E30 Zone

right first off my car is a
1992 318i cab
m40 auto

the problem

if i have been driving for a long while and then stop and turn the car off
if i go back to the car 5 minutes later it wont start

now i know thats a bit of a vague explanation but thats simply it

the engine does'nt turn over
if it wasnt for the lights on the dash coming on you would swear there was no battery on the car
just get nothing

now on sunday i dropped a friend off at home and had to wait for about
an hour before it would start again

and one thing i noticed when the car is running the temp sits perfectly
at the center (apart from a jumpy needle now and then)

but say you switch it off and go back five minutes later the temp gauge reads over in the red is this right

if so then thats ok

but i had to wait for the needle to drop to about half way before it would start again

can anyone shed anylight on this for me

i have heard some people having starting problems
relating to a (dme) relay

is this what i am looking at

or do i have a posessed car
(as it only seems to happen when i have this certain girl in the car)

any help would be greatly appreciated guys & gals

Dump her

dazleeds wrote:Dump her

the car or the girl

would have to be the car if that had to happen

tylerma wrote:

dazleeds wrote:Dump her

the car or the girl

would have to be the car if that had to happen

i guess shes sat theyre with you now

dazleeds wrote:

tylerma wrote:

dazleeds wrote:Dump her

the car or the girl

would have to be the car if that had to happen

i guess shes sat theyre with you now

nope just me she is at home

Ref the temp reading; once you've stopped & switched the engine off, you no longer have coolant circulating or air going over the rad to cool it. At this point, the engine temp tends to climb a fair bit (or 'heat soak').
It's perfectly normal.

Ref the intermittent starting; I've got exactly the same problem on my 316 daily runner (although I've never had to wait as long as you have).
I think it may be a loose connection on the ignition switch because on a couple of occasions, a good tw*tting of the steering column got it starting again

HTH

BTW - dazleeds; I see our juvenile friend from the other night is back with us

Sooty wrote: I think it may be a loose connection on the ignition switch because on a couple of occasions, a good tw*tting of the steering column got it starting again

HTH

I was thinking along those lines because whe it finally started i held
the key switched over for a second or 2 and it fired

how would i resolve the situation though

without buying a new ignition dont want two seperate keys for the car

Have'nt looked at mine yet (no time recently) but I'd start with the obvious and take off the column shrouds & have a look at the wiring to the back of the ign switch for a loose/dirty connection.
Iain S

Sooty wrote:Have'nt looked at mine yet (no time recently) but I'd start with the obvious and take off the column shrouds & have a look at the wiring to the back of the ign switch for a loose/dirty connection.
Iain S

cheers matey will try and do this tomorrow

if anyone else has any other suggestions i am all ears

sooty where is the little mug?? i fancy a play

btt

for any other suggestions

petrol hoses which are split over the injector rail?

A

hey Andrew

was thinking about this on monday when you suggested it
would that make it not start
as in the starter motor does'nt even turn

no it sounds like a dodgy earth on the block, have u checked these yet?

I havent no
but Bharat had a look on moday
and everything seemed hunky dory under the bonnet

does anyone know where the earthing points are

pardon my stupidity but how do you check them

one thing i will say is it never has the problem when starting form cold
only seems to happen when its had a bit of a run

TOURINGDADDY wrote:no it sounds like a dodgy earth on the block, have u checked these yet?

Had a similar problem, broken earth from engine to body. Get a jump lead from battery earth to inlet manifold and see what happens?
If all is good then i just put an earth lead for an amp mounted from engine to body and everything was perfect

that will b an electrial prob, more than likly a relay with dry/cracked solder

When its hot usually means coil pack, once cooled down everything is cool

e30s dont ave coil pacs

jonbuoy wrote:When its hot usually means coil pack, once cooled down everything is cool

i was thinking this but if it was the coil
that would just stop the spark yes/no

the problem i have is the starter is not turning

i suppose i could have both of these probs

will have a look at it tomorrow daytime

It would deteriate the spark so that it would'nt fire up but try the jump lead first whether it be from battery to engine or body to engine.
Let me know how you get on geese, i'll get my thinking cap on

jonbuoy wrote:It would deteriate the spark so that it would'nt fire up but try the jump lead first whether it be from battery to engine or body to engine.
Let me know how you get on geese, i'll get my thinking cap on

what can i expect when i touch the jump lead from bat/body to the engine

when it dont start do you hear a click?

