E30 Zone

Me baby was working fine yesterday, multiple stops and starts, short hop journeys, nothing untoward was heard from the engine or anything. No power loss, nothing.

Come to start it today and she don't wanna. It tries to turn over but doensn't seem to be able to revolve the engine. There are a couple of mechanical crunches but like I said the engine doesn't want to revolve. There is some movement as the viscous try's to move, it's almost like it wants to go for it but something won't let it. The battery is good, she was working fine yesterday, parked on the side of the road last night (which always worries me as there are some right dickheads around here and I wouldn't put it past anyone to have had something off it, but tbh it does sound mechanical.) Anyone know which bits I might need to carress with a hammer?

I'm stumped, no idea. It's going to have to be an AA job if I can't get my head around it.

Hard to say are you getting a click when you turn the key.
A video may help to see whats happening plus see if anything is missing.

Think its 11 and 14 in the diagnostic plug but not 100% so do a search .

Manual box. I've tried rocking her. Good battery ( or was untill I was cranking for a bit).

IT sound mechanical and not electrical to be honest. It wants to crank, but something won't let it. I'm kinda thinking the something is mashing the starter cogs up.

Very frustrating. Was supposed to get the shopping done before the missus came home. And I'd nearly got rid of the thumb print too . . . .

Suppose I'm going to have to get some professional stealers in to have a gander.

Fuel pump? Common failure on E30's at this stage....happend to me. Lift up the rear seat bolster, turn her over & listen for the fuel pump motor kicking into action....if you hear nothing, it might have packed up. Easy DIY fix and a new Bosch pump from ECP (or another) is around £100....

Get a set of jump leads on it of booster box!!
If it was the fuel pump,should it not still crank over?!but just not start?!

If it was the fuel pump I would have got at least some firing before it conked out wouldn't I. It will revolve on the starter motor but just won't fire, and it doesn't sound healthy when it's doing so. It might do a revolution, then sound horribly mechanical without any hint of firing, stop and then try's to have another go on the starter . . .

And I've just noticed I've only got roadside with the AA, which is a bummer. Gunna have to pull out the small print now, bet they won't attend now.

Reads like a deceased battery to me....

You could try charging it overnight,try again in the morning and report your findings...

With zero diagnostics from you it's impossible to say what it is or isn't. You NEED to get a voltmeter on the battery before you do anything else.

The Wiki does have a walkthrough for this eventuality, but without knowing what modele your "baby" is, I can't offer any more specific advice:


http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... oubleshoot

Funnybear wrote:The battery is good

How do you know?

your alternator might have died yesterday while you were driving around and the battery lost its last bit of charge over night ,it does sound like dead battery if its not even turning over ,if its just making a click noise or just half cranking and stopping ?do the lights stay on while you try turn it over ? defiantly try a jump on it before buying other bits ,if it was spinning over and not starting then fuel might be an issue but if its not turning fuel wont matter yet ,try bump it off if you have no other car or jump leads

Funnybear wrote:multiple stops and starts, short ........... It tries to turn over but doensn't seem to be able to revolve the engine.

I'm wondering starter motor, you say you have rocked it, but have you tried a full blown bump start?

Batteries can die very quickly, especially this time if year. Did it get LNG to charge between runs?

I am pretty confident it ain't the battery. I'm not saying it ain't, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the issue. I've not tried bumping it, bit hard on a flat busy road with one of me, but it is on my 'to do' list.

Just to be clear, it IS trying to turn over, but for some reason it fails to complete a 'cycle' for want of a better word. It normally fires straight up, no hunting, no struggling, nuffin. Just straight into gloroius six cylinder goodness.

It feels like it does half a turn then dies, then tries again. This is all with me keeping the ignition fully on.

I've never come across a situation like this before in all the cars I've had. I know dead battery. And can generally diagnose dead alternator/starter motor. It feels more mechanical that electrical, but your right, it's hard to describe and without diag it's a bit of a none starter anyway.

I ain't got a clue. I've been checking stuff as you guys have been saying things, but I don't think it's battery side. I think it's engine side, and thats slightly more worrying.

Cheers anyway gents.

Have you tried a set of jump leads yet??

Timing belt failure?

Would it not turn over really quickly if it broke the belt,as there's no compression??

Depends ,if valves and pistons are having a bit of contact and trying to locking up.

Try a set of jump leads....
Or
Put it in 4th gear with (ignition off)and give it a push(rock)the car and see if u can move it about a meter(complete cycle)...so you know the engines not locking up!!

If that makes sense!!

Will be quite hard to push on ur own but should creep forward,bit at a time!!!

If you think it's mechanical, get a spanner on the crank nut and try to turn the engine by hand. Check for stiffness.

But to be brutally honest, "I know a dead battery" means f-all without a voltmeter.

First of all, take the plugs out and get a spanner on the crank pully. Mark the pulley first and ensure you can turn the engine over by hand 2 full revolutions. Do this BEFORE you try anything else.

If it turns 2 revs by hand the put the plugs back in and as above, get some jump leads on it.

To me this sound like a flat battery, The initial crunches were the starter motor initially trying to engage with the last of the life left in the battery. However, I would now expect the usual clicking of the solonoid?

Sounds like a flat battery. Even if it shows 12v, if it drops past 9v when cranking, it's dead.

The symptoms sound similar to my e39, and that was a starter issue, it tired to turn over but it did not have the guts to do so. For 3 days I could get it to start, I was sure it was a battery as the day before it became very slow to turn over then it wouldn't start at all. The battery was < 2 years old, I gave it a full charge to be sure, plus tried jumpin it, all no luck. Called out the RAC, we bumped it by rolling down the drive and away it went. After that Each time I tried to restart it was still slow. I fitted a new starter motor and this was the result:
http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/685 ... ydhhl.mp4/

the link is meant for e-mail so you may need to cut and paste. From the video you may see why I thought it was battery! But it was not turing the engine one complete rev until I bumped started it, then even after buping I could start on the key again but it was very sluggish.

But as above, if you suspect even a 1% chance of a mechanical failure remove the plugs and turn by hand. It is easy to do. Always do this with the spark plugs out because less compression and no chance of it starting and removing your arm!

You don't need a volt meter, or anything else to get some indication of the state of the battery!
Doesn't it occur to you to turn on the headlamps and see if they light at full brightness?

Check the main earth point from the battery! When i swapped the engine in mine, i only did it up finger tight, gave same sort of symptoms. Felt a right tw@t, but you learn!!

This is my pie and I humbly eat it. Never again will I question the wisdom, knowledge and downright sexiness of the Zone.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . It's the battery.

every day is a school day when it comes to E30s, unless you happen to be Brian Moore, then it may be every other month