Car shuts down after 2K rpm

[bejbis]

can you explain a little more about the walbro? Is it an aftermarket pump for the e30?

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=134915

[Zoeb2s]

I have a code reader you can use, Nick

[joonsup]

do work son!!!!!!!!

lol i'm trying to learn. that's why i bought the bently manual. So far there are no grease marks on the pages yet so I got some work to do

[joonsup]

Oh by the way I did that stomp test my friend told me to do and according to him, it was all clear. Something about 1 4 4 if i remember correctly.

[vr2jetta]

thanks for the links. i may consider going with that fuel pump after eliminating other simpler possibilities that I have not tried...or should I say have not been tried on my car by someone who is more knowledgeable than I am.

You may want to consider just changing the fuel pump relay and DME relay, its a cheaper place to start. Both only cost me like $35 from FAP.

[SpecM]

Yes I have been dealing with this problem too. I would start by checking the codes the CEL is throwing, then go from there. I have heard of AFM causing this problem too, but in my case it seemed to be the fuel pump that was the culprit. I replaced it with a Walbro 255 unit and have not had any problems since. .

good to hear you got that worked out

[joonsup]

You may want to consider just changing the fuel pump relay and DME relay, its a cheaper place to start. Both only cost me like $35 from FAP.

thanks I think I will do that first and go from there as you said. thanks again

[BTP325ic]

You may want to consider just changing the fuel pump relay and DME relay, its a cheaper place to start. Both only cost me like $35 from FAP.

were is the DME relay located>?

[joonsup]

i will look in my bently manual later today after work. paid 40 bucks for it so might as well use it right?

[vr2jetta]

were is the DME relay located>?

On the left shock tower, in front of the fuse/relay box. It should be the one closest to the front of the car. The one behind it should be the fuel pump relay. Just remember I said 'should' so check to be sure. If there are 3 the furthest one back should be the abs.

[joonsup]

So yesterday I swapped the fuel pump relay with a working one and still have the same problem.

I originally fired up the car after letting it sit for the entire weekend and it started up fine (no surprise). I let it warm up and then i started to gas it a little. After letting it sit for about 10 min the car just shut off. I tried to re start it and it didn't turn on. I then switched the fuel pump relay and tried to start it. It didn't start up.

Someone suggested that it was the fuel filter but my mechanic friend told me that if it was the fuel filter, my car would not have started in the first place? This is driving me nuts. I wish I was more knowledgeable with cars.

[vr2jetta]

Someone suggested that it was the fuel filter but my mechanic friend told me that if it was the fuel filter, my car would not have started in the first place? This is driving me nuts. I wish I was more knowledgeable with cars.

Well.......if the fuel filter is clogged, it 'could' start. After running for a while the fuel pressure builds up and starts to stir up all the dirt/debris to clog the filter. After sitting, the dirt/debris in the filter has time to settle and unblock itself so you can re-start it later. That is one theory. The fuel filter is only like $17 so changing it probably would be good insurance and piece of mind.

[delatlanta1281]

Joon
Couple things. First what year is your car? Second. When it is running, can you hear any whining or whirring coming from the back seat, moving or not? How much gas is in your tank?
It sounds to me like it may be the fuel pump, but here is my story FWIW.

