Help this E38 is killing me.

[TippmannX7]

My car which is a 98 740il started running rough. I checked the intake gaskets & throttle body gasket with brake cleaner & found that they needed replaced. I parked the car for a week while I ordered new gaskets. I went out to start it & found that the battery light had come on & the car was in “trans fail safe prog”. Now the car runs for a few minutes pretty smoothly until it warms up & then it stalls out & won’t stay running unless I keep feathering the gas. It runs very rough & the exhaust is thick & heavy.


Here’s some info on the car.

1998 740il
168k on the odometer, I bought it 2 years ago with 120K
It’s unknown if the transmission has ever been serviced.
The battery light is on
The traction control DSC light is on
Voltage at the #9 test is 13.2 +/- 1
The car is in “trans fail safe prog”
No oil around any of the spark plugs
The positive battery cable at the battery warms up to the touch only when the car is running.
I tried charging the battery from the under the hood one night & my charger gave a warning of a “internal battery ground fault/ bad battery” I then attached it directly to the battery & it charged fine.


Recent maintenance

New intake & valve cover gaskets
New throttle body gasket
New Bosch Platinum +2 plugs
New 140 amp Alternator
Battery passed load test at AutoZone
New Radiator & water pump
Checked all coils & they all will spark a plug
If I unplug the MAF it will stall
New CPS



Codes

1622
753
743
763
758
100
1385

Any help here would be great, Thanks in advance.

[stas2007]

Did you have these codes before you parked the car for a week?
start by having the battery charged; you can also unlock the obc and check the voltage.

[TippmannX7]

I unlocked the cluster & posted the voltage. The code were not check prior to parking it. The battery is fully charged. Thanks

[darkstarmedia]

Fuses under the passenger seat?

[TippmannX7]

Fuses under the passenger seat?

I don't think there are fuses under the passenger seat.

Thanks

[Timm]

It sounds very much like the alternator has failed (hence the warning light is lit). Especially as the battery cable is heating up, a good sign that one (or more) of the diodes has failed. Don't rely on the OBC for measuring the battery in a fault situation. Use a digital multimeter and check what the voltage at the battery is with the engine running.

As you have multiple solenoid failure messages from the gearbox, this points to a low voltage. This is usually the cause of Trans Prog Errors, the EGS commands the solenoid to close, but due to the low voltage the solenoid will not activate.

[TippmannX7]

It sounds very much like the alternator has failed (hence the warning light is lit). Especially as the battery cable is heating up, a good sign that one (or more) of the diodes has failed. Don't rely on the OBC for measuring the battery in a fault situation. Use a digital multimeter and check what the voltage at the battery is with the engine running.

As you have multiple solenoid failure messages from the gearbox, this points to a low voltage. This is usually the cause of Trans Prog Errors, the EGS commands the solenoid to close, but due to the low voltage the solenoid will not activate.

With a multimeter I get 13.4 volts at the battery & 14.3 volts at the jump piont on the valve cover. And the positive cable warmed up in seconds of running.

[darkstarmedia]

With a multimeter I get 13.4 volts at the battery & 14.3 volts at the jump piont on the valve cover. And the positive cable warmed up in seconds of running.
My guess is that you have a bad connection along that cable.... and yes there are fuses under the passenger seat... they generally don't blow and I am not sure where they lead (other than one supplies the air pump).

Richard

[cazal740i]

sounds like to me an Intakje leak ...Installing profile manifold gaskets is`nt a slap on and tighten routine...it MUST be centered Perfectly...Look at the gaskets to where they get narrow....Any signs of them being off will create a Vacumm leak...
Key thing is when u install the Vent pipe that runs from back OSV to front OSV the Whole Manifold tends to spring back towards the back of the car..U must slide it back 1 inch or so to Center it b4 u Insert the 1 bolt(11mm long bolt) of the manifold...Not only does it has to be centered..Check the sides of the manifold and make sure its of equal distances between the engine block and the side of the manifold...I inserted a 4 flat heads screwdrivers (2 on each side) b4 I bolted the manifold DOWN.... Also make sure u see the Orange gasket ends on each side B4 tighten ing up all bmanifold bolts...
These precautions will insure u have an accurate tight fit.....Also make sure u have the Fuel rail seated properly...Do Not bang hard on the fuel rail as u can damage the rubber o-rings....Put some glycerin on the o-rings so they can seat down smoothly..
Also make sure the Airbox from the front bumper is Clear from debris . check air filter and MAF....Try cleaning th MAF with CRC MAF spray cleaner.....Make sure all tubing is tight and secure...No need to rush...I bet that s why u r getting engine stalls after start up

