Hello everyone! I just picked up this sweet 87 325is. It had been parked for the last 3 years but it looks like it is in fantastic shape. The battery was dead but when I hooked up cables it turned right over. I have since had a mechanic look at it and changed several parts. 1st was a new battery and fuel pump (pervious owner claimed that was all that was wrong). New pump still does not "prime" when the key is in the on. Got the mechanic to try jumping the relay and heard the pump come on. Switched relays and tried again. Nothing. Bought a new main relay from Napa, came with 4 prong even though old one was five. Thought I heard it fire once but then nothing. Replaced the cap, rotor and plugs. Nothing. Test coil and it has power. Bought a crank sensor but I have not instaled it yet. Plugged it in to see if the pump would prime, but got nothing. I'm getting all the relays checked tomorrow before I install the crank sensor. The Allen wrench nut that holds the sensor in is stripped. It's going to be a pain to get it off. Any suggestions for what else it could be if not the crank sensor? I want to drive this car so bad!
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So the car was running when you picked it up? At what point would the fuel pump stop priming? When the crank sensor is plugged in, and a circuit is completed, the fuel pump should prime. -
The owner said it ran when it was parked there three years ago. It has never fired while I have owned it. The pump should prime even when the cps is just plugged in or does it need to be installed at the crank?Comment
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The fuel pump on an E30 doesn't prime. It only runs when the DME sees timing data from a rotating engine.The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
Jim Levie, Huntsville, ALComment
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it does, i own a 316i from 1988 and you can hear clearly the fuel pump is working for a few sec. and the fuel lines are hard.Comment
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Listen to jlevie. Get a Bentley manual. Ignore noobs.sigpic
1989 325is Raged on then sold.Originally posted by JinormusJ
1988 325 SETA 2DR Beaten to death, then parted.
1988 325 SETA 4DR Parted.
1990 325i Cabrio Daily'd, then stored 2 yrs ago.Comment
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where in nor cal like above windsor?"I wanna see da boat movie"
"I got a tree on my house"Comment
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When it works the car will live with me in Shelter Cove, but currently it's at my Dad's house in Arcata. Mechanic is installing the CPS as I write this. Keeping my fingers crossed.Comment
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Does the car have spark? pull the plug wire and ground the wire with a plug to a nut on the valve cover? If it sparks, then you probably have a fuel issue.
Is there 12v at pin 30 on the relay? If so you have power to the relay. Also check fuse 11, its a 7.5 amp fuse to make sure it hasn't blown.
Jump pins 87 and 30, you should hear the pump run. If not, I know that the main relay also has some input on fuel, id get a diagram if I were you.
Also, to confirm its not the c191 connector, Get two wires and a little bulb (like a tail light bulb pigtail) and plug it into an injector harness. With the car cranking you should see the bulb light, if not the pcm is not firing the injectors, which I could say is most likely your c191 connector gone bad.Comment
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3 years... did you put new gas in it? I've seen quite a few occurances of cars sitting then not starting. Almost always, new gas and new plugs will get the car started.
+1 to what Jlevie stated, the pump will only run when the car is cranking or running.
If I had an e30 that sat for three years, first thing I'd do is drain gas tank, put new gas in it, replace fuel filter, and put in new spark plugs. Then I'd try to start. If still no start, check fuel pressure and spark. If fuel pressure is good and you have spark, then check for vacuum leaks. If all that tests out ok, then start down the road of electrical items like ECU, throttle body, ICV, etc.90 325i DD/Track
03 Durango 5.9
Originally posted by e30mpgComment
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Agree, you'll get some kind of action if you turn the crank and you have fuel and spark. I wouldn't change another part without doing some root cause analysis. I'd replace the fuel in the tank for starters. I'd check all fuses. Then i'd pull a plug and crank to make sure you have spark. if that's cool I'd put a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel inlet line to the fuel rail to verify fuel pressure. If you've got fuel pressure and spark you're going to get some kind of stumbling at least and you can diagnose from there.Comment
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Agreed, spark/air/fuel. If you have spark start chasing fuel. The new pump should be fine provided it was installed correctly.
Get the proper relay to start off with. Now drain the fuel tank. Passenger side there is a drain. Go buy a good fuel drier such as BG or Redline, I guess other would work too. pour in a can or two followed by good gasoline, Shell or Sunoco. Replace fuel filter, pull all teh injectors and soak them over night in a strong detergent. You can use seafoam for this.
Soak over night, re install, start car and be happy.
Also make sure the door on the barndoor isnt stuck and or dirty. So go ahead and clean that out as well."Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill
"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf" -George OrwellComment
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Originally posted by Dustyroads View Post
First of all, I would not have replaced a single thing until a few more things were confirmed, but too late for that. Before you blindy replace another thing you need to confirm 2 things: spark and fuel flow at the line connecting to the fuel rail. I would pull the fuel supply line from the back of the fuel rail and direct it into some sort of container, then jump pins 30 - 87 of the fuel pump relay like you did before, when you said you 'heard the pump running'. I use a paperclip, it fits into the terminals nice in case. Make sure there is fuel flow. It should fill a beer bottle in about 4-5 seconds.
Which pump did you replace? Are you aware that there are 2 fuel pumps on the 87 325i? There is one in the tank and one in-line, right next to the tank, right in front of the LR wheel. Right now I suspect you still have a dead pump. You can also spray a quick shot of starting fluid into the throttle body to hear it fire and confirm that it's fuel related. As someone else said, the fuel pumps on this car do *not* start until there is a crank signal, so don't get sidetracked by not hearing the pumps run when you turn on the key.
Also I highly suggest pulling the in tank fuel pump back out, since its so easy to do on these cars, and look inside the tank and make sure the inside of the tank is clean. I recently bought 2 dead 325i convertibles, both of which sat for some years like yours. One of them had 2 dead fuel pumps. I had it running and driving in an hour, but then a few days later I lost a cylinder. I found a clogged injector, and pumped out some fuel into a beer bottle to find that it was full of floaties and the color of pale ale. The tank ended up being full of thick rusty sludge. I replaced the tank (got a nice one for $30 from CL) and pumped some fresh fuel thru the system before hooking the line back to the rail, cleaned the injectors, put it all back together and now she runs like a dream.Comment
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if you replaced the main relay with one that does not have all 5 pins like you said in your first post make sure you have the correct relay it has 2 87 pins for the main relay
and it must not have an 87a otherwise the relay is incorrect and car will not run.
i made that mistake awhile ago wasted money on the incorrect relay.
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