Help rough running car

Need technical Q/A then you're in the right place

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Fri Aug 22, 2025 11:40 am

I thought i had finished my m52 swap but today i started the car and more issues have happened ,when i start it it coughs and splutters and when i try to rev it it trys to stall and wont rev past 2000rpm,i have a very very cheap scan tool did a quickie and it showed camshaft sensor on bank a so i bought a brand new one for 140 and hoped this would be the fix, that code now doesnt come up which is great but it then brought up a fault code to injector 1 so i unplugged them all and firmly pushed them back in and that code has gone but still it made no difference to the rough running and i have no further fault codes can anybody suggest what to look for next, getting to the point i might just cut my loses
Speedtouch
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 14009
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Canterbury

Fri Aug 22, 2025 2:20 pm

Have you ever seen/heard the engine running properly (i.e., when fitted in the donor car), prior to installing it?
///M aurice
ECU Upgrade EPROM Chips, £40 posted within the UK. Note these are not Zone chips.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=279421
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Fri Aug 22, 2025 2:46 pm

Yes it run fine b4, i took it for a drive the other day to get wheels aligned.
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Fri Aug 22, 2025 2:49 pm

https://youtube.com/shorts/lAHoqq34ZrI? ... 89HpY5eDLJ
When the car is reving up my foot is flat to floor
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Sat Aug 23, 2025 10:46 am

Ivc cleaned and free moving still no change,its had new disa fitted new plugs new pcv fitted
Speedtouch
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 14009
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Canterbury

Sat Aug 23, 2025 1:12 pm

Perhaps try refitting the old ignition parts, if you still have them - perhaps there's a fault with the new ones...

I saw this on an E39 forum:
"Most probably a vac leak somewhere. Check all the pipe work on the diags below. You can try running with the MAF disconnected briefly. The car should set itself to a basic state which will at least give an indication if the MAF is at fault."

https://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/threads/ ... pm.567189/
///M aurice
ECU Upgrade EPROM Chips, £40 posted within the UK. Note these are not Zone chips.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=279421
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Sat Aug 23, 2025 2:41 pm

My car runs with no maf anyway ,every time i plug it in it stalls the car so it stays unplugged for now until i can sort rest of the gremlins
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Sat Aug 23, 2025 2:47 pm

Found one vac leak, looks like rubber bung has come off
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Mon Aug 25, 2025 5:38 pm

Now showing injector circuit cylinder 1 is this likely a wire or bad injector
Speedtouch
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 14009
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Canterbury

Mon Aug 25, 2025 6:23 pm

Good work. Ideally, use a multimeter to check for the HT lead(s) resistance and injector impedance. If you're using coil packs, try swapping them over between a pair of cylinders and see if the fault gets transferred...
///M aurice
ECU Upgrade EPROM Chips, £40 posted within the UK. Note these are not Zone chips.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=279421
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Mon Aug 25, 2025 8:18 pm

Yeah changed over 1 to 2 and the fault stayed with 1 so it must be the injector , i will get some carb cleaner and try clean it first ,if i have to buy new should i buy just one or a full set and whats recommended
Speedtouch
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 14009
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Canterbury

Mon Aug 25, 2025 9:18 pm

Perhaps try removing it, leaving it connected to the loom with some fuel feed and place it to spray into a jar with the engine running, to check the spray pattern (should be an even conical shape).

I would stick to standard injectors unless the engine's heavily modified.
///M aurice
ECU Upgrade EPROM Chips, £40 posted within the UK. Note these are not Zone chips.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=279421
User avatar
flybynite
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1677
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:00 pm

Tue Aug 26, 2025 8:41 am

I had problems with the injectors on my M54 after it was standing a while. Eventually they came round but not until a good few taps with the thick end of a screwdriver to free them up. Standing, bad fuel and ethanol in 95 do injectors no favours.

Not lost on me that the M20 started on the key and ran well after standing same amount of time.
Corasdad
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 374
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:38 pm

Tue Aug 26, 2025 2:16 pm

Do i take the fuel rail off to tap them is it worth spraying carb clean into it
Speedtouch
Old Skooler
Old Skooler
Posts: 14009
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Canterbury

Tue Aug 26, 2025 2:53 pm

No, you can try just tapping them in situ from above - do this before attempting to remove any. With a bit of luck, it will unseize itself and once the fuel starts flowing, it should clean itself.
///M aurice
ECU Upgrade EPROM Chips, £40 posted within the UK. Note these are not Zone chips.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=279421
User avatar
flybynite
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1677
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 11:00 pm

Tue Aug 26, 2025 3:06 pm

As Speedtouch said, I just got a bit frustrated after swapping things around, I got it running on 5 (after starting on 2) but the last one wouldn't free. I gave the top of the rail over the injector a good 'tap' with what I had in my hand at the time (luckily it was a softish handled screwdriver) and it sprang to life.

Worth a try :thumb:
Post Reply