Over the past two months or so, I have had a stalling issue. Originally with a third of a tank, if I took a left hand turn my car would stumble, then it would stall. If I filled up the tank, it would take a sec to start, then it would be fine. About a month ago it started doing this with half a tank. It would "buck" really hard if I punched the accellorator. Then yesterday, I went to start my car and it bucked no matter what. If I was driving it and my tach was over 2k or my engine was under any sort of load, it would stall. If I eased up on the throttle, I was able to "limp" it around.
Here is what worked on my car (what I checked)
1 AFM (I have three) I thought maybe there was a dead spot or something, but two of the three yeilded the same result.
2 CPS (Crank Position Sensor) was screwed into position with no fraying.
3 ICV (idle control valve) usually when this goes bad, the car will "pulse at idle jumping from 500 to 1000 rpms.
4 FPR (fuel pressure regulator) Mine has a gauge, and I noticed when I revved the motor manually (slowly mind you) It would climb, then drop pretty low (meaning there is a starvation issue).
5 Fuel filter (its new)
6 External FP (new) but was whining like crazy, even with a full tank. These do tend to whine if you run the tank down to empty. But my tank was 3/4 at least.
7 ECU (possibly?) not probable though. i have three others and I am chipped so I was going to hold off on that.
8 o2 sensor possible not probible (no codes)
9 Coolant temp seansor (New)
10 Main ground possible, but my needles would be acting really strange like the batteries in the gauge cluster were dying.
11 Internal FP This morning I replaced it with an aftermarket (probably a warlboro) I found in our donar 87IS last week.

I drove my car after I replaced the pump, and it seems to be running fine now. That doesn't mean it will keep running fine, but for now it I have used @ 1/3 a tank of gas with no problems.
I would replace the following.
Coolant temp sensor (there are two. The Blue or white one is what you want to replace. It is on your thermostat housing near the front of your fuel rail.
Fuel pump. It really can't hurt, I know they can be expensive, but it's going to need replacing eventually, and it sounds like it may have gone out on you.
Depending on where you are in Nor-Cal there is a great bmw shop east of Sacramento. Valley Motorwerks is its name. Walter is the owner, i met him when I was out there working and he replaced the clutch on my e30. He gave me a really fair price and finished in the time alloted with no problems. He is also an e30 enthusiast as are most of his guys. Sometimes i wish he would move out here to georgia so there would be a trustworthy shop that understands and enjoys our cars. http://www.vmwerks.com/
There are a couple norcal members on here that can steer you the right way as well. Jean, and Golde30 are great guys who know the area too. Jean is in Sac, and Golde30 is in SF.

GL
Rich

[vr2jetta]

1 AFM (I have three) I thought maybe there was a dead spot or something, but two of the three yeilded the same result.
2 CPS (Crank Position Sensor) was screwed into position with no fraying.
3 ICV (idle control valve) usually when this goes bad, the car will "pulse at idle jumping from 500 to 1000 rpms.
4 FPR (fuel pressure regulator) Mine has a gauge, and I noticed when I revved the motor manually (slowly mind you) It would climb, then drop pretty low (meaning there is a starvation issue).
5 Fuel filter (its new)
6 External FP (new) but was whining like crazy, even with a full tank. These do tend to whine if you run the tank down to empty. But my tank was 3/4 at least.
7 ECU (possibly?) not probable though. i have three others and I am chipped so I was going to hold off on that.
8 o2 sensor possible not probible (no codes)
9 Coolant temp seansor (New)
10 Main ground possible, but my needles would be acting really strange like the batteries in the gauge cluster were dying.
11 Internal FP This morning I replaced it with an aftermarket (probably a warlboro) I found in our donar 87IS last week.

Rich

Totally agree! My car would act up with a full tank of gas and wouldnt stop till about 3/4-1/2. Mine only had one stumble issue going into a hard 'right' turn. But I basically did the same. I:
1. Pulled and cleaned all the grounds, and replaced one.
2. New coolant temp sensor
3. Cleaned the ISV
4. New fuel filter
5. New walbro 255. Very easy upgrade.
6. New main/fuel pump relays
7. Cleaned AFM.

I cleaned all my electrical components with CRC Mass air flow sensor cleaner. Its like $9 at auto zone, but if it is safe enough for mass air flow sensors, it cant be bad for anything else.....right?

Here is a link to the walbro DIY retrofit thread.

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=134915

Here is another link for locating ground locations.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=140140

Good luck!

[joonsup]

Well.......if the fuel filter is clogged, it 'could' start. After running for a while the fuel pressure builds up and starts to stir up all the dirt/debris to clog the filter. After sitting, the dirt/debris in the filter has time to settle and unblock itself so you can re-start it later. That is one theory. The fuel filter is only like $17 so changing it probably would be good insurance and piece of mind.

