Back on the road after 10 years, teething problems!!

[E30Gheko]

Got me a E30 which could be a very nice if heavily modified example (sorry purists!). It's been sittin for about 10 years in someone's garage and under tarps etc. It's all taxed & MOT'd but still far from a practical every day car (although a short trip to work allows me to use it as such)

Main issue seems to be with the power delivery. It has been OK but has developed a stutter when u put your foot down. At its worse, there is no power at all. I'm thinkin that it could be some crap in the petrol, dirty injectors etc....??

Some of the electrics seem to be a bit lacking. The wipers have great difficulty goin over the windows, and the passenger door window takes a day to go up and down. Before I go replacing the motors could dirty connectors be all it is?

It has a short shift kit fitted and when puttin it into first second or reverse there is a sound suggesting something is catching slightly. I haven't a clue about this one....

Any help appreciated. I'll try to upload some pictures soon, there's defo potential for a real nice motor!

[johnny_boymk1]

Hey fella what power / Engine are you runnin? Actually really like that kit, any pictures of the rear end

[abelai]

Assuming it is an M20 engine, check your TPS

[E30Gheko]

Its a M20 325i engine which is fitted with 280 cams. I get the impression that when I get the missfire sorted out it is gonna be quite quick. As for current power, I have no idea. Once its running sweetly I'm gonna get it tuned and then on the Dyno. I'll get some more pictures on soon but my missus is away out with the camera somewhere!

[leeparkes]

i take it the car in question is the one in your aviator pic?
sure i saw it on ebay about 6 months ago,
does it have custom interior?
it went for about£1400 (i was tempted myself)
what have you done to the engine in regards servicing?

[Ollie_bwoii]

There you go!

[Alex]

its ing to be put back to standard condition with some lovely chrome bumpers

[E30Gheko]

Well spotted! It is the one from ebay a few months ago. I bought it and then had the 600 mile round trip to bring it home on a car trailer. As far as servicing goes, I havent done anything yet. The previous owner bought it as a non runner. He changed oil and plugs, put in fresh petrol and replaced the seized injectors with second hand ones from a breakers, new rotor arm, got it running, MOT'd it and that was it. It still hadn't been driven very much.

I'm planning to take out the injectors on my next day off and give them a damn good clean. There is also a big petrol filter on it which may be full of horrible old petrol..... I'm hoping this will sort it out.

[jslot]

Gheko,

Considering it has been in storage, and the previous owner hadn't really driven it...

I just bought a 320i that was in storage, the ecu had lost its power and had to re-learn how to manage the engine. It effected mine in the low-fuel delivery range (including idle). The thing was, it took a good 15-25 mile continuous drive for it to get better - and possibly you have to give it some when doing this so it learns how to manage the engine at high power ranges.

[zimmer-320i]

good 2 hours for the ecu to learn the engine and even then you may find under certain load conditions itll hesitate before it adjusts its self

[mr_dink]

It has a short shift kit fitted and when puttin it into first second or reverse there is a sound suggesting something is catching slightly. I haven't a clue about this one....

This is most likely to be your gear linkage catching on the vibration damper (the rubber donut on the propshaft just behind the gearbox)

The linkage needs some slight bending to fit without catching, see the bottom pictures on this page - http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... conversion

HTH

[Brianmoooore]

Vibration damper is only required with very early rubber guibos, and there isn't likely to be many of those still around. The damper can be removed and discarded.

[E30Gheko]

ECU? I really hadn't considered that. As enthusiastic as I am about cars (esp E30's) and bikes, I am a chef by trade so mechanics could not be further from my list of aquired skills! Having said that I do tackle most jobs myself and tend to learn as I go along.

The car idles fine(ish). It has a slightly lumpy tick over but I have been informed that it will never tick over normally because it has bigger than standard cams. It seems to be anything above 3000rpm where it runs into trouble. I have had some encouraging performance out of it, and the fault is intermittant whatever it is. It definately runs badly for most of the time though. I have probably clocked up about 30-40 miles in it so far.