TOURINGDADDY wrote:when it dont start do you hear a click?

nope dont hear anything
is almost as though there is no power from the battery
yet everything else works fine
windows
lights
stereo
lights on the dash

its really weird

and the battery is only about 3 months old

tylerma wrote:

jonbuoy wrote:It would deteriate the spark so that it would'nt fire up but try the jump lead first whether it be from battery to engine or body to engine.
Let me know how you get on geese, i'll get my thinking cap on

what can i expect when i touch the jump lead from bat/body to the engine

The car should start, i had the same problem, bad earth

that could then b the ignition or a dodgy starter motor, get a multi meter
and when it does it next turn on ignition and check if starter has power

jonbuoy wrote:

tylerma wrote:

jonbuoy wrote:It would deteriate the spark so that it would'nt fire up but try the jump lead first whether it be from battery to engine or body to engine.
Let me know how you get on geese, i'll get my thinking cap on

what can i expect when i touch the jump lead from bat/body to the engine

The car should start, i had the same problem, bad earth

Mmmm ok i will give this a try

TOURINGDADDY wrote:that could then b the ignition or a dodgy starter motor, get a multi meter
and when it does it next turn on ignition and check if starter has power

thats one of the things i was thinking

its really annoying when it happens too
last time it did it i ended up waiting an hour for it to sort itself out
god damn posessed car

thanks for your help guys you have given me a few thing to try out

It's an auto, so it has an inhibitor switch on the gear selector. Thats the first place to start.
If you remove the access panel above the glovebox you will find teo black/yellow wires with single plugs on them., connected to other wires.
Part these connectors, and you will find that the two black/yellow wires that come from the main loom will plug together.
You have now converted the starter circuit back to the same as that on a manual car.
Try it like this for a while and see if the problem has gone away.
If it has, than the problem is the inhibitor switch or a relay above the glovebox.
If the car still gives problems, then the most likely culprit is the ignition swich.
Be carefull not to start the car in gear while the inhibitor is disconnected.
Be carefull to chec

all great advice, but i would go for the ignition switch, the electrical part of the ignition, i'm not too clear on it but on other vehicles it comes out behind the barrell, check it with a multi-meter, see if you get continuity on the terminal that goes to the starter when you turn the key.hope that helps

Sounds like the starter solenoid.

It could be either the starter motor or the ignition switch, but the art of electrical fault finding is to prove the guilt of the defective part before you physically go near it. Otherwise you may disturb something, and accidently temporarily cure the fault, untill it shows up again one dark night when it's piddling down, or you may cause further faults with connections.

BMW conveniently bring the starter control signal out to pin 11 of the diagnostic connector, so first connect a 12V lamp from this pin to earth and see if it lights when you turn the key, and 2nd connect, 12V+ from the battery to this pin with a piece of wire and the stsrter motor should engage.
Two simple tests, which will narrow the fault down, without disturbing anything.

If there is one thing i've learn't whilst being on the zone is that Brian knows his stuff so iwould go with what he says every time . I'm not kissing the guys arse,it just gets on my tits when people just randomly throw crap suggestions at people because the same thing happened once on there mates fiesta. sorry ,rant over, my three year old daughter is doing my head in.

if its an intermittent problem and it fails to make any mechanical sound when you stick the key in then it may be the rotor arm in the distributor. disconnect the battery, give it a min for the eletrickery to dissapate, pop the top of the distribustor and give all of the metal heads and the rotor arm a de-gunk. replace the rotor arm for a few quid if req'd. they dont last forever!

My 2 Pence, ta

Sean

This has got to be a wind up