Hey guys, get cup of coffee and sit down for a good read. I really didn't want to post about this because it's been covered at least a million times. Probably two million times. BUT I'M LOST!!!
A quick background on the motor. I rebuilt it over the winter, top and bottom end. The cylinder head has a bimmerheads 274 cam, the whole head was built by them. (great guys by the way) It has bimmerheads tune and 17lb injectors. This is the exact setup they recommend. So the injectors, tune, and cam should be working in harmony. I also swapped a manual transmission into the car. Lightweight flywheel and performance clutch.
Here are the symptoms.
1. It will not idle no matter what. Even if its life depended on it. (it should fear me at this point)
2. It runs fine if I hold the throttle at about 1000 rpm. Let off and just wants to die and sounds like its about to drop a cylinder out the bottom. (timing?)
3. It starts EVERY time like a dream. But shortly dies if I don't give it a little gas.
5. After two or three hard pulls, it becomes the most unresponsive pile. Any throttle above 3 grand and it sputters and wants to die. If you hold the throttle down (full throttle) it will sometimes jerk back alive and go full throttle as it should. Or just kinda jerk around.
6. The check engine light does come on after some hard pulls, Usually doesn't come on until a minute or so of driving. It throws a 1222 code. Which tells me I'm running too rich or too lean
Here is everything that I've checked.
1. I re adjusted the valves as bimmerheads recommended, it ran much better as they were pretty tight. (But these symptoms are all after i did the valve adjustment, the car was just completely undrivable before.
2. I've checked the plugs to make sure I wasn't running lean. The plugs look like they've been washed clean. So I must be running rich.
3. I checked the resistance on the wires. They seemed to all be in good shape. (but I'm going to take it out at night and look to see if I see any sparking between wires)
4. I pulled off the crank sensor and inspected it. I was told it's pretty much impossible to check these things. So I ordered a new one and it should be here wednesday.
5. I checked for power on the throttle switch, ICV, and crank position sensor. All seemed to check out ok? But in saying that, I can't figure out how a multimeter is supposed to work.. I think I'm too dumb. If anyone could explain which terminal is supposed to show what voltage that would be great.
6. I clean the ICV and inspected it. I can hear it buzz when the ignition is on so it should be just fine. I noticed the fitting that goes from the ICV hose into the throttle body was a bit loose. But I sealed it up. No change in idle.
7. I know the fuel pump works just fine. The car sometimes runs good as long as you're driving and not idling or putting in the clutch to down shift. I also forgot to unplug the fuel pump relay when I was first cranking the motor for oil pressure (first start up) and it built up enough pressure to start leaking out of the fuel filter. oops. At least I know it works.
8. I've checked for vacuum leaks with starter fluid around the common vacuum leak points. No change in idle. (I have to hold the throttle at 1000 rpm or it dies)
Things I'm going to check,
I'm going to do a compression check tonight because I'm afraid that the rings aren't sealing properly. This is obviously an extreme case. I would get a lot of oil on the plugs if this were the case though right? (I'm not getting any oil on plugs)
I ordered a crank position sensor just in case. ONE THING TO NOTE, there was a leaking coolant hose right above the sensor. So it was soaked in coolant. I cleaned it and inspected for any cracks in which coolant could go in. Didn't find any except for where the wire goes into the sensor. Maybe coolant got inside the sensor?
I'm going to ground the motor to body of the car with a jumper cable. I read somewhere that it's possible the motor isn't being grounded correctly. There is indeed a grounding wire already but maybe its not doing its job? (can you feel the desperation of a college kid during finals week now? :D )
My thoughts
I don't think that it has anything to do with leaks in the vacuum system due to it running fine at partial throttle (1000 rpm) and the fact that it doesn't seem to sit at high idle or come down in idle super slow (like a vacuum leak would cause) It did before but after sealing the ICV i can't say its done it again. Though I haven't driven it much due to it just not working.
Once, when doing a test run, I accelerated up to about 4 grand and it cut out hard, like suddenly there was no spark.
I'm pretty convinced it's something electrical, like the cranksensor. But it starts just fine every time. All these symptoms happen when the car is cold or warmed up. It doesn't make a difference.
I actually feel bad posting about this. It's been covered so many times. But I've done the normal checks that people say and so far nothing. Someone once told me that it could be the alternator due to the crazy electrical system these cars have. Has anyone heard that before?
