ETA running awful...please help. Video inside.

[BoxDriver86]

I'll give you a call later Ken. I'm going to turn the motor by hand and see if all looks clear. If so, then I'm guessing I have an internal block issue i.e. blown piston, bad ring, etc. so that compression tester may come in handy.

[Cabriolet]

the varnishing on the head suggests it has been over heated and the oil is really black.

take off the cap and see if it was miss aligned. and can we get a pic of farther forward(towards the timing belt.)

do a compression test.
check spark plug wires.(lose maybe?)

[BoxDriver86]

I have been changing the oil since I got the car every 3.5K and the oil has never been that bad. As far as I know the car hasn't been running hot but my temp guage used to bounce around until I replaced the sensor.

I did notice there was a missing nut on the intake manifold at #6 when I removed the intake manifold. Would this be an issue? If so, why is it that the car ran fine for so long?

[Cabriolet]

I did notice there was a missing nut on the intake manifold at #6 when I removed the intake manifold. Would this be an issue? If so, why is it that the car ran fine for so long?

no this isnt a huge issue, you would just notice leaking oil ove time.

[Eta power]

It's a manual.

I was thinking if it was a manual, somebody could've moneyshifted it.

I did notice there was a missing nut on the intake manifold at #6 when I removed the intake manifold. Would this be an issue? If so, why is it that the car ran fine for so long?

My car runs fine with only 11 out of 12 nuts holding the intake on. Shouldn't be a problem.

[nomansland92]

I would do a compression test. Maybe your cross firing between cylinders. Original head bolts tend to break ask me how i know haha. I would get some torx bolts just to be safe.

[BoxDriver86]

The car blew a head gasket on the PO about 3 years ago. I purchased it shortly after and the head bolts are fine. Work was done by a very reputable BMW dealer (guy got hosed).

So I turned the engine manually and all looked fine. I put it all back together and did a compression test and leak-down test. Everything is at spec according to the Bentley.

Since a lot of folks initially told me spark plug wires I decided to pull a set I had from a junkyard and install them. They were the newer style with the pulse sensor which my car doesn't have but I doubt that would be an issue. Anyway, when I first started the car up and let it idle, it was perfect. I rev the engine and it goes right back to stuttering, worse than before then back to perfect.

I let it idle smoothly for a bit and unplugged the ICV, and as expected the car went nuts. I plugged it back in and all was fine. So I thought I would take a drive.

By the time I got out of the driveway, it was back to running like in the video. No power, whistling noise on acceleration (been there for a while with no issue but now it's fluttering) and worst of all the engine has some heavy vibration under load (assumed that it's based on it's current 5 cylinder running state). Any ideas? Should I just order some new plug wires and see what happens? Could I have found the problem and somehow trashed the wires I put in because something else is wrong?

[KMOSES]

Did you pull the wires or ECU from the Delphin '87 ETA that I have stripped the suspension from? They might not be any good, when Danny received that car it was running, but he said it was the worst running car he had ever seen. It had a rough idle and when it was revved up it started missing and bucking so he decided to part it out. I located my backup set of wires and I know they are good. Let me know if you need them.

[BoxDriver86]

Did you pull the wires or ECU from the Delphin '87 ETA that I have stripped the suspension from? They might not be any good, when Danny received that car it was running, but he said it was the worst running car he had ever seen. It had a rough idle and when it was revved up it started missing and bucking so he decided to part it out. I located my backup set of wires and I know they are good. Let me know if you need them.

I pulled these wires from a super ETA at Foss a few months back. I haven't swapped the ecu yet as I don't have an extra. I figured check wires first, then go with ecu. I'll give you a call tomorrow and set up a time to get those from you. Thanks so much!

I just backed the car out of the garage since it's really just taking up space and I could barely keep it idling. I really hope it's just wires as I'm at the point where 5 days is just too much time and it's hardly worth it.

Here's my thought though: is there something amiss in the ignition causing the plug wires to short therefore frying the ecu? Has anyone had an experience like this? I heard of a misaligned distributor cap causing issues, but mine still looks brand new and I'm not sure how I could have installed it incorrectly in the first place...?

[BoxDriver86]

So I just tested the spark plug wires again and everything checks out. Should I replace the ECU or could this problem potentially cause me to fry it? Both fuel pumps are working fine. I read somewhere that there is a sensor on the flywheel that could have broken but everything looks okay. Anyone have any experience with this?

[buguhrich]

Update: Pulled the intake manifold and got a look at the valves. Here's what I found:

And the #5 for comparison:

After pulling the valve cover, it appears that both the intake and exhaust valves for #6 are compressed. Is this normal operation or do I have a valve problem?

My injectors are fully operational.

I have officially stepped outside of my mechanical realm here. Any ideas?

It looks like there is something on top of your valve in the first picture. Almost like your intake ate a nut or something.

[buguhrich]

Nevermind. Just realized that's your spark plug inside the combustion chamber. Looks kind of off at first glance.

[BoxDriver86]

Trust me, I thought the same thing.

I did update the first page to say fixed since I have no idea how to edit post titles, turns out the distributor cap was a dud. DO NOT buy important parts in generic form at Autozone.

[BoxDriver86]

Trust me, I thought the same thing.

I did update the first page to say fixed since I have no idea how to edit post titles, turns out the distributor cap was a dud. DO NOT buy important parts in generic form at Autozone.

[BoxDriver86]

Trust me, I thought the same thing.

I did update the first page to say fixed since I have no idea how to edit post titles, turns out the distributor cap was a dud. DO NOT buy important parts in generic form at Autozone.