engine cutting out

[tweeks]

as stated my engine has cut out a few times recently. the first couple as I was driving along it felt like the ignition had been switched off for a second and then carried on as usual. the last time it cut out and did not carry on as it did before. When it cut out I saw the rev counter went straight to zero. I switched the ignition off and fired the car up and it carried on fine. can anyone shed some light on this or has anyone had the same or similar issue. if so what caused yours? any help or advice much appreciated.

[Ajsingh]

My 320i used to do the same and it cut out a few
times and the revs would drop and all sorts. All i done was check all the h/t lead connections and found a few of them loose on the dizzy cap, pushed them back down and it was fine

also check the injector wiring harness connector under the inley manifold.. Iv seen quite a few collect water and this can also cause various issues!

I hope this helps

[eltel]

what engine is it?? if it is an m20 320 or 325 then as suggested above the multiplug connection under the inlet manifold is worth a wiggle with the engine running..also check the crank position sensor for chaffing where it goes behind the pulleys and burning if it is close to the exhaust manifold..2 easy checks that are common and free!!

[Brianmoooore]

If the tacho drops straight away, then it won't be any of the above, (except CPS).
First test is to connect a bulb/LED from coil + to earth, position it somewhere you can see it while driving, and see what happens to it when the fault occurs.

[djscottfree]

connect a bulb/LED from coil + to earth

how is this done, i have no clue ! but ive had the same problems latley, cheers scott

[eltel]

you can do it with a simple bulb and 2 pieces of wire or a test lamp or a multimeter..

just touch one end to the + terminal of the coil and the other end to an earth point...your looking for the lamp to light if you have power and a good circuit.

[tweeks]

ill try this at the weekend. im assuming the light should be on whilst the engine is on? what does this mean if the light goes out when the engine cuts out?

[eltel]

brian is the man with this sort of thing..but if the light goes out when the engine cuts out i would say that the coil/ignition circuit has failed... if the engine cuts out and the light stays on it's not the coil

[djscottfree]

thanks

[Brianmoooore]

An E30 engine loom is self contained, but needs a single feed from the car loom to tell the ECU when to switch on. This feed also goes to the + terminal of the coil, and the test is to check out the car loom part of things and everything associated with it.

[e30mtec]

by any chance have you diconnected your battery recently? i had this problem with the power lead to my coil.i had disconnected the battery but in error i started to undo the coil feed and in a rush i never did it back up properly,every nw and again it would lose power and the engine would die,sometimes fire back up first time or sometimes would take a bit of a shake on the battery... i had this for a few days til i got a brain and realised what i had done..worth a look i think,you never know

[zaust]

9 out of 10 this is the dme relay on it's way out, common as an essex bird. No offence ladies xxx.

[e30mtec]

i thought it was that on mine

[SAMB0]

i thought it was that on mine

i had similar problem on mine. with engine running pop the bonnet and tap (quite vigourously) the three relays on the passenger side of the engine bay. i found the white relay connector was loose.