ahhhhh my car wont startt!!!!!!!!!! only when the engine is cold

[bb0ytom]

in the last 2 days, my car has been having a hard time starting from a cold start. it seems to crank but the engine doesnt come on. once it turns on, this starting problem goes away until the engine is very cold again (several hours of not driving). the colder the engine, the longer it takes me to start the car. everything is cranking and the voltage seems fine. can someone help me diagnose this problem? thanks. i would liek to get it fixed this weekend before it gets worse and doesnt start at all. this morning it took me about 10 minutes of on and off cranking before it finally decided to start. it was left for about 12 hours without driving prior to this morning.

[1996 328ti]

How old is your battery?
Can you check the water in it?
Check the battery terminals?

If you battery is older than 5 years I'd change it.

[328 is man]

does it cut out when cold unless you stay on the gas till it warms up? if so sounds like your mass air

[bb0ytom]

no once it starts up, its fine basically, its just the start up when cold is hard to do. yesterday after it started up at night after about 3 hours of being parked in the cold, it started after 5 mins of cranking and the idle was really jumpy for like the first 5-10 seconds, jumping to about 1,200 n den back to really low and so on .

[Biggins]

Now that it's cold I have to use my portable battery to start my car EVERY time I start my car. I'm getting a new battery next week, but I'm still thinking it's power is being drained somewhere along the way.

[bb0ytom]

im not sure, ill check voltage later, earlier today in the morning i checked after cranking it about 10 times and the voltage still read 12.4. thats not too low is it?

[bb0ytom]

does an e36 have a distributor? if so, where? i might change my plugs, wires, distrubitor, and ignitors as a regular tune up soon anyhow.i just want to find the main reason why it isnt starting on cold.

[DeanP]

Get a Bentley. There is part of the emissions system that controls the car on cold start. On start-up it goes very rich, this system is probably not working correctly.

[Biggins]

Get a Bentley. There is part of the emissions system that controls the car on cold start. On start-up it goes very rich, this system is probably not working correctly.
Off the top of your head, do you believe a bad O2 sensor could be causing this problem for me?

[DeanP]

Off the top of your head, do you believe a bad O2 sensor could be causing this problem for me?

No.

[robisconfusedd]

does an e36 have a distributor? if so, where? i might change my plugs, wires, distrubitor, and ignitors as a regular tune up soon anyhow.i just want to find the main reason why it isnt starting on cold.

#1 theres no distributor, it uses ignition coil system.

#2 changing all of those is great maintenance n all but i am unsure if that will help your problem.. always worth a shot though!

[bb0ytom]

is the ignition coils a wear item on bmws?

[DeanP]

is the ignition coils a wear item on bmws?

Generally they work or they don't. With a volt meter you could check their output. I am a little a perplexed, I see your list mods in your signature and some are very impressive sounding. Yet, you don't if you car has a distributor or not, or how the coils work???? Maybe you should take the car to the shop that installed all the mods and let them work on it. Modded cars are more difficult to trouble shoot and work on.

[bb0ytom]

the mods i have are basic besides the camwork, i got it done by a friend. you cant tell me installing headers, intake and basic stereo equipment is hard. im used to talking to my friends about hondas since they all own acuras/hondas, im the only bimmer in the group so they have different parts than i do. all the mods i have are basic bolt ons besides the cam. im just more fimiliar with honda engines that bimmers since thats all my friends talk about.

[bb0ytom]

for your information also, i installed all the mods myself besides the camwork.

[DeanP]

On the exhaust side of the engine there was orginally an air pump and some tubing and those compents have some function during cold start. Do you leave them on? And on the intake side there is often vacuum lines and other connections to the intake system and MAF sensor. If one of them is missing or if you have a vacuum leak, that could all contribute to a cold start problem. After the cam, header and intake install did you have the computer reflashed to take into account all the increased airflow? Did you change to larger injectors to keep the car from running to lean? On start-up the egine is programmed to go super rich for a short time to get the car started. If you are flowing a bunch more air with the same fuel delivery and computer program, the car doesn't know you made all these changes and tries to start it like it always would. Just a few things to consider.

[jrhaile]

change your oil to something lighter. Trust me. I had a very similiar problem for the first months I had my car. It ended up being the oil was too thick during the starting process because of the cold weather. Give it a shot.

[pad0811]

check for a leaking valve cover gasket, which can let oil into the spark plug holes, and they get fouled.thats what caused the same exact problem in mine...