Yeah it's cheap enough that I would change regardless of whether or not that is the cause of the problem. I will definitely put that on the list of what to replace. thanks!

Joon
Couple things. First what year is your car? Second. When it is running, can you hear any whining or whirring coming from the back seat, moving or not? How much gas is in your tank?
It sounds to me like it may be the fuel pump, but here is my story FWIW.

Over the past two months or so, I have had a stalling issue. Originally with a third of a tank, if I took a left hand turn my car would stumble, then it would stall. If I filled up the tank, it would take a sec to start, then it would be fine. About a month ago it started doing this with half a tank. It would "buck" really hard if I punched the accellorator. Then yesterday, I went to start my car and it bucked no matter what. If I was driving it and my tach was over 2k or my engine was under any sort of load, it would stall. If I eased up on the throttle, I was able to "limp" it around.
Here is what worked on my car (what I checked)
1 AFM (I have three) I thought maybe there was a dead spot or something, but two of the three yeilded the same result.
2 CPS (Crank Position Sensor) was screwed into position with no fraying.
3 ICV (idle control valve) usually when this goes bad, the car will "pulse at idle jumping from 500 to 1000 rpms.
4 FPR (fuel pressure regulator) Mine has a gauge, and I noticed when I revved the motor manually (slowly mind you) It would climb, then drop pretty low (meaning there is a starvation issue).
5 Fuel filter (its new)
6 External FP (new) but was whining like crazy, even with a full tank. These do tend to whine if you run the tank down to empty. But my tank was 3/4 at least.
7 ECU (possibly?) not probable though. i have three others and I am chipped so I was going to hold off on that.
8 o2 sensor possible not probible (no codes)
9 Coolant temp seansor (New)
10 Main ground possible, but my needles would be acting really strange like the batteries in the gauge cluster were dying.
11 Internal FP This morning I replaced it with an aftermarket (probably a warlboro) I found in our donar 87IS last week.

I drove my car after I replaced the pump, and it seems to be running fine now. That doesn't mean it will keep running fine, but for now it I have used @ 1/3 a tank of gas with no problems.
I would replace the following.
Coolant temp sensor (there are two. The Blue or white one is what you want to replace. It is on your thermostat housing near the front of your fuel rail.
Fuel pump. It really can't hurt, I know they can be expensive, but it's going to need replacing eventually, and it sounds like it may have gone out on you.
Depending on where you are in Nor-Cal there is a great bmw shop east of Sacramento. Valley Motorwerks is its name. Walter is the owner, i met him when I was out there working and he replaced the clutch on my e30. He gave me a really fair price and finished in the time alloted with no problems. He is also an e30 enthusiast as are most of his guys. Sometimes i wish he would move out here to georgia so there would be a trustworthy shop that understands and enjoys our cars. http://www.vmwerks.com/
There are a couple norcal members on here that can steer you the right way as well. Jean, and Golde30 are great guys who know the area too. Jean is in Sac, and Golde30 is in SF.

GL
Rich

Hi Rich,

Thanks for all this information. I am located in the fremont/milpitas area so sacramento would be too far of a trip for me to take the car since it's not running at all.

My tank is full. However when it first died on me on the freeway I had about a third left. I was able to restart the car enough times to eventually crawl to the gas station that was off the exit (with the help of the downhill slope).

I tried swapping the AFM and that did not help. I tried swapping the main relay (white one) and that didn't help as well. Regardless of any swap the car starts fine after letting it sit cold for a while (overnight) but once it warms up it'll eventually die on me esp after revving the engine.

I don't hear any whining or have not noticed any. Maybe b/c of the noise of the engine and its ticking noise or maybe b/c I usually listen to the radio?

I will have to try replacing that coolant sensor you are talking about. I've replaced the one that sits at the coolant tank only. Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate all the information. I am hoping to check the fuel pressure in the next day or so to see if my fuel pump is bad so I'll let you guys know what happens with that

oh btw my car is a 1990 325i