E30 Zone

Hi

sorry my first post is a cry for help for my mate who is stranded at the side of a motorway in is e30 318iS.

He was driving along and the engine suddenly lost power. Now the car won't start. It is spinning on the key but doesn't sound as though it wants to start.

My mate is worried the chain has snapped but in my experience with Alfa engines, a broken belt/chain normally lunches the engine and it won't spin afterwards. I'm assuming the e42 engine would be the same.

I'm suspecting an electrical fault, like a TDC sensor suddenly failing.

Gonna head along with tools after work so any help advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Pull up the back seat and when cranking check to here the fuel pump. Does it have an alarm or 13 button obc which could cut the fuel pump?

no alarm or anything fitted.

is the fuel pump a weak spot on these cars ??

Got the same response on another site dealing with these.

cheers

Phoned my mate and asked him to listen for the pump priming when the ignition is switched on. He says he can't hear anything.

Do you normally hear the pump prime up, or am I barking up the wrong tree ??

Marlon ,

Similar happened me last year , overtakin a bus and the car just died . It would turn over with the key but wouldn't start .

If ya listen under the rear seat ya should hear a whinning noise when ya turn the key if your mate aint hearin anything then I'd say you've a problem with the pump . The gauze on the inlet to my pump mine was tore so I replaced the whole job . Guide to the job on link below .

http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318is ... l#fuelpump ,

cheers

he now says he can hear a nice, but he's not too good with cars, so I'm gonna go up and have a look. Got him to take off the fuel line at the fuel rail and crank the engine and he says fuel came through, but he maybe didn't crank the engine and just saw the latent fuel seep out as he loosened the hose clip.

I'm suspecting either the fuel pump as it seems these are a common problem on the E30 or the Crank Sensor which gives the same not starting symptoms.

Will keep you all posted and let you know if the problem is solved.

Marlon have u checked the fuel pump relay that could be the problem i mean my relay was burnt out and as i turned the key she was spinning but she wasnt actually starting up so i chcked the fuel pump , if there was any eletric going to it to power it up and pump some fuel in but there was no help checked and replaced the relay and then checked the fuel pump it then was making some sorta noise as it trund and pumps and dose its job lol after that she fired up a coupple seconds after that.

i mean it could be that but its worth checking never know lol hope it gets sorted and do keep us up dated.

Cheers Jazz

Found the problem...........

The chain or the chain tensioner has let go. I'm thinking it's the tensioner. Thing is, the tell tale rattling was not evident. this car was in fact the quietist e30 I'd ever heard, the only ticking you could hear was from the injectors.

Needless to say, my mate is gutted as he only bought it 6 weeks ago and it's absolutely mint condition aswell. Looks very cared for.

So......

on the M42 engine, what is the likelyhood of the pistons having mangled the valves ???
I dunno if this is a non-interference engine or not. If it's not, then things are looking up, if it is, then the engine from an e36 may be the best bet and service/rebuild that before it goes into the car.

Answers on a postcard please !!!

Just an update....

My mate removed the cams today and has confirmed that the chain has broken. I haven't seen it yet but my guess is the split link has failed for some reason. The cams and chain look in perfect nick otherwise and I can see no reason for a Duplex chain to snap.

There is an engine from an e36 waiting to go in, but this won't be for a few weeks as I'm off on holiday very soon.

The engine we take out may well become a project and rebuilt either to be sold, or maybe spec it up a bit with a bit of porting/polishing etc etc as it gets rebuilt.

Will keep you updated on the swap and will try and remember to take pics.

Another update...

got a call from my mate....the chain has broken in 2 places. Not sure if the 2nd break happened when it got chewed up, but there you go. Still don't know why it snapped, so can't even advise on what to check/look for....

thats the first i've heard of a chain snapping in one of these engines

pics pics pics!

you cnut dan