New member - 1982 320i Starts but won't run

[TicoVW68]

Hi. I'm mainly into pre-'66 air cooled VWs, but have had all sorts of cars. Last year I purchased and E30 for my wife and ended up falling in love with it. So I decided to get another BMW for myself and purchased my 1982 320i a couple of months ago in non-running condition. It looked pretty nice overall and is complete so I figured it shouldn't take much to get it going. Boy was I wrong. The person I bought it from said the car had not run in two years, but after a little digging I believe it was more like ten years. In order to get the car running, I cleaned out the fuel tanks, replaced all the fuel hoses, both fuel pumps, fuel pressure accumulator, fuel pump relay, and cleaned the injectors. I also replaced the plugs, wires, cap, rotor, filters and oil. I was able to get the engine to start, but it would not idle and ran rough. So at this point I started doing some more troubleshooting and jumped the fuel pump relay and discovered that the injectors were getting fuel pressure regardless of whether or not I pushed up on the intake air plate. I took apart the fuel distributor and found all the seals were destroyed. Confident I had found the problem, I rebuilt the FD using a tutorial on this site. However, after reinstalling the FD there is now no fuel pressure going to the injectors despite pushing up on the plate. I took apart the FD a second time thinking I might have missed something, and rebuilt it again but still have the same problem. The engine starts but dies quickly since there is no fuel going to the injectors. I've spent a good deal of money on parts and invested more time than I can afford. Can anyone shed light on what might be causing the lack of fuel pressure at the injector ports? Thanks in advance.

[320iAman]

Did you adjust the fuel flow to the injectors ?


"* Volume Test: Put all four injectors in measuring cups( don't break the lines- handle like fragile)- Lift air meter plate 1/2 way or so with Fuel Pump socket jumpered and key in run position, so that the fuel injectors are spraying and until one measuring cup is 3.4 oz., 100 cc ,100 ml. The other 3 Measuring Cups(or tubes) volume should be within 10 to 20 cc -10 to 20 ml, if so your done, if not then adjust to factory specifications and your done."

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...Volume-Air-Box

Should also check the WUR-Warm UP Regulator--Cold Starting,Stable running, idling and so forth.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...tor-Adjustment

Randy

[mtbmx]

put some carbs on it. or a carb

[TicoVW68]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't adjusted the fuel flow to the injectors. I figured since they were getting fuel prior to my rebuilding the FD they ought to be fine. But I'll give it a shot an see what happens. I should note that the engine showed evidence of having been fiddled around with quite a bit when I bought it. One of the many things I discovered was that the idle adjustment screw on the air box was all the way in, which really limited the movement of the air plate.

The idea of putting a carb on it really appeals to me and I had given it some thought before going down the road I'm currently on. However, I've put so much time, money and effort into this CIS that I don't want to give up just yet. Nevertheless, the thought is ever present on my mind given the increasing level of frustration. If I decide to go that route, are there any links to how best to accomplish the task? I really just want to drive the car already. Thanks!

[mtbmx]

some good info here https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/to...tallation-faq/

[eseeling]

I've never had much luck in rebuilding the fuel distributor. Once I put in a new one - everything was fine; however, that was before the days of so much online how-to's.

[Thecatmilton]

I have a fuel distributor that worked as of 2016 if you are interested. It came from an engine that threw a rod at 71k. The engine would start and run even with the rod being the way it was. I drove it a little bit and was able to get it on a trailer, off a trailer, and on a driveway before the engine was pulled. I have the fuel distributor and injectors in a box.

[Tom D]

put some carbs on it. or a carb

you must be new here.

the CSI system that came on the 320i is pretty crude compared to today's engine management, but it's still better then a carburetor, which is nothing more then a controlled fuel leak.

[TicoVW68]

Thansk for the offer Thecatmilton. I will keep you in mind.

So yesterday afternoon another member on this site mailed out a used FD to me for the cost of shipping. What a nice gesture! He isn't sure if it works properly, but according the previous owner it was working when pulled. Nevertheless, even if it doesn't work it might offer a point of reference to determine what might be wrong with mine.

