Cab Probelm

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BIGJO
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Post Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:07 pm

Hi all, having a bit of a problem with my cab since yesterday. I thought we could fix it but it just seems to be a little bit too much for my understanding.

A little history of the car:

Car's been sitting around for about two years (one and off) however, it's been started every few months. In the summer it was driven but with the summer we had it was more like 4 days that it went out. Anyway, I thought it needed a service because I am going away in a month for 6 weeks. I wanted to make it ready so when I was to come back it'd be perfect and hopefully I could bring some sunshine back :flower:

Once it was serviced there was several things that needed changing for example:
The Viscous fan
The air pipe thing that connects in between the AFM & ICV
The idle was a little too high at 1100rpm so I had it bought done to about 900
Both alternator & power steering tensioners
Alternator belt
The pads needed roughing up because where it hadn't been driven frequently the brakes had glazed-up
Finally the rubbers that sit on the front of the roof had some cracks so that needed changing.

After all that was done I thought I'd take it for a drive and get my moneys worth soon to be disappointed. It started perfectly and was running for about 5 minutes before I jumped in.

Took it for a 10 second drive and it just cut-out. Thinking nothing of it and tried starting it up and it just would not turn-over. I therefore pulled up and called the mechanic who done the full-service and he advised me that there was some water in the fuel filter when he replaced it so it could be something to do with that. He then checked the fuel rail and there was fuel coming there.

I think we also checked the fuel relay however, we couldn't distinguish which one it was but there was definitely some kind of clicking noise coming from there when the ignition was on.
We also checked the fuel filter and it seemed ok as that was the last thing that was changed in the service.

I went to the petrol station and grabbed some injector cleaner and 5 litres V-Power hoping for the best. That was yesterday and it didn't work. We came to an conclusion that there was too much water inside the fuel tank where it had been sitting around and collecting condensation. Next job was to take the tank off and drain out whatever there was and try some new fuel.

Today...

I decided to call the AA for a second opinion - this guy sprayed the whole engine bay with WD40 and we got it running for a maximum of 10 seconds. He saw that the fuel rail was left loose where we had been checking it yesterday and also one of the injectors (no 6) had popped out. We checked the crank sensor and it's perfectly fine. He couldn't fix-it and had to go but in his report he's saying something about injector rail not sealed properly.

I was thinking tomorrow I was going to take-out the fuel with my mechanic and put some new fuel in there. Also to change the pipes which connect to the fuel filter in case they are blocked.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and it's been something real simple?

Thank you for time and thank you for your help :)
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BenHar
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Post Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:17 pm

This guide from the wiki may help you: http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... oubleshoot

Ben
BIGJO
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:38 am

Thank you :)
e30topless
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:51 am

none of that makes sense :mad: who did the work ?

how was the tickover lowered ?
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Brianmoooore
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:55 am

e30topless wrote:none of that makes sense :mad: who did the work ?

how was the tickover lowered ?
BIGJO
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 11:52 am

I think the guy just adjusted the throttle...and I don't know much myself. Just saying how it is bud :roll: Pretty sure it's nothing to do with him adjusting the throttle though.
Rtaylor2208
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:15 pm

The idle is controlled electronically using input from the Throttle position Switch, Idle Control Valve, Air Flow Meter and some others. The wiki covers how to diagnose and sort idling issues.

It shounds like you had or have vacumn leaks and your mechanic has adjusted the throttle stop on the throttle body and possibly the AFM.

You really need to have him follow this info in the wiki:

http://e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.ph ... #Air_Leaks and the link Ben posted above.
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Brianmoooore
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Post Fri Jan 18, 2013 1:23 pm

Rtaylor2208 wrote:The idle is controlled electronically using input from the Throttle position Switch, Idle Control Valve, Air Flow Meter and some others. The wiki covers how to diagnose and sort idling issues.

It shounds like you had or have vacumn leaks and your mechanic has adjusted the throttle stop on the throttle body and possibly the AFM.

You really need to have him follow this info in the wiki:

http://e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.ph ... #Air_Leaks and the link Ben posted above.
Once again, as above.
Nothing on an E30's engine management system should ever need 'adjusting'. If it's found that things can be improved by adjustments, then DON'T. Look for the real fault instead, otherwise you'll end up with a car that is running below par, and, if eventually the real fault is cured by luck or design, you'll still have a car that isn't running properly, because of the 'adjustments'.
BIGJO
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Post Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:33 pm

Got to the bottom of this problem - its the crank position sensor that needs changing. Gonna change it Monday and it should hopefully be back to normal. Thanks for the help guys :banana:
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Brianmoooore
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Post Sat Feb 16, 2013 8:46 pm

BIGJO wrote:t should hopefully be back to normal
But it won't be, unless anything that's been 'adjusted' is put back to where it was.
BIGJO
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Post Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:45 pm

The only thing that was adjusted my friend was the throttle cable on the inlet manifold?
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Brianmoooore
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Post Sat Feb 16, 2013 9:55 pm

The idle was adjusted by altering the length of the throttle cable??
If your mechanic had been more observant, he would have seen that the rev. counter was dropping out in time with the car's hesitation, pointing straight to an ignition triggering related electrical fault, and time wouldn't have been wasted on the fuel tank and its contents, pump relay, or injectors.
BIGJO
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Post Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:31 pm

Yeah true - tbh I had AA come out and I told him to check crank position sensor as my mate told me it was probably that. The guy wasn't interested and instead wanted to start her up using a jump pack and WD40. Not gonna deny it did start but once the jump pack was off it wasn't starting. Hoping that it will work tomorrow once we've changed the sensor. Anyone know how much they retail? Thanks.