[bb0ytom]

im running a chip and plus my injectors are the size of stock 1995 m3 injectors, they should be able 2 handle, its just recently this happened, not after the mods were done, mods were done months ago. im going to check my spark plugs tommorow and coils.

[bb0ytom]

im using low weighted oil already. viscousity is low on the oil im using

[leedawg]

Generally they work or they don't. With a volt meter you could check their output. I am a little a perplexed, I see your list mods in your signature and some are very impressive sounding. Yet, you don't if you car has a distributor or not, or how the coils work???? Maybe you should take the car to the shop that installed all the mods and let them work on it. Modded cars are more difficult to trouble shoot and work on.
:lol Im inclined to agree. was reading your mods then read that you dident know if your car had a distributor or not. :eek: How could you have that many mods and not know your car better than that just perplexing thats all ;)

[bb0ytom]

having that many mods has nothing to do with knowledge, mods are basic knowledge of how to put them on. im use to hondas and acuras because they have distributors. that is why i asked if there was a distributor or not, you cant tell me putting in headers, intake and exhaust and doing basic shift lever conversions is a hard process. many cars had distributors, i just wanted to make sure if my bmw had one or not. flame me all you guys want, i can personally care less, thats what forums are partially made for, to ask questions.

[jonjon0nline]

Had the same symptons when my camshaft position sensor went out. Not sure if M50's were the same though.

[DeanP]

I wan't trying to flame or ridicule. I was trying to point out that it clear someone had helped you to some degree and maybe you need personal help as opposed to tech help via the internet, which is usually sketchy at best. If you did this mods over the summer and now it is getting cooler for the first time, it is possible this problem was always there. But it has been masked by warm weather.

[bb0ytom]

i think i found the problem, about 3 of my spark plugs had oil on the porceline area and the boot area, i guess this was from a leaky circle gaskets on the valvecover where the spark plugs go. i just had this gasket for only about 2 months too, well i put ultra black rtv around those areas and aroudn the overall valvecover area. hopefully tommorow it will be dry and my car will start fine. cleaned out the boots and replaced new spark plugs.

[bb0ytom]

ok well i replaced the spark plugs and resealed my 2 month old gasket with rtv around the sparkplug areas. today in the morning, the start was still pretty harsh, this time it only took me about 5 mins instead of the usual 15 mins over da last 3 days. i have no idea what the problem might be anymore. i seafoamed my car 2day and poured some in the gas tank hoping that it will clean out the internals and injectors, because the injectors may be dirty causing a fuel shortage during the cold starts because it's suppose to run more rich. im using my spare ignition coils that were taken off a car with much lower miles than mines so they should be less capable of being a failure. hopefully tommorow or later tonight when my car gets cold, all goes fine.i dont see anything else that could be the problem. vacuum lines are fine. on cold days if it doesnt start, i can get it started by being push started, so it's quiet odd.

[pad0811]

does it only happen once the first time you start it for the day, or does it happen anytime it sits for awhile? also, when you push start it does it start very easily, or rough like it might have started the same if you had just kept cranking?

[bb0ytom]

it usually happens the first time i start it during the day, if i leave it outside for a while in the cold, it only takes a couple tries, but in the morning when i start it for the 1st time of the day, it takes so many attempts, im talking about 30-50 attempts. it starts rough on push starts, not always easy, i guess after the engine turns over a coupel times and warms up a little, it starts. today it started after several attempts and the idle stayed at a constant 1,200-1,400 rpms the whole trip and then i cleaned the MAF and it idled at 600 like normal. it starts bad on push starts, its juss occasional luck i guess.

[328somewhere]

Check the ground by the ecu. my car would crank forever and never start it ended up being the ground by the ecu. or just check all the grounds. does it turn over slowly when its cranking or just like normal?

[bb0ytom]

it seems to be like normal.

[DeanP]

it usually happens the first time i start it during the day, if i leave it outside for a while in the cold, it only takes a couple tries, but in the morning when i start it for the 1st time of the day, it takes so many attempts, im talking about 30-50 attempts. it starts rough on push starts, not always easy, i guess after the engine turns over a coupel times and warms up a little, it starts. today it started after several attempts and the idle stayed at a constant 1,200-1,400 rpms the whole trip and then i cleaned the MAF and it idled at 600 like normal. it starts bad on push starts, its juss occasional luck i guess.

That's way too much idle, you have a vacuum leak somewhere.