As far as the possibility of going to carbs, my days of racing around are long gone so I don't really care about performance. In addition, the idea of highly pressurized fuel in a 36 year old car does not make me feel too comfortable. Did I mention that I snapped the Cold Start Valve fuel line during this FD adventure? Last year one of the fuel lines my 914 snapped and it started shooting fuel straight up six feet into the air while I was sitting in the driveway revving the engine. Scary stuff! This CIS system just has so many gadgets, I might decide to simplify things a bit down the road.

[Thecatmilton]

Thansk for the offer Thecatmilton. I will keep you in mind.

So yesterday afternoon another member on this site mailed out a used FD to me for the cost of shipping. What a nice gesture! He isn't sure if it works properly, but according the previous owner it was working when pulled. Nevertheless, even if it doesn't work it might offer a point of reference to determine what might be wrong with mine.

As far as the possibility of going to carbs, my days of racing around are long gone so I don't really care about performance. In addition, the idea of highly pressurized fuel in a 36 year old car does not make me feel too comfortable. Did I mention that I snapped the Cold Start Valve fuel line during this FD adventure? Last year one of the fuel lines my 914 snapped and it started shooting fuel straight up six feet into the air while I was sitting in the driveway revving the engine. Scary stuff! This CIS system just has so many gadgets, I might decide to simplify things a bit down the road.

If you are worried about the plastic lines snapping, you could use some of the steel braided VW fuel injector lines.

[320iAman]

"Did I mention that I snapped the Cold Start Valve fuel line during this FD adventure?"

Is this repaired ? You need the Cold Start Valve to start the car up easily and in some cases at all.

Randy

[TicoVW68]

The line snapped after I pulled the fuel distributor for the second time. I was just frustrated and not being careful enough. I have a replacement coming in the mail. I'm out of town for a few days and won’t be able to work on the car until next weekend. I’m hoping after a restful break away from the craziness of Miami I can approach it with a fresh attitude.

Thanks to all for your help. Happy New Year!

[jaredmac11]

Sucks the distributor didnt work out but I think catmilton will get ya. Cant wait til it gets there.

[TicoVW68]

Hello! Back from vacation and getting busy with the car again. So I realized that when rebuilding my FD I forgot to change out the seals on the mixture screws at each port. Then I compared my original FD to the non-working one I got in the mail and found that the metering valve spring on mine was not at all correct and would not allow it to function properly. After getting these items sorted I reinstalled the original FD and was able to get the car to start and idle. However, any attempt at pushing the accelerator resulted in the engine bogging out. I then let the engine idle for about ten minutes to get it near normal operating temperture. Unfortunately this didn't help as the engine still refused to accelerate. During this period I also noticed fuel dripping along the side of engine block next to the FD. Further investigation revealed that the Frequency Valve has developed a leak.

While on vacation I had ordered yet another FD which is in working order. I decided to try this other one but quickly realized that it was different than mine. Apparently this other FD is from a '79 (my car is an '82) so it doesn't have the port for the Frequency Valve nor does it have mixture screws at the injector line ports.

So, right now I think I have two options:

1) Keep working with my original FD and try to figure out why it will only idle. I did turn each mixture screw so that fuel would squirt from the injectors when I pushed up the air plate figuring it would be a good base line, but that didn't fix the problem. Of course I would need to replace the leaking Frequency Valve before proceeding along this avenue.

Or

2) Install the working, albeit earlier style FD. However, I don't even know if this can be done since it doesn't have a port for the Frequency Valve.

I should point out that neither originality nor smog compliance are an issue for me. So scrapping the Frequency Valve, O2 sensor, catalytic or whatever else is necessary to get the car running is perfectly acceptable.

[Thecatmilton]

The fuel distributor I have is from a '83.

[TicoVW68]

It’s alive! Woohoo! So in my search for a replacement frequency valve i found a listing for a complete system including the boot, FD, frequency valve, and air box. The part was very dirty, but a blew into the fuel inlet and pushed up the air plate and it seemed to work. So I gave it a good cleaning, installed it and after all the regular preflight procedures she fired right up and even revs up. Now that she’s running I’m going to tinker with her to get her to daily driver status.

A very warm thank you to all who contributed with comments, advice and parts. I will likely start a different thread in the future to show progress.

[epmedia]

Hello! Back from vacation and getting busy with the car again. So I realized that when rebuilding my FD I forgot to change out the seals on the mixture screws at each port. ...

For future reference: Those are 'calibration' screws. Supposedly it's best to not tinker with them.

Glad you got the engine running!