I'll look into the vibration damper too.

Thanks guys!

[E30Gheko]

I think I've sussed the problem. I was headin somewhere in it today and it was struggling to keep moving. Convinced that it was starvin of petrol, I pulled over and thought I would have a look whats goin on in the petrol filter. I only had one screwdriver with me but that was all I needed to undo the four jubilee clips holding the filter to the inner wing and disconnect both hoses. I blew through it and horrible brown petrol came spewing out. For the next 15 miles or so it drove sweet as a nut.

I'm planning to replace the filter but in all honestly it looks as though a new petrol tank could well be the order of the day too.

I've never replaced the petrol tank on an E30 but I have replaced one on an Astra Mk II. Anyone know how tricky or straight forward it is on one of these cars?

[E30BeemerLad]

it ain't rocket science to replace the fuel tank, but you've got to remove exhaust system, propshaft and heat shields. ALso whilst the fuel tank is out it makes good sense to replace the rear brake pipes which just hide underneath it as otherwise Mr nasty MOT man may have you ripping all of this lot out again if the pipes are a bit grotty.

[E30Gheko]

OK a new fuel filter hasn't sorted it but I also fitted a clear filter after the main one and can see that at least petrol entering the fuel rail now looks clean.

I am convinced that I'm on the right lines now though. Even though I'm assured by previous owner that it has been fitted with a new fuel pump, I reckon it's knackered. It makes a very loud noise which I believe can be a bad sign. My theory is that the rusty petrol has goosed the pump too. It's now looking like a new tank and pump.... Don't you love old cars?

And here lies a problem. The best I can hope to do is get the back of the car onto axle stands. Can anyone tell me if I can get the pump off like this or is it more inaccessible?

[leeparkes]

you can get to the pump under the back seat
grip the back seat at the front and yank it up
you will see the inspection plate,unscrew and there it is!

[leeparkes]

oops
just relised yours is a pre face lift and im sure there under the car next to the tank,
could be wrong

[fuzzy]

it could be the pump fuel pick up pipe filter inside the tank is clogged up with sh1te, have a look at that.

[E30Gheko]

Cheers guys. I'd like to inspect as much as I can without actually getting the tank off. Where did I put that Haynes manual.... lol

[Brianmoooore]

If it's a pre facelift (or early post facelift) with the two pump setup, the main pump, in front of the LH wheelarch, will run very noisily if the in tank pump has failed.

[E30Gheko]

Thanks Brian,

So How can I find out whether the in tank pump has failed?

[Brianmoooore]

Thanks Brian,

So How can I find out whether the in tank pump has failed?

A long time since I played with one of these, but pull the pipe off and see if it's pumping seems the obvious way! Would be a good idea to stick another piece of pipe on, with the other end in a bowl, and take other precautions, bearing in mind that petrol does burn rather well.

[ian--tomlinson]

have you sussed it yet mate?, my 320 is doing the same thing. when i accelerate it feels realy low on power but if i let off the pedal and then press it again it go's like it should (6 times out of 10), its also getting worse,
someone mentiond a tps sensor is this a possability?
let me know how you get on and ill do the same

[E30Gheko]

I'm sure mine is a starvation problem. I think there its one of my pumps. To be honest its been too damn cold today to investigate further

I'll update here when I have made progress! I have ordered a replacement tank anyway because mine is full of rust. Hopefully I'll have it on in the next week or two and we'll see how it's doin then.

[patch]

As petrol ages it goes off, and then turns into tar.
it can block up the pipe work and the injectors
thats probably whats happened to yours engines wont run properly on stale petrol

[E30Gheko]

Right, an update!

New Tank supplied by Big Bavarian Beauties fitted today (cheers guys) As suspected the old one was very corroded on the inside and I had thought that this was the cause of the problem. It may have been contributing but alas the car is still not running right.

