rough start up, low rev.

[ben312]

87 325e

i have search and can't find much outside of rough idel. im having a starting problem. the car doesn't really want to start. and if it does it stays real low and then dies. takes some playing with the gas pedel to get it to stay on. then after i get the car started, when i come to a stop sign or shift the car seems to bog out a bit. vacuum leak? maybe the maf? (although when taking the filter off and reving up it seems to be fine.) anyone got any ideas? i kinda think i got a leak vac leak, but i would like some ideas/help.

[Leaf]

How old is your distributor cap and rotor? Have you ever done an ignition system tune up? Can you describe how your car is acting in more detail?

[ben312]

The cap and rotor are pretty new, less than 1000 miles on them. Plugs are band new, maybe a mile on them. Best I can descibe it as is the car will turn over and start fine, but as soon as it start it drops down real low and dies. To get it to stay on I have to play around with the gas pedel, starting slow and opening it up a few times. Then it will run fine, unless you step on it and take it into high rpm. If taken into high rpm, when shifting the motor seems to bog down a lot. I do know of a few very small cracks in a few houses, I will replace tonigh and see if this fixes it. Does a vac leak sound like it would be the issue? Its not spark, seems to be a fuel/air/vac problem.

[ben312]

problem fixed, was a vac leaked like i had thought

[joonsup]

where was this leak coming from if i may ask?

[ben312]

Hose from the charcoal evaporater to the throttle body had a huge tear and the breather from the throttle body to valve cover had a huge tear. Had newish hoses on hand so replaced and problem was fixed.

[ben312]

problem seemed to be gone but is coming back. new info, car is running super rich, and cat got red hot. bad o2?

[lennon]

cat got red hot? literally? what about the exhaust before it up to the manifolds

[ben312]

Seemed to be just the cat, but some area both before and after was also hot. And yes as in if my friend hadn't noticed it when he did I would have a pile of ashes instead of a car. So I guess the cat is done, but no emissions means I can just cut it out. Would the cat going bad cause all the other problems or would it have to be another problem? Such as the o2 sensor?

[ben312]

Bump for help.

[joonsup]

readjusting the valves helped my very rough idle and 1222 code to clear up

[jlevie]

The catalytic converter getting red hot means that there's a serious excess of fuel in the exhaust. This can be from a bad FPR, and obstruction in the fuel return line, or a problem with the injectors. The catalytic converter is probably done for now from the overheating, but it wasn't the cause.

[ben312]

Alright so I ran a few tests to see what could be causing my issue. Took off the return hose and fuel comes from the fpr at a decent enough pace that I doubt that's the problem.

I'll try to give the best info I can on what exactly is happening. I go to start the car and it will start, but almost as soon as it does it cuts itself off. It takes a good amount of throthle play to get it to stay on. Then if its on and put in gear, as soon as the clutch starts to let out it loses power and dies. Its firing on all plugs but is shooting black smoke (running rich) it has a hard time getting the rpms up and when they do go up they don't want to go past 3k much. The fpr seems ok and I couldn't imagen a vac leak. So what the hell is wrong?

[ben312]

tps possible?

[ben312]

new TPS, new MAF, no vac leaks, new FPR, new fuel pumps and filter. started are ran fine for like 5 min then cut out and it back to the hard start. :curse: WTF?!