My E30 won't start - Tried everything - send help

[giannis.katsini]

Hey all

First thread, go easy on me. :P

Okay, I have an 89 e30 320i that I inherited from my Grandfather. He looked after it well and there was very little I had to do in order for it to pass engineering(some tests in my country to get a car licensed).

I've been driving it for about a year now and the damn thing just stopped working


Last Saturday it was raining quite heavily and my car was parked under an awning, when it rains, the awning drops old leaves and sedament that has built up. I moved my car out of the awning into the rain in hopes that I would avoid having to pick out fine leaves and gunk from the smaller creases of the car.

On Sunday I climbed in for a trip out and no matter how many times I tried, it wouldn't start.

Heres what I checked:
- It has fuel. The plugs are soaked after a few cranks, there is pressure on the rail and the fuel pressure regulator is returning fuel to the tank. I have not been able to test the pressure as I don't have a fuel pressure gauge yet
- It has spark
- It cranks
- The injectors are clicking in sequence.
- All the sparkplugs are still looking good, I changed them a few months ago
- The crank position sensor is fine, I bought a new one.
- I bought a new coil today and that didn't help
- I tested the throttle position sensor and that works fine
- I tested the fuel pump relay by bridging it on the pins mentioned in bentlys

I am really stuck as to what else to look at, this car has always started first time everytime. The engine is very healthy as well.

If anyone knows what I should be looking at or focusing my time on, I'd be so grateful.

Here is my VIN if it helps : 0AF89291

[Elvir]

You check ECU ?

[my1stE30]

you said it was raining heavily....

I am going to suggest moisture/condensation in the distributor cap...
... remove the cap... dry it with a dry cloth... check for cracks, etc
... then reassemble

easy to do and worth trying

[giannis.katsini]

you said it was raining heavily....

I am going to suggest moisture/condensation in the distributor cap...
... remove the cap... dry it with a dry cloth... check for cracks, etc
... then reassemble

easy to do and worth trying

Thank you for the suggestion, I will give it a look and let you know of the outcome.

- - - Updated - - -

You check ECU ?

Thank you for the reply here.

I haven't checked the ECU - I just kind of guessed it's working correctly because the injectors are firing off correctly, as far as I understand this is managed by the CPS and ECU. If the ECU was bust, it wouldn't do this?

Do you have any suggestion on testing this? These ECUs are so expensive in my country(works out to about $1000 US). I can only really test the contacts on the ecu but not entirely sure where to look at testing this.

- - - Updated - - -

Update:

I sprayed some carb cleaner in the intake(For lack of possessing starter fluid). The engine started for a brief second and died. This happened a few times.

I realised I had the fuel pump disconnected while trying this. I reconnected the fuel pump and tried again, it would not fire at all even with the starter fluid.

Weird. Runs with no fuel pump briefly, doesn't run at all with fuel pump.

[superj]

It sounds like no spark if it won't fire when the pump is plugged in, which is super weird. The pump just primes when you turn it over and than doesn't try to stay on after multiple cranks? Something that tells the pump to supply fuel is not reading, would be my guess but knowing nothing about that engine or electeical, makes it hard to help

[msservices]

Any updates on this? When you crank the engine does it mechanically sound the same? Does a 320 have a timing belt, or a timing chain? If it is a belt make sure it is not broke, then maybe pull the valve cover and make sure that all the cam lobes are rotating as you are cranking it over with the key. I did have a Bmw in the shop with a broken camshaft that was confusing us all one time