E36 blows white smoke and runs on 4 or 5 cylinders

[achille]

Recently I bought a 1996 E36 325i for $350. The fuel pump was broken and after being replaced I got it started. Problem is there's a whole lot of smoke coming from the exhaust, it's barely noticeable or not even there on idle, but as I rev it the smoke shows up and when floored has a darker tinge. I suspect a blown head gasket or faulty crankcase vent valve. The person I bought the car off has assured me it was running fine when he left it to sit in his yard for around 6 months, and that the head gasket should be fine. It misfires quite a lot and has trouble idling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[bluptgm3]

Going to have to do a compression test, but most likely a head gasket.


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[achille]

Yeah I just realised the fuel in there is really old, as well as the oil and coolant. I'll replace them and see if anything changes, though it most likely won't. There is a hose which I believe is connected to the CVV that was spurting steam on idle also. I moved the car back into the garage and noticed that there was a substantial amount of oil on the ground as well, so there is an oil leak somewhere.

[Eric93se]

Check all the spark plugs, shine a light down and check for shiny piston tops (steam cleaned).

[achille]

I'll do a quick check this weekend. Do you know if bad fuel could cause this issue? I would check for compression but I don't have a kit.

[achille]

I am dropping this motor in a better condition e36 soon anyway, so I think I'll replace the head gasket and valve cover gasket while it's out.

[Eric93se]

If the smoke doesn't stop after some short drive their is a high possibility of a cracked and warped head. A gasket alone will not be enough. It's also possible it's smoking from leaking injectors. Smell the exhaust whether it's sweet or fuel.

[achille]

It's not going away and it smells sweet. I'm starting to think it would be something like that. A few other forums I've seen have suggested it could be the crankcase vent valve? The fuel in there is two years old so I'm thinking of taking off the fuel pump cap and draining it.

[Eric93se]

Nope, you have a cracked and warped head.

[achille]

Fuck. I'll do a compression test anyway to make sure

[achille]

I did a compression test and the lowest result was 150 and the highest was around 180. That should be around normal so I'm not sure why its running so rough or blowing smoke. I think I'll drain the fuel tank because the fuel is around two years old.

[Tapanui]

Two years? Yeah nah that fuel is off and might cause most of you problems. Be sure to run an injector cleaner through as well, as off fuel starts to gel up and block injectors and fuel lines.

On the compression test, how did you do it? Like did you do a dry compression test with all the plugs out and throttle wide open when cranking then a "wet test" with oil down the bore? because a 30 psi difference might point to a problem with motor. If you want to be sure on the head gasket. I'd go and get a Cylinder leakage tester.

On a side note. I would be cleaning the MAF with a suitable cleaner and changing plugs, as well as inspecting the coil packs for cracks or damage. (which are common problem on these motors).

[spyderg0d]

2 years is along time for even ethanol gas.

[achille]

I just dry tested all of them, I can do a wet test this weekend as well. I'm sure the fuel is off, and that was probably what caused the old fuel pump to die.

[NuruiGumi]

In general I would guess that's a bad head gasket. Chrisfix on YouTube has a good video about it when he bought a del sol and moreskids has a video about their e36 only running on 5 cylinders. In their case I think it was just a spark plug but they tell you what else they would have done next.

[achille]

Yeah my fear is that its a cracked or warped block

[Eric93se]

No need to retest, your numbers are good . Retesting will just stress your battery and put unneeded wear on the cylinders.

You said the exhaust smells sweet and not stopping, so something is going wrong .

[ross1]

Is it smoke or steam??
Take out the spark plugs and post a decent photo them. Coolant being consumed in the cylinders will show up on the plugs.

[Eric93se]

I think it's still possible to have a cracked head and still have good compression numbers. Are any of your piston tops shinny ?

It's also possible you have injectors stuck open and that's causing the smoke.

[achille]

So I drained all the old fuel out and filled it up with 95 but now it's not starting, just cranking over. It does fire little bit and I got it to start for a couple seconds but I have no idea why it's not starting now. I'll send some pics of the plugs and top of pistons next weekend.

[achille]

Alright I never got around to taking any pictures, but i couldn't get it to start for a good 2 weeks, then yesterday I turned the key and it started right up. It's not smoking anymore but it's running really rough and won't idle. Every now and then it makes a strange noise and some smoke comes out of the pod filter. Does this mean its firing out of the intake?? Whenever this happens the engine stalls immediately. The smoke has gone away so I think that was the old fuel but I'm not sure about why it's running so badly. It started after I'd left it for two days without the battery in it, so it might have been an ECU issue? It still blows a very tiny amount of smoke at really high revs but that's probably from worn rings.

[Eric93se]

Might want to remove the fuel rail and injectors and make sure its all clean.

Sure, remove the DME and check for white oxide or bad solder points, you can post pics if you want just make sure they're quality.

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You can also remove all the spark plugs and shine a light down them to check for steam cleaned piston tops.