[bb0ytom]

got idle fixed now, its basically back to start up problems. a guy told me its because the battery because "california batteries are made for warm weather" and lately in san jose, CA, its been quite cold. but then again he works at "kragens" so i dont know if i can go with his opinion. let me know what you guys think.

[328somewhere]

take the battery to a parts store and have it tested. usually its free. like autozone, advanced auto, pep boys. any one will work, they will even help you get it out. then you know for sure.

[bb0ytom]

what will the test about the battery? the acid levels right?

[parolof]

The acid/electrolyte level does not have anything to do with the power from the battery, it covers and protects the plates inside the battery, if the battery plates exposed to air they will immediately sulfate and you will loose power. If he can make 30-50 attempts to start the engine, the battery seems to be the best thing in that the car........:D

Does the CEL light come on?

[bb0ytom]

no lights come on on the dash. i got my started, alternator and batt checked out today, they were all good. im guessing now it might be my oil or temperature sensor. anyone know where the temperature sensor is located, the sensor that lets the engine know when to run rich on a cold start? and also what oil are you guys using? about 1 month ago i just switched over to 5w-30 castrol syntec blend. i heard if the oil is too thick cars may have a bad problem starting. which oil do most people use for e36's, like what viscousity oil.

[parolof]

yes, the temperature sensor is a likely culprit, don't know where it's located on the 6's though, have a 4 pot myself. Castlor 5w -30 should be fine in the winter, that's what I use also

[bb0ytom]

yeah im not really sure what the problem is anymore, tonight i had trouble starting it when my engine was warm but the oil temp. was below 120 degrees F , thats what it showed on my vdo gauge at least. still worried for the poor fella. hahaha please help still.

[pad0811]

one other possibility to check is for flooding due to a leaking fuel injector.sometimes they leak the remaining fuel pressure, and its hard to start because of too much gas in the cylinders.i don't know if this would cause it to be as hard to start as yours is, but it would cause a lot of extra cranking to get it running.

[kabal]

I had the exact same problem this morning.

engine would crank and crank like usaul, but never fire.

after numerous attempts it eventually started.

as soon as it started I switch off and tried again, and it started 1st time.

Then I drove up the road to my moms place, stayed about 20 minutes.

When I left I have the same problem, cranking, but no ignition.

Then it worked again, after numerous tries.

Can lack of backpressure cause any of these symtoms (I have cats replaced with freeflow silences, and my back box is also replace with freeflow silencers)

I also have a custom short CAI, and chipped.

[bb0ytom]

i dont think its by backpressure, i had this problem before i even got piping done to my car, when i was still running stock cats. last time after trying numerous times, my friends pushed my car n i tried 2 push start it by popin the clutch and then i heard a loud "Pop" noise, after that, the car started fine but later when i went home n left the car for about 20 mins, it wouldn't start again. someone said it was the fuel pressure regulator that might be clogged or something?

[leefnm]

Help!!

I have the same problem with my 87 325is. It starts right up after the suns been on the car for a while, but first thing in the am it turns but doesn't catch.

Also often after running the car then shutting it down you can hear some kind of motor running towards the rear of the car by the drivers side rear wheel. If the key is turned to ACC then back off again the motor(or sound) shuts down. I have no idea what this is or if it has something to do with the problem of the car not starting in the cooler wx.

Thanks,
leefnm

[kabal]

btw, it is summer here, and my car is parked in a garage, so I wouldnt say it is cold. hasnt happend today though. started my car first time this morning

[bb0ytom]

i just got this problem fixed by my dads mechanic, i havent got a chance to ask my dad wat his friend fixed for me but ill be sure to update you guys. just got my car back from my dads friend's house 2day and it was in there for about 4 days waiting for a part to come in, havent got a chanced to talk to my dad yet because ive been busy with work and school. ill post more tommorow.

[pad0811]

just curious if it turned out to be fuel pressure related?i'm now having the same problem again, and it seems the fuel pump check valve isn't holding any pressure after shutting off the car.

[bb0ytom]

ok i got it fixed for 2 days, and then it happened again, back to my dads friend's house for another check out. it might be the check valve. when i open my gas tank cap for my car, it doesnt seem pressurized like it does on other cars. normally other cars make that pshhhh noise when you take off the gas cap or do only e36's not make that noise?

[bb0ytom]

i found the problem for my car, it was my tms chip, i sent it back in for an exchange, when i plugged in my stock chip, it fired right up and has been good for the last 3 days.not quite sure why the chip gave out all a sudden but hopefully it is found to be a defect and the exchanged chip works.