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Thread: M3 has no power but no check engine light... what?!?

  1. #1
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    M3 has no power but no check engine light... what?!?

    So I was driving today and the car felt like it was starved for fuel and wanted to stall when driving in any gear. I would push on the accelerator and there was no power. Car has no check engine light and a scan didn't produce any codes. When I turned the car off and started it again the problem disappeared. Has anyone had this experience or know what it is? My car is a 99 m3 manual with 92k.

  2. #2
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    Could have just been a glitch,
    but if it starts to reoccur,
    I would hook up a FPG to the fuel rail,
    and note differences in readings-as fuel pressure should remain at or near 51psi.

  3. #3
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    Sometimes the check engine light does not come on right away. When one of my coils went bad it wasn't until the next day that the light came on.

  4. #4
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    I address the CEL when it appears,
    but I take notice of anything that I can >SEE,HEAR,SMELL,
    and not wait until a CEL decides to notify me.

    BMW Error codes are detected and can be stored as pending codes by BMW modules,
    before any warning lights become visible.
    Just because no lights-doesn't mean no codes!

    IF an error was detected, there will be an error code stored.
    Fuel pressure itself may not throw a code, but its effects will.

  5. #5
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    Where do i hook up the FPG? is there a port somewhere?

  6. #6
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    Instead of a long worded post,
    view this E36 video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEaiphvqJVQ
    Last edited by MIKYZZ4; 06-24-2018 at 12:28 AM.

  7. #7
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    Did you have less than a quarter tank of fuel hit a corner pretty aggressively and starve the fuel pump?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by bluptgm3 View Post
    Did you have less than a quarter tank of fuel hit a corner pretty aggressively and starve the fuel pump?
    Nope. This is happening in normal driving with around half a tank.

  9. #9
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    When was last fuel filter change?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by bluptgm3 View Post
    When was last fuel filter change?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    It was done by the previous owner in the last six months but it might be worth changing. I bought the car a few months ago and it has run flawlessly up until one event last tuesday and then yesterday. This is my second m3 vert and 3rd e36 m3.

    The weird part to me is that turning the car off and back on made the problem go away.

  11. #11
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    Is it possible to have a crankshaft speed reference sensor code but the check engine light isn't on? I can't get any codes when scanning but the shop says it did. Any ideas?

  12. #12
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    Depends on type of scan tool used,
    Generic OBD2 or BMW specific scantool/software.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by MIKYZZ4 View Post
    Could have just been a glitch,
    but if it starts to reoccur,
    I would hook up a FPG to the fuel rail,
    and note differences in readings-as fuel pressure should remain at or near 51psi.
    Incorrect. Fuel pressure with vacuum is 43psi. 51psi would indicate no vacuum on the fpr or other issues.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by MIKYZZ4 View Post
    Depends on type of scan tool used,
    Generic OBD2 or BMW specific scantool/software.

    Wouldn't that error code make the check engine light go on? They said it was a stored code.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhhToo View Post
    Wouldn't that error code make the check engine light go on? They said it was a stored code.
    No.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Braymond141 View Post
    No.
    Thank you. It's changed. Hopefully it fixes the problem.

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