Hey guys just wanted to contribute a bit and share my issue from this past week. In doing a decent amount of research though Google I was able to piece together info from various different sources but found some might not be up to date and wanted to do a little write up to help someone out in the future.
Came out to my car on Thursday after work, went to start it, cranked and cranked for about 10 seconds. Cycled the key then started cranking again for another 2-3 seconds and gave it some gas. It sputtered a bit and then thankfully started.
My first thought was the fuel pressure regulator had gone bad. Get the car home pull the vacuum line to the FPR and there was a tiny bit of moisture in it but I was still not 100% sold on that being it. I said what the heck its a $60 part and fairly easy to change let's start there.
Well replace the FPR, all went well, drive the car around the block seems to be running good. Come back 45 min later.... Same hard start....Great that wasn't it!
Now go start doing more research and find out the common things for a hard start on the e30's. The popular ones were a crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor, dirty MAF sensor and the internal fuel pump check valve going bad after time.
So I started with cleaning the MAF. I figured even if it wasn't it I hadn't done it on this car since I bought it so it was worth the 15 min.
It may just be in my head but I actually think this did help a little bit as the one side was pretty dirty. Unfortunately though the crank still was not normal...
Since the car eventually started every time after the long cranking, ran great after it started, and would start normal with in 15 minutes of restarting it once it had been running this just seemed like a depressurized fuel rail to me.
So first I checked all of the fuel lines made sure there was no slow leaks. Check no leaks I can see. So great come to find out BMW actually makes an external kit to fix this for cheap even! BMW P/N 16149068988. Call my local dealer and he said none available in the US and no future ship dates coming out of Germany:(
Ok shoot on to making a plan B... Searched and found some options and chose to go to Napa. They had a brass fuel pump check valve with 1/4" female NPT threads. Picked that up along with 2 brass 1/4-5/16" barb fittings and a foot of 5/16" fuel line and had myself a check valve setup for $22.
Put that setup in, the car fired but I didn't use any sealer to seal the threads
So I had a small drip from each side.
My first instinct was to just use the white teflon tape but then the more I thought about it I wasn't sure if it was gasoline resistant? It may very well be or might of worked but everything I could find, most said don't use it. They do make a teflon tape that is gasoline resistant I guess but it was recommended by guys to use the paste thread sealer in fuel systems due to the fact sometimes little fragments of the tape can break off from the threads while screwing your fittings together, get in your fuel system and clog stuff up.
So on to find a paste thread sealer that was gas resistant, readily available, and did not take a long time to set or dry because napa didn't have anything like that from what was available in my local store.
A little searching and I found Home Depot had exactly what I was looking for and it was $3. The stuff is made by Rectorseal it's called T plus 2.
Wipe a little bit of that stuff on the threads, tighten them up, fire up the car and success no leaks!
Drive the car around the block, let it sit for an hour.......Fires right back up like normal:). Give it a couple hours my second time around.....Fires back up like normal!!
I'm hoping this trend continues! It sounds like it was the fuel pressure check valve the whole time.
Just want to say thanks for everyone that contributes. This would've costed a lot more time and money without all of the great write ups out there. Hope this one helps someone out in the future.
Came out to my car on Thursday after work, went to start it, cranked and cranked for about 10 seconds. Cycled the key then started cranking again for another 2-3 seconds and gave it some gas. It sputtered a bit and then thankfully started.
My first thought was the fuel pressure regulator had gone bad. Get the car home pull the vacuum line to the FPR and there was a tiny bit of moisture in it but I was still not 100% sold on that being it. I said what the heck its a $60 part and fairly easy to change let's start there.
Well replace the FPR, all went well, drive the car around the block seems to be running good. Come back 45 min later.... Same hard start....Great that wasn't it!
Now go start doing more research and find out the common things for a hard start on the e30's. The popular ones were a crankshaft position sensor, camshaft position sensor, dirty MAF sensor and the internal fuel pump check valve going bad after time.
So I started with cleaning the MAF. I figured even if it wasn't it I hadn't done it on this car since I bought it so it was worth the 15 min.
It may just be in my head but I actually think this did help a little bit as the one side was pretty dirty. Unfortunately though the crank still was not normal...
Since the car eventually started every time after the long cranking, ran great after it started, and would start normal with in 15 minutes of restarting it once it had been running this just seemed like a depressurized fuel rail to me.
So first I checked all of the fuel lines made sure there was no slow leaks. Check no leaks I can see. So great come to find out BMW actually makes an external kit to fix this for cheap even! BMW P/N 16149068988. Call my local dealer and he said none available in the US and no future ship dates coming out of Germany:(
Ok shoot on to making a plan B... Searched and found some options and chose to go to Napa. They had a brass fuel pump check valve with 1/4" female NPT threads. Picked that up along with 2 brass 1/4-5/16" barb fittings and a foot of 5/16" fuel line and had myself a check valve setup for $22.
Put that setup in, the car fired but I didn't use any sealer to seal the threads
So I had a small drip from each side.
My first instinct was to just use the white teflon tape but then the more I thought about it I wasn't sure if it was gasoline resistant? It may very well be or might of worked but everything I could find, most said don't use it. They do make a teflon tape that is gasoline resistant I guess but it was recommended by guys to use the paste thread sealer in fuel systems due to the fact sometimes little fragments of the tape can break off from the threads while screwing your fittings together, get in your fuel system and clog stuff up.
So on to find a paste thread sealer that was gas resistant, readily available, and did not take a long time to set or dry because napa didn't have anything like that from what was available in my local store.
A little searching and I found Home Depot had exactly what I was looking for and it was $3. The stuff is made by Rectorseal it's called T plus 2.
Wipe a little bit of that stuff on the threads, tighten them up, fire up the car and success no leaks!
Drive the car around the block, let it sit for an hour.......Fires right back up like normal:). Give it a couple hours my second time around.....Fires back up like normal!!
I'm hoping this trend continues! It sounds like it was the fuel pressure check valve the whole time.
Just want to say thanks for everyone that contributes. This would've costed a lot more time and money without all of the great write ups out there. Hope this one helps someone out in the future.
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