m30 coincidence or have i made a mistake?

[nickso]

car broke down last night.

was using the headlights to illuminate lane whilst moving stuff. the engine was off.

tried to restart engine after 10 minutes and battery seemed dead except the starter solenoid was pinging back and forth and the dash lights were coming on and off rapidly too. tried to jump start it and the same happened.

put in a brand new battery today and she fires up instantly...quickest she has ever started from cold. the battery that was in it was a tired looking 330amp one.....figured it had had a hard life turning an m30 over. the new bosch silver one i got is a 640 amp one....im thinking this was a mistake even though thats what the book said was needed for an m30.

i went back to pick her up from the lane tonight and problems have started.....but different ones.

the economy meter doesnt work. the service indicators stayed on for several miles and then disapeared and she now idles at 1500 rpm.

now is it coincidence?....im thinking not.........or have i buggered something with the bigger capacity battery or did the old crappy battery bugger something?

before this all happened she was running fine apart from slow starting which now looks like it was the battery struggling to turn the engine

[Brianmoooore]

the idle settings of your engine ECU have been scrambled by pulses and surges from the dying battery as you tried to start the car.
ECU will relearn its settings after a day or two.
The SI board batteries were just being kept alive by the charging current from the main battery. As a result of being deprived of that current for a while, they have now expired. RIP.
Time to get the soldering iron out!

[Ritchie]

Nick, i changed the battery on mine to one from a 535 and had no probs at all so i think your new battery is fine. Is there anything Brian doesnt know? The meaning of life?

[Brianmoooore]

The meaning of life?

42, isn't it.

[nickso]

cheers brian....i was kinda hoping the SI batteries were at fault and i would have taken them out except i wasnt sure what the high idle had to do with it. the idle is slowly moving towards 1000rpm today so im guessing it will slowly go back down to 600ish.

can i get batteries from maplins or such like? ill use the search as i suppose this has been covered before.

ritchie.....did it make a big difference to starting yours as well?

[Ritchie]

After changing the battery, it just spun over really quick (like it should) I changed mine cos the old one was on the way out so it might have exaggerated it?
I was up at my car at the weekend and its stone dead, i just hope it hasnt killed the s.i. batteries like yours! I think the led on the stereo has flattened it.

[munky30]

The meaning of life?

42, isn't it.

not just life....the universe and everything..... but what is the question?

[Andyboy]

I've got some new SI boards, 2 or 3 I've had for ages. Some still with the orange BMW sticker, some have been used in various cars by myself, a crisp twenty a pop!
I never bothered putting new batteries in as too many leaked the acid and buggered the SI board.

[Speedtouch]

What happens if you run one without batteries?

[nickso]

What happens if you run one without batteries?

your car goes on fire

[Brianmoooore]

What happens if you run one without batteries?

TBH, I've no idea, other than the service indicator lights won't reset.

[nickso]

I've got some new SI boards, 2 or 3 I've had for ages. Some still with the orange BMW sticker, some have been used in various cars by myself, a crisp twenty a pop!
I never bothered putting new batteries in as too many leaked the acid and buggered the SI board.

how much are they new?

[Andyboy]

Lots!

[domross]

Brianmoooore wrote:
Ritchie wrote:
The meaning of life?
42, isn't it.


not just life....the universe and everything..... but what is the question?

six multiplied by seven equals.....

[nickso]

im still having trouble with this.

put a different set of clocks ( the ones with the later lithium batts) in and reset service indicators. this sorted hte mpg meter and funny service light issue.

but the dash is now showing the brake warning light. the one between the handbrake and other brake light. it wasnt doing it with the old clocks.

also my idle is still at 1500 rpm cold and around 1000 warm.

[E30Mark]

im still having trouble with this.

put a different set of clocks ( the ones with the later lithium batts) in and reset service indicators. this sorted hte mpg meter and funny service light issue.

but the dash is now showing the brake warning light. the one between the handbrake and other brake light. it wasnt doing it with the old clocks.

also my idle is still at 1500 rpm cold and around 1000 warm.

I'll save Brian typing 220 Ohm resistor...

Take a look at this article, you need to resolder the 220 Ohm resistor leads on the PCB...

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... page&pid=7

[nickso]

ah excellent, cheers mark

now all i need to do is solve the mystery idle problem.....all this from a poxy dud battery