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    Starting Issues

    Hi all,

    I recently acquired a 5 speed 1984 318i. After driving the car home about 15 miles I took her for a spin around a parking lot near my house to scare out any gremlins she may have...After a significantly loud pop (sounded different than a backfire though) upon a hard right turn, shift and acceleration she bogged down and refused to accelerate any more. We pulled over to check things out and saw the cat was glowing red hot, it was running very rich, idling poorly and not revving smoothly or past 5k rpm so we killed it and towed her home. I cut the exhaust before the cat and pulled it off in the hopes it was just a clogged cat but no such luck.

    I then changed the plugs and wires since the plugs were fouled black and the wires had a few cracks in the boots. This helped but didn't solve the problem and now, after running an ICV bypass in an attempt to diagnose the problem, the car won't start. I put the ICV back on so as to return it to the condition it was in when it was starting but running, but it still won't start. I've also already tried unplugging various harness connections such as the cold start sensor, afm, etc in an attempt to find the problem but have had no luck so they have all been plugged back in.

    The engine/starter is turning over, it has fuel and spark and seems to have compression by the feel of hand cranking it (don't have a compression tester on hand right now) but just won't fire up and run. I've also attempted to compare the bay to realoem.com to make sure everything is in it's right place, connected properly and not missing grounds and it appears to be in order. I am working on getting the timing checked so other than that, does anyone have any ideas as to why she won't start now?
    LTD

    #2
    This sounds similar to my problem i had. Whenever i would try to start my car there would be fuel and spark and starter but i wouldn't go. It ended up being my cap and rotor so i would check there. Mine was a bit loose and was messing up the timing. after i popped it back on tight i jumped into my car are started it up and thanked the lord.

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      #3
      Sounds like the blam was from a misfire i.e. timing issue.

      I would bet it's the distributor/rotor. Is your battery still mounted in the engine bay (stock mount location)? If the battery is not tied down properly, a hard right turn will send the battery into the distributor, breaking at least the cap. Ask me how I know. :twisted:

      Even if the distributor just got moved it will affect timing.

      Did you plug the CTS back in correctly? AFAIK no CTS signal will cause a no-start. But I'm betting the problem is the distributor.
      balticblau-metallic '84 318i 5spd 3.91 LSD

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        #4
        I fiddled with the distributor and got her to fire last night but she still wouldn't drive properly so I'm trying to find the sweet spot on timing today in the hopes that will fix the problem (still won't accelerate smoothly) but no luck yet. By CTS are you referring to the coolant temperature sensor? If so then yeah, I did...I wish that's all it was. I really appreciate the suggestions though so if you have any more, feel free to throw em this way. I'm new to m10's so I can use all the help I can get.
        LTD

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          #5
          Check fuel pressure, make sure you are right where it's recommended (I can't remember, but somewhere around 48psi @ idle I think?). Coolant Temperature Sensor sent me on a goose chase. Make sure nobody soldered a resistor at the CTS plug like they did on mine. Replace normal tune-up items such as plugs, cap, rotor, wires, and filters. Check your intake boot/elbow to see if there is fuel in it. Check compression when you get the chance, the last time my car made a pop and stopped running, bent all the intake valves. That can be caused from your oil spray bar coming loose and moving in the way of your rocker arms. Lots of stuff to check out, just make a list, and start marking them off as you go.
          85' 318i ~The Bronze Bomber (FrankenM10 with a Forced Future :wgaf:)

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