e36 diesel help please

[bmwowner]

evening all, recently I have brought a e36 325td as the 2.5 e30 touring is a bit too bad on fuel for the every day work journey, the e36 had been off the road for a while and took a bit to get it started but now starts on the button and runs well but the problem is I can't get it to rev over 2500 rpm?! anyone got any ideas as its got me a bit baffled as to where to start, I have not drove it yet but only got a chance to get it running today. any help would be greatly appreciated.. many thanks, Dan..[/list]

[bmwowner]

Anyone please??

[bmwowner]

good morning all, spent a bit of time on the e36 diesel yesterday still with no luck, I have now changed the fuel filter, checked the pump in the tank and that tank and that is working fine, removed and cleaned the egr valve and that is also working fine, removed and cleaned the sensor in the underside of the inlet manifold (air mass sensor?) and checked the boost which also seems to be fine (.5 bar which I thought was ok considering it will only rev to 2700rpm) only things I now have left on my list to check are exhaust for blockages and see if the ABS light being on is causing it go go in limp mode. please if anyone else has any ideas then please let me know as I'm nearly bald from pulling my hair out over this car. thank you in advance, Dan.

[bss325i]

I know the main fuel pumps can give trouble on these. Have you checked the rail pressure?

Can you drive it to me down near Redhill?

[bmwowner]

hello Barry, cheers for your reply, no I haven't checked rail pressure as of yet, I can't get it anywhere at the moment as no tax m.o.t insurance etc , the main pump is the one thing I don't want it to be so I am trying all else but the more I do the more it is pointing that way. would you know if these go into limp mode for ABS or airbag warning lights being on? thanks again, Dan

[mr_dink]

Pump faults would normally give a check engine light, does the light come on when you start it and go off in a couple of seconds?

[bss325i]

Scratch the rail pressure, they dont have one!

But you will need to find out pressure coming out of the pump.

[bss325i]

Has the car got ASC?

[bmwowner]

just had a look and I can't see a check engine light at all?
and Barry no I don't think it has asc, only lights that come on then go out are glow plugsplugs and injector lights obviously and brake pad and DBC I think. thanks for your help all.. Dan

[Andyboy]

Could be a lot of things. Weak in tank pump not delivering enough fuel, incorrect engine diesel pump timing, pump shagged out or faulty speed governor, someone fitted the wrong pump (three different types), blocked fuel filter (try this first). In neutral, what will the engine rev to? Lots of black smoke? If it really won't go over 2500rpm it will probably be a pump issue - expensive!

[bss325i]

What work has been done to it before this problem occurred? Did you buy it like this?

[bmwowner]

car was drove into a garage and left there a few years ago and the fella (in his 60's)promised me it was perfect and only left in the garage as he got a new car or company car, when I went to look at it he had not even tried starting it, I then had to crack the injectors and work my way back basically to the tank until the fuel came through. as far as I'm aware the pump in the tank is only a prime pump and only comes on when told to by the ecu that it is needed, any other time it is open for fuel to flow through it by vacuum? I have bench tested tank pump and seems to pump through nicely. thanks for help, Dan

[bmwowner]

I have tried a test I saw on YouTube where you turn on the ignition and pump the throttle 5times and then the injector light on the dash flashes a number of times giving me a fault code, anyway as far as I'm aware on e36' s should be a 4 digit code but on mine it flashes once then 24 Times without pausing at all? I can't find out what this code is, if anyone knows I would be most grateful

[bmwowner]

air temperature sensor?
http://www.bmwe36blog.com/bmw-on-board-diagnostics.html

[Andyboy]

In neutral, what will the engine rev to? Lots of black smoke?

[DanThe]

I have tried a test I saw on YouTube where you turn on the ignition and pump the throttle 5times and then the injector light on the dash flashes a number of times giving me a fault code, anyway as far as I'm aware on e36' s should be a 4 digit code but on mine it flashes once then 24 Times without pausing at all? I can't find out what this code is, if anyone knows I would be most grateful

It should work as you say, pausing in between digits.

Most early diseasels have in-tank pump problems at some point, working the pump independently from the ECU is worth doing while you are trouble shooting

[bmwowner]

in neutral it will rev to 2700 rpm which is exactly the same as driving it, no black smoke at all, I did read about auto' s not revving past 2500 whilst stationary so gave it a go, only smoke I have seen from the car is very light and if anything slightly blue' ish although not head gasket wise.. DanThe when you say independently from the ecu do you mean running a constant live from battery? thanks for help all, I appreciate it p.s car has done 106k

[DanThe]

Pretty much yes, bridge the pump feed to run the pump before you start

[bmwowner]

ok cool, will get on it tomorrow, cheers for help

[Andyboy]

The pump is powered off the glow plug relay to start and then alternator power. Lift the rear seat base out, remove the black metal cover and you'l see the four pin plug. You'll need to unscrew the plastic ring to lift the pump out and see which colour wires to power up from another battery. With the lift pump humming away, try it again but it doesn't sound like a lift pump problem.

[bmwowner]

Thanks Andyboy, I have had the pump out and bench tested it and it all seems to work fine, can't really think of a way to describe the flow rate but would empty a tea cup in 2 seconds, and as soon as you turn the ignition on you can hear it prime. although tonight I think I will try running a constant live still to see if it even revs a tad more. cheers all.

[bmwowner]

evening, last night I put some injector cleaner in the tank and have since run the car 5 Times since and haven't noticed any change, also today I replaced the intake air temperature sensor and again no noticeable change,

[bmwowner]

Hello, ok so today I have been trying to get this thing to rev over 2700rpm again with slight success but still not quite what I hoped for, I have borrowed a fuel pump off a friend and piped it in to the tank and can now get the car to rev to 3200rpm but the pressure the original diesel pump should be is 0.5 bar and it turns out the pump I tried tonight is actually 4 bar (not 0.4) so now I'm still thinking I'm no better than before! Anyone got any ideas?

[Andyboy]

Do not use an in tank pump from a petrol car. They run at a much higher pressure and can damage the main injection pump. Changed the fuel filter yet?

[bmwowner]

The fuel pump I used was from a petrol car but was only a tester to see if my pump was at fault and was a issue of not enough pressure from the tank but seems as though that my original pump is ok, the fuel filter was the first thing I tried with no luck,

[bmwowner]

FIXED

[bss325i]

Go on!

[alpina123]

What was it then?

[pacerpete]

FIXED

Great news !! What are they paying per ton over your way ?

[bmwowner]

I adjusted the top half of the main injector pump which in theory is adjusting the pump timing, and now revs lovely, a bloke from Finland put up some pics from when he changed the seals on his pump and by looking at what he does at the end is what made me do it, if you move the top half of the pump half a mm it makes all the difference here is the link to his pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26444487@N ... 781797784/