E30 starting issues
Moderator: martauto
Hi, so my cars been stood around a little while without much fuel in it, so yesterday i charged the battery and today i put 5l of fuel in the car. It ticked over fine when i started it. Drove it a few mins down the road and it cut out, wouldn't start after. their is also a whine coming from the rear end of the car, could be fuel pump not sure, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem?
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Model? Age? Crystal ball's still in for servicing.
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Do you mean the whine was present when the car last ran, or you can hear the whine now that it won't start?
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Brianmoooore
- E30 Zone Team Member
- Posts: 49358
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
A whine from the fuel pump is normal, but you don't normally hear it because of the engine noise.
The pumps make a much louder whine when the commutator in their motor is nearly worn through, so I suspect this is your problem.
Pull out the fuel pump relay (orange one, under the cover on the wing by the air filter), identify pins 30 and 87 (marked on the relay) and link these two pins in the relay's socket together with a short piece of wire. The pump should run.
If it does, leave the link in place, and try to start the engine.
If the pump doesn't run, check fuse 11. If it is blown, pull out the wire, renew the fuse, then refit the wire to see if the pump runs. If it doesn't, pull the wire link out again before the fuse blows, pull out the rear seat base, remove the black cover on the RH side to expose the pump, refit the wire link and tap the top of the pump hard with something like a long 1/2" socket extension bar, or hit a bar with a hammer. This will usually make the pump run again, but the intervals between the pump failing will become shorter and shorter, until it totally fails.
The pumps make a much louder whine when the commutator in their motor is nearly worn through, so I suspect this is your problem.
Pull out the fuel pump relay (orange one, under the cover on the wing by the air filter), identify pins 30 and 87 (marked on the relay) and link these two pins in the relay's socket together with a short piece of wire. The pump should run.
If it does, leave the link in place, and try to start the engine.
If the pump doesn't run, check fuse 11. If it is blown, pull out the wire, renew the fuse, then refit the wire to see if the pump runs. If it doesn't, pull the wire link out again before the fuse blows, pull out the rear seat base, remove the black cover on the RH side to expose the pump, refit the wire link and tap the top of the pump hard with something like a long 1/2" socket extension bar, or hit a bar with a hammer. This will usually make the pump run again, but the intervals between the pump failing will become shorter and shorter, until it totally fails.
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Grrrmachine
- E30 Zone Wiki / Team Member
- Posts: 8043
- Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:00 pm
- Location: Warsaw, Poland
The pump will also whine when it's being starved of petrol because you only put a gallon in there.
By running the tank dry then leaving it standing, you might have sucked some crap from the tank either into the pump or into the fuel filter, blocking it up.
Also, if the battery was flat for a long time you will have lost the ECU settings. When you start it up, you need to let it idle for ten minutes first, then shut it off, then restart it and take it for a hoon. Because you just jumped in it and tried to move, it probably overfuelled the engine, flooded, and cut out.
Go back today and try and restart it. If it fires, just let it idle. And put some more fuel in it.
By running the tank dry then leaving it standing, you might have sucked some crap from the tank either into the pump or into the fuel filter, blocking it up.
Also, if the battery was flat for a long time you will have lost the ECU settings. When you start it up, you need to let it idle for ten minutes first, then shut it off, then restart it and take it for a hoon. Because you just jumped in it and tried to move, it probably overfuelled the engine, flooded, and cut out.
Go back today and try and restart it. If it fires, just let it idle. And put some more fuel in it.
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