Car won't start

Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:00 am

This is the first problem with the car after the swap. The car won't start. When I turn the key, it stays quiet, i.e. no crank. I bypassed the key switch and still no crank from the starter so I'm guessing it's the solenoid going bad. Or could it be just a bad ground? Anything else should I look at? And how hard is it to remove the starter in the E30 with S50 without dropping the engine?

Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:45 am

Hello,
Does yours have EWS?

Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:43 pm

No EWS. Forgot to mention that I finished the swap a few months ago and the car could be driven normally. It didn't have this problem until recently.

Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:27 pm

Check the starter relay. It's one of the smaller black ones. Mine died a while back.

Starter can be changed without dropping the engine, but it's a fiddly old job.

Ian

Mon Jul 25, 2011 6:04 am

Is it the one next to the fuel pump relay?

Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:29 am

RoadHazard wrote:Is it the one next to the fuel pump relay?

I don't recall exactly. On my B32 loom, there's the main ECU relay (White) and 4 half sized relays next to it. They do starter, fuel pump, lambda heaters and air pump. I think it's the same on the B30. Should be the relay with black/yellow wires going to it.

Ian

Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:05 pm

Thanks Ian. I'll check it out.

Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:12 am

Ok it's fixed! Ian hit the nail in the head. The problem was really at the relay he mentioned although not the relay itself. The power feed to the relay contact was down due to some problem with the small battery cable from the boot. I swapped the power feed to the main battery cable and that fixed it. I'll investigate the problem later but right now the car can start again so I'm happy.

Tue Jul 26, 2011 11:07 am

Sounds like the fuse has blown..

Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:44 am

Where should the fuse be? I relocated the battery to boot using the stock battery cable kit and I don't recall seeing a fuse on that small cable. I hope it's really just a fuse though.

Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:01 am

The small lead from the battery is to power the engine loom/ECU only, everything else (starter cable, power to fusebox/ABS etc) is connected to the main terminal. The starter relay takes power from the starter cable (main terminal) so shouldnt have been affected by the fuse, it sounds to me like you lost power to the ECU/DME relay so the starter relay wouldnt switch.
The fuse is in the section of cable in the boot

Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:09 am

RoadHazard wrote:Where should the fuse be? I relocated the battery to boot using the stock battery cable kit and I don't recall seeing a fuse on that small cable. I hope it's really just a fuse though.

It's a bulge within 300mm or so of the battery end of the thinner front to rear cable. They are cheap to replace from BMW.

Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:41 am

DanThe,
From what you described, I think I have mixed up between the ECU power line and the starter relay power line when I did my wiring. Right now there is nothing connected to the small terminal. I'll recheck my wiring again.

Jhonno,
I'll double check that part of the cable again. If it's within 300mm then I should be able to find it in the boot, right?

Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:49 am

Yes it will be in the boot..

The ECU is the only thing that should be supplied by the thinner cable..