E36 1.6 into E30 1.6 Problems

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:38 am

Originally the plan was a straight swap e30 engine into the e30, but when the engine i had bought arrived it appeared to be from the e36. So i went with it and fitted it, having to change all the wiring from the engine over & sump etc. As far as i am aware everything it plugged in correctly but the car wont turn the starter but has ignition, also there is no fuel. So i am guessing a problem within the connections or something along the line in the wiring. Can anyone please let me know of any things to check when doing this job. Thank you!!

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:47 am

why not put a 2.5 in then?

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:56 am

Because to save the hassle of changing loads of stuff around to put a bigger engine i had bought the e30 1.6 engine to do a quick job to get the car going again, its just to be used as the baby picking up car. If i knew it was gunna be a pain getting it in i would have gone with the 325 or 318is.

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:03 pm

You will need to make sure your C101 is wired up correctly. For that you will need ETM's. Are you replacing an M10 with an M40?

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:33 pm

i have put an m40 in but i thought it was an m40 i took out, as the plugs and wiring was all different i had to put the top half of the inlet manifold inc throttle body back on from the old engine. so i have basically put everything from the old engine on the new one inc all wires. Im not sure what c101 or ETMs are?

Post Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:22 pm

I know what they are now, the c101 should be wired up correct as i am using the same harness that was origionally in the car, i just changed everything attached to the engine so the origional harness & c101 wire lump would all click in,

Post Tue Jul 28, 2009 8:07 am

Engine earth good?
Battery lead to starter correctly connected and good?
Lack of fuel could be fuel pump relay or fuse..fuel pump wire is the green/blue(think it's blue!)live to the fuel pump relay will be red/white,try connecting them together and see if the pump runs then.
Also read the sticky at the top of this page regarding engine swaps and wiring.

Post Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:59 am

thanks, i got it turning on the key now just no fuel, i have suspicions that the fuel pump had packed up before doing the swap, before the swap at high revs it would seem to drop to 3 cylinders and then pick up again once revs went back down again. i had origionally thought my problem was exessive cam wear, (which it had) anyone know which is the fuel pump relay & fuse on the 316i e3o??

Thank you

Post Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:14 pm

no signal to fuel pump, but fuel pump works fine wired direct to battery. had a diagnostics put on the car but it wont read anything so im guessing either a problem within the harness or the ecu. anyone have any other thoughts?

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:03 am

Do you have sparks at the spark plugs?

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:09 am

Have you swapped the crank pulley over? I think they are different between E30 and E36 and the timing might be a mile out.

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:39 pm

no i havent swapped the pulley, the engine looked identical apart from all the electrics on it, so swapped everything over so it now has all the e30 electrics harness & ecu attached, will check for sparks shortly

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:52 pm

checked spark and there is spark there, have put power to the fuel pump via a battery on the floor for 5 seconds or so to pump some fuel into the engine, fired up and it runs, so im thinking it now must be something regarding the signal to the pump, is there a pressure switch that could be faulty? might just wire it up to ignition maybe

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:41 pm

Sounds like fuel pump relay is goosed,one of the four wires to it will be the other end of the feed to the pump,should help identify it!
Well done for getting it running,BTW!

Post Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:45 pm

thanks for all you ideas guys, looks like it probably is the fuel relay, as it was taking me ages to locate which relay it is i have wired the pump in on the ignition now so pump works on the key, so fires up & runs now, done this as im kind of in a rush to get it moved & i will definately look into the relay when i get the chance.

All help has been much appreciated, thanks everyone! and i have also learnt a lot along the way