[m3studio]

Bosch 2+? Aren't they supposed to be Bosch Platinums 4+? Or NGKs? I also heard spray anything on MAF could ruin it, I would just use air pressure to clean it

[TippmannX7]

It sounds very much like the alternator has failed (hence the warning light is lit). Especially as the battery cable is heating up, a good sign that one (or more) of the diodes has failed. Don't rely on the OBC for measuring the battery in a fault situation. Use a digital multimeter and check what the voltage at the battery is with the engine running.

As you have multiple solenoid failure messages from the gearbox, this points to a low voltage. This is usually the cause of Trans Prog Errors, the EGS commands the solenoid to close, but due to the low voltage the solenoid will not activate.


Thanks for the reply. I installed a new alternator & voltage at the jump point on the valve cover is 14.3 +/- 2 & 13.4 +/- 1 at the battery. Does this still sound like the alternator to you? Should I pull it & take it back & exchange it?


sounds like to me an Intakje leak ...Installing profile manifold gaskets is`nt a slap on and tighten routine...it MUST be centered Perfectly...Look at the gaskets to where they get narrow....Any signs of them being off will create a Vacumm leak...
Key thing is when u install the Vent pipe that runs from back OSV to front OSV the Whole Manifold tends to spring back towards the back of the car..U must slide it back 1 inch or so to Center it b4 u Insert the 1 bolt(11mm long bolt) of the manifold...Not only does it has to be centered..Check the sides of the manifold and make sure its of equal distances between the engine block and the side of the manifold...I inserted a 4 flat heads screwdrivers (2 on each side) b4 I bolted the manifold DOWN.... Also make sure u see the Orange gasket ends on each side B4 tighten ing up all bmanifold bolts...
These precautions will insure u have an accurate tight fit.....Also make sure u have the Fuel rail seated properly...Do Not bang hard on the fuel rail as u can damage the rubber o-rings....Put some glycerin on the o-rings so they can seat down smoothly..
Also make sure the Airbox from the front bumper is Clear from debris . check air filter and MAF....Try cleaning th MAF with CRC MAF spray cleaner.....Make sure all tubing is tight and secure...No need to rush...I bet that s why u r getting engine stalls after start up


Thanks for the reply. All the gaskets have been triple checked & the fuel rail looks correct. I cleaned the MAF. Maybe it's the Bosh +2 spark plugs & a bad brand new alternator.

[josemg]

Alternator is bad and yes, you will need to replace it or at least the regulator. I have an e39 530 that had the same problem. The day it happened, I found that the car didn't want to start, you know, the battery was drained. I checked with lights on and tried to start the engine and the lights got dimmed. Anyway, I replaced the battery, tested the charging system and problem solved. You BET!.

The battery indicator wasn't lit until I got the trans fail safe prog mode. I got scared because I was cruising around 50mph and all of the sudden the car stubmled and most of the indicators were lit in the instrument panel.

By that time, I did a research and it says that the voltage in the charging system was below certain voltage (I don't recall the value exactly), so when I checked again the charging system, the voltage in the battery was around 10vdc. I gave a rest on the car and checked again and it was 13.5 vdc. So what I did was to get a multimeter and plugged it in the cigarrete lighter and started driving around to monitor the charging system. So to my surprise, the voltage was dropping at high revs and staying in that status until idle for a couple of minutes.

So I'd recommend to triple check the alternator connections, the multimeter test while driving and the battery test to ensure that the problem doesn't come with high revs in the engine, just like mine.