E30 Zone

Hi i've got a 1990 318i and it is diplaying the following problems

it doesn't want to start normally takes 3 or more attempts.

It idles at about 2000-2500 revs unless you physically move the throttle lever back. Then it sits quite happily at about 800

When driving along it suddenly wont reve past 2/3000 and pops, bangs and stutters.

I seen that there is a lot of troble with icv so i tried cleaning that today and it seems to have made no difference

Need advice urgently as its my daily and its not really usuable in its current state.

???

Maybe try replacing the ICV ? Either with a new one or a second hand one which is known to be working.

It could also be an electrical or fuel related problem. Does it smell rich?
Try disconnecting the MAF sensor and seeing if the engine runs any differently with it off.

mdw wrote:
It idles at about 2000-2500 revs unless you physically move the throttle lever back. Then it sits quite happily at about 800

???

Try looking into the throttle body, after removing the rubber elbow, to see if there is a ridge worn around the butterfly which is stopping it from going back to it's near-fully closed position. It should be nice and smooth around that area.

Also, make sure there are no kinks in the accelerator cable and that it moves freely...

disconeccting the MAF causes the engine to stall

I cleaned inside the throttle body by the butterfly when i cleaned the ICV

Today i fitted a new fuel and air filter still no change

any ideas/advice???

Check the state of your spark plugs .

With no one pressing the accelerator pedal, the throttle butterfly should be hard against its stop already, so you shouldn't be able to 'physically move it back'. Address this problem first, by finding out what's holding it open and sorting it.
While you're at it, check the big air pipe for cracks and splits, and check that the throttle position switch is working correctly, on both it's functions

just had a look and it seems the idle problem is done to the pedal/cable

also had look at the rotor arm/cap and the arm looks quite worn could this be causing some of the problems i have? gonna fit new cap and arm tomorrow and see what happens. Also cap only had 2 screws so that cant be good.

sorted the throttle cable but its stil running crap. Changed the rotor arm but it still wont rev over about 2500 but i noticed that there is a wire thats supposed to be attached to one of the HT leads what is this for because its currently broken. Could this be the answer to my problem????

From what i've found out the wire attached to the HT lead is an impulse sensor but according to what i've found it shouldn't make too much differance to the running. Is this right?
Where does it connect to?

The sensor makes a difference, but not one that you would notice other than in back to back tests.
Your car seems to have multiple problems, which will have to be dealt with one at a time.
If the throttle cable is fixed, the next thing to check is that the throttle position switch is doing what it should.

On the advice of a mechanic friend i have now replaced the fuel pressure regulator, as he said the fuel pressure kept dropping. However the car is still playing up. I'll be driving on fine and then it refuses to rev above above 2500-3000 revs. Foot flat to florr and nothing. Changing down makes it worse changing up improves it. However if i switch off and the allow it to bump its self it is okay fora few minutes. Any suggestions????

are you driving like a nutter ? i have the same symptoms on a 316 but only if i take it above 5000 rpm it will then refuse to rev or idle even after changing up for a little while then ittl be fine again.

No im not driving like a nutter! lol
chance would be a fine thing!!! lol
its happing much lower down the rev range than that!

any one have any ideas?

You haven't said if you've checked the throttle position switch to see if it's working ok.

Has the fuel filter been replaced recently? Are there any kinks in the metal fuel pipes running along the chassis? It sounds to me like fuel starvation...