Little bit of the ole no starting issues 325E

[dvid3k]

Searched a bit but couldn't come up with too much to solve my problem so here goes.

The car is an stock 86 325, I let it sit for several days with out starting it, I go back out to start it and it will crank but not start. Occasionally I'll get a backfire through the intake but that is about it.

I have spark and I have fuel, In fact too much fuel, It seems like the car may be flooded out as I have copious amounts of gasoline flowing from my intake. I did find some moisture in the distributor cap but after drying it out still nothing. Plugs are wet with fuel when removed. Any ideas would be most appreciated! :)

[vert_this]

if i found water in my cap I would replace it along with rotor button. If spark is weak you will be getting more fuel than u need cause its not burning it.

[dvid3k]

if i found water in my cap I would replace it along with rotor button. If spark is weak you will be getting more fuel than u need cause its not burning it.

Thanks, I've got a ton on new parts coming in the mail, including cap, rotor and plugs. I actually ordered them all before this problem presented itself. I just got this car about a week ago so I've got tons of maintenance to do so this problem is rather unwelcomed as I have a lot of other things to do. :(

[dvid3k]

I'll add that I tried cranking it a few times to see what would happen and I don't exaggerate when I say fuel pours from the throttle body, After cranking it I opened the throttle body by hand and a wall of fuel poured out. Cold this be a problem with the cold start injector being stuck open?

[jlevie]

That is a possibility...

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I'm not sure this can happen because I have never had it happen to me. I have read about others with clogged up fuel pressure regulators. So pull the fuel return line off the regulator and crank the motor to see if its getting by it. If it or the return line was clogged that could cause a major flooding I suppose again never had it happen to me but others say they have.

[ForcedFirebird]

I'll add that I tried cranking it a few times to see what would happen and I don't exaggerate when I say fuel pours from the throttle body, After cranking it I opened the throttle body by hand and a wall of fuel poured out. Cold this be a problem with the cold start injector being stuck open?

That is a possibility...

I would pull out the cold start injector and pull the fuel rail up and attempt to crank the car to watch the fuel injector spray patterns. If there is a crossed wire to the injectors, they will spray all the time with the engine cranking.

Since the TB had all the fuel, I would suspect it's the cold start injector being constantly grounded.

[dvid3k]

I'm not sure this can happen because I have never had it happen to me. I have read about others with clogged up fuel pressure regulators. So pull the fuel return line off the regulator and crank the motor to see if its getting by it. If it or the return line was clogged that could cause a major flooding I suppose again never had it happen to me but others say they have.

I swapped out the regulator to see what would happen and still no go.

I would pull out the cold start injector and pull the fuel rail up and attempt to crank the car to watch the fuel injector spray patterns. If there is a crossed wire to the injectors, they will spray all the time with the engine cranking.

Since the TB had all the fuel, I would suspect it's the cold start injector being constantly grounded.

The weather has turned sour here so not a whole lot I can do until it clears up a bit, I'd like to pull all the injectors and install new o-rings so I can see what happens with the injectors then.

I did pull the cold start injector and it seems to be working properly, It sprayed upon the first few cranks then stopped, I'm starting to think the fuel in the intake had just built up during the time I had been cranking the car. I also tried cranking with the cold start injector disconnected, I also tried cranking the engine with it removed and unplugged to see if the injector was stuck open, no spray when unplugged.

I swapped the pressure regulator and there was definitely fuel plenty of fuel pressure, plugs are wet with gasoline so it seems like injectors are firing. Tested spark at the coil and everything looked good. I pulled the cap and rotor again and the rotor is definitely in poor shape, cap isn't much better but I've brought both inside to clean them up and make sure everything is good and dry. I've got new ones on the way but it will be a few days before they arrive.

I washed off the engine bay a few days after I bought the car and I had started it up since then with no trouble but I suspect that the moisture had something to do with it. It just doesn't want to hit at all aside from an occasional backfire. I tried spraying a little starting fluid in too with no results. I plan on replacing just about every part on this car but I'd like to get it starting up before I get to far into it. Looks like I'll replace the cap and rotor and go from there.

[dvid3k]

She lives*(&*(# I swapped the distributor cap and cleaned off the rotor and it fired right up. Though now the idle is very unstable, for the first 10 seconds or so it idles perfect then it starts surging severely.

[dnguyen1963]

Rough idle and surges can almost always be due to vacuum leaks.

[dvid3k]

Rough idle and surges can almost always be due to vacuum leaks.

Very likely, It didn't do it prior to the no start issue so there is a high probability that I may have something loose that wasn't before. It was just about dark when I put the cap back on so I may have over looked something. I'll take a idle issue over the no starting problem any day :D

[vert_this]

if i found water in my cap I would replace it along with rotor button. If spark is weak you will be getting more fuel than u need cause its not burning it.

Good deal..glad you got it running...the cap and rotor is where I would have started.

Your plugs may need to be replaced now and this may be the cause of the idling problems.

[dvid3k]

Good deal..glad you got it running...the cap and rotor is where I would have started.

Your plugs may need to be replaced now and this may be the cause of the idling problems.

Me too, Everything on this car will be brand new in time but I hadn't planned on trouble shooting so soon. I'm going to pick up new wires and a new coil once I have the funds, I've already got new plugs, rotor, cap, water pump, timing belt, v-belts and some other stuff coming. One of the V-belts is dated like 7/86 so they are definitely due for a change just like everything else on this car.


I had to sell my old 325e because of a no start issue, I worked on it for months trying to get it sorted out, I swapped everything and tested everything and I could never figure it out. The thing with it was that sometimes it would start right up and run perfectly until you shut it off, after that it wouldn't start again. I get rather ill thinking about a repeat of that situation.

[vert_this]

problems can come out of the woodwork when you pressure wash the engine compartment especially when its cold out and everything can't properly dry out. I bag the alternator and the cap area with used walmart bags and rubberbands when I go on cleaning spree to reduce issues from occurring.

[dvid3k]

problems can come out of the woodwork when you pressure wash the engine compartment especially when its cold out and everything can't properly dry out. I bag the alternator and the cap area with used walmart bags and rubberbands when I go on cleaning spree to reduce issues from occurring.

I'm going to be sure to do that from now on, could have saved myself some trouble this time. Though I don't plan on hosing the engine down again any time soon. I double checked everything to see if I left anything disconnected to cause a vacuum leak and everything looks good. The idle is doing something more akin to bouncing but only after the car warms up. It has no problem once moving and prior to getting warm.