I got it home and the pump has definately gone quieter. Removed hose to the filter, got the missus to turn the key and it seemed to be pumping petrol fine.

I must say I'm a bit stumped now. When you turn the car on it runs fine. you can even pull off in first gear and it revs no prob. By the time you hit 2nd its starting to play up and by the time you get to 3rd and 4th its running like a bag of shite. It hesitates will not rev, dip the clutch and it still wont rev. pull over, turn it off and back on and it seems fine, pull away same old prob. It really struggles to keep moving at all.

I'm now thinking fuel pressure regulator or air flow valve thingy. I removed the regulator and tried to blow through it which was impossible. Is this normal?

I need a few clues here so any help is appreciated!

[zimmer-320i]

only way ive learnt to phiscly test a fpr is start the car and slowly incres the revs to near limter and if it dosnt run rough then its fine by my experience,

the m20 engines are simple engines, but can be troblesome!

im sure brainmooore can shed some light but ive had a e30 for a little over 5 months and mine has given me no troble "touch wood" apart from a fuel pump but nothing engine wise, i mean the wiring is a little dogdy sometimes but 20 year old wirs will do beeing iirc they didnt use o2 free cooper wire,

[Brianmoooore]

FPR can go faulty in three ways : a) It can just block, and send the fuel pressure up to whatever the fuel pump can manage.
b) It can fail to regulate, or regulate at the wrong pressure. Needs a pressure gauge hooked up to the supply pipe to check this.
c)The diaphram can leak, letting fuel through the sensing pipe into the inlet plenum. This will cause a rough idle and surging under light throttle.
I can assure Mr. zimmer that E30 wiring will generally be in as good as condition as when it left the factory.

[E30Gheko]

OK thanks for that.

Mr Moore I believe you may be on to something. This afternoon I had the car ticking over. It does idle lumpy. I leaned into the engine bay, tweaked the throttle ever so slightly and held it dead still. The revs rose and then fell, and then rose again etc. On a healthy engine I would expect the revs to steadily rise. If this diaphragm is leaking then would this account for the problems I'm having with the way the car is running?

With the car being as old as it is I can quite imagine that the diaphragm could have perished if it is made of rubber. Also, the car has been off the road for a considerable time.

I also removed the air flow meter and checked that the internals were moving freely which they are.

The hose between the air box and the inlet manifold is also split but I have taped this up as a temporary measure until the new one arrives. I'm 99% sure that it can't be sucking in air through this particular hose now.

[Brianmoooore]

The easy way to check for c), is to temporarily add a piece of clear plastic pipe in the sense line. You will be able to see fuel going along it.

[E30Gheko]

OK thanks I'll do that tomorrow

[magpie]

would love to hear you fix this.....it's annoying,,,,the car looks well,
how much was it?if you don't mind<<<<<<<<<<

[E30Gheko]

Oh it will be fixed just as soon as I work out whats goin on. It might take me a while because I can only squeeze in the odd job inbetween working like a slave for my employer (lol) but it will be fixed. At the moment the short list is an air leak somewhere, Dodgy pressure regulator, or some wiring to the ECU could be at fault. I also can't rule out clogged injectors due to the apalling state of the petrol tank.

Watch this space!

[E30Gheko]

Fitted a clear plastic tube to the regulator today. No petrol was coming through. Have ordered another one anyway it was only a fiver.

Removed the injectors this afternoon. They look pretty filthy externally so I can only assume its a similar tale on the inside. They are off to get ultrasonicly cleaned and serviced. I will get them back on Monday and no doubt fit them then along with the new regulator and intake hose.

Oh and by the way, there are some wires that look like they should be plugged into something in the engine bay but arent. One is connected to the HT leads and has a black plug with (3 pin) on the end, and the other is just a thin wire and I think its connected to the wiring going to the injectors. I'll try to take some pictures over the weekend so you can see what I'm talking about. I cant see where they are supposed to be connected to?