum. I have gotten information from your postings many times. Now, however, I suspect I shall need some help in my next undertaking.

First of all, let's see if my problem-shooting has been correct.

Car: BMW 325 TDS (That's turbo diesel), 1995 model.

Problem description: Basically, my car won't start. There are two kinds of problems that appear: Usually when I turn the ignition, I can hear a "click", but the engine will not turn over. This leads me to assume that the starter is having some issues. After a failed starting attempt such as this, the electric-system acts all weird, dashboard blinking, the interior lights flash a bit and lights are generally weak. I then simply remove the key, wait 10 seconds (I have to do this) and suddenly all is well, the electric system acts normal, except for the not starting bit, of course.

However, after fiddling enough with the ignition, I am usually able to get it running. It might take 10 to 15 minutes of attempted restarts, but all of a sudden, the engine will turn over and it starts like nothing ever happened to it.

I have a completely new battery, 100aH.

So, before I start taking off the input manifold to access the starter (as many threads here have indicated) I would like to know if anyone has any special hints regarding this procedure-- and if there is anything I need to pay special attention to with regards to the diesel version of this car? My father also suggested simply cleaning the starter-- but I don't really see anything to clean...

I will take lots of pictures to document this process and I will create a thread for it here in the forums, regardless if all goes well or not.

Again, thanks for a great forum and I hope you can help me a little with this.

egebhardt
03-26-2009, 05:12 PM
Try this....
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/Borrowed/mult_starter_diag.htm

Then do this if you need to...
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/101-Projects-84-Starter/101-Projects-84-Starter.htm

atypic
03-27-2009, 07:54 AM
Well. Job is done.

I am, however, very embarrassed. The fact that the electrics were behaving strangely should have ticked me off right from the start: The grounding was simply not good enough. I took a starter cable, hooked it onto my battery's ground and connected it to my chassis... and what do you know, starts like a dream.

Sigh.

Anyway, thanks for the links, proved valuable.

woodbronks
03-27-2009, 12:24 PM
I'm working on changeing my starter right now, mines not the diesel but the stright six and i have the mainfold out but to get to the starter bolts are a pain, i havent removed it yet, I look at it everyday wondering how to get the stupid bolts out in the tight spaces

mole
03-28-2009, 01:16 AM
I changed the starter in my 95.... took me three days.
I'm not doing that again.

11BangBang
03-28-2009, 01:19 AM
I could probably change the starter in less then an hour...

woodbronks
03-29-2009, 12:18 PM
I finally changed the starter today 1 1/2 hours but i had to get a second set of hands to help to hold the socket on from the top while i went at it from below went really smooth

geero
03-29-2009, 11:36 PM
denng seems like everyones E36 at not starting all of a sudden. i have to change my starter too.. any advice to make this process quick and painless?

CigarKing
08-11-2009, 11:50 PM
Well. Job is done.

I am, however, very embarrassed. The fact that the electrics were behaving strangely should have ticked me off right from the start: The grounding was simply not good enough. I took a starter cable, hooked it onto my battery's ground and connected it to my chassis... and what do you know, starts like a dream.

Sigh.

Anyway, thanks for the links, proved valuable.

How did you fix the grounding?

-Thanks in advance!