Anyways, this car ran just fine before I swapped the trans and rebuilt the motor. It just leaked oil like a sieve. the timing belt had snapped during previous ownership but it was repaired with new pulley and belt. While the car ran just fine when I bought it, I figured a rebuild was in order. (I was right, the head was ruined. why do broken things run better than nice new things?)
Any suggestions on things to check? I've got my uncles coming over tonight to see what they think. I'm thinking a bad tune thats running it so rich it doesn't have a chance to breath.
A quick background on the motor. I rebuilt it over the winter, top and bottom end. The cylinder head has a bimmerheads 274 cam, the whole head was built by them. (great guys by the way) It has bimmerheads tune and 17lb injectors. This is the exact setup they recommend. So the injectors, tune, and cam should be working in harmony. I also swapped a manual transmission into the car. Lightweight flywheel and performance clutch.
Here are the symptoms.
1. It will not idle no matter what. Even if its life depended on it. (it should fear me at this point)
2. It runs fine if I hold the throttle at about 1000 rpm. Let off and just wants to die and sounds like its about to drop a cylinder out the bottom. (timing?)
3. It starts EVERY time like a dream. But shortly dies if I don't give it a little gas.
5. After two or three hard pulls, it becomes the most unresponsive pile. Any throttle above 3 grand and it sputters and wants to die. If you hold the throttle down (full throttle) it will sometimes jerk back alive and go full throttle as it should. Or just kinda jerk around.
6. The check engine light does come on after some hard pulls, Usually doesn't come on until a minute or so of driving. It throws a 1222 code. Which tells me I'm running too rich or too lean
Here is everything that I've checked.
1. I re adjusted the valves as bimmerheads recommended, it ran much better as they were pretty tight. (But these symptoms are all after i did the valve adjustment, the car was just completely undrivable before.
2. I've checked the plugs to make sure I wasn't running lean. The plugs look like they've been washed clean. So I must be running rich.
3. I checked the resistance on the wires. They seemed to all be in good shape. (but I'm going to take it out at night and look to see if I see any sparking between wires)
4. I pulled off the crank sensor and inspected it. I was told it's pretty much impossible to check these things. So I ordered a new one and it should be here wednesday.
5. I checked for power on the throttle switch, ICV, and crank position sensor. All seemed to check out ok? But in saying that, I can't figure out how a multimeter is supposed to work.. I think I'm too dumb. If anyone could explain which terminal is supposed to show what voltage that would be great.
6. I clean the ICV and inspected it. I can hear it buzz when the ignition is on so it should be just fine. I noticed the fitting that goes from the ICV hose into the throttle body was a bit loose. But I sealed it up. No change in idle.
7. I know the fuel pump works just fine. The car sometimes runs good as long as you're driving and not idling or putting in the clutch to down shift. I also forgot to unplug the fuel pump relay when I was first cranking the motor for oil pressure (first start up) and it built up enough pressure to start leaking out of the fuel filter. oops. At least I know it works.
8. I've checked for vacuum leaks with starter fluid around the common vacuum leak points. No change in idle. (I have to hold the throttle at 1000 rpm or it dies)
Things I'm going to check,
I'm going to do a compression check tonight because I'm afraid that the rings aren't sealing properly. This is obviously an extreme case. I would get a lot of oil on the plugs if this were the case though right? (I'm not getting any oil on plugs)
I ordered a crank position sensor just in case. ONE THING TO NOTE, there was a leaking coolant hose right above the sensor. So it was soaked in coolant. I cleaned it and inspected for any cracks in which coolant could go in. Didn't find any except for where the wire goes into the sensor. Maybe coolant got inside the sensor?
I'm going to ground the motor to body of the car with a jumper cable. I read somewhere that it's possible the motor isn't being grounded correctly. There is indeed a grounding wire already but maybe its not doing its job? (can you feel the desperation of a college kid during finals week now? :D )
My thoughts
I don't think that it has anything to do with leaks in the vacuum system due to it running fine at partial throttle (1000 rpm) and the fact that it doesn't seem to sit at high idle or come down in idle super slow (like a vacuum leak would cause) It did before but after sealing the ICV i can't say its done it again. Though I haven't driven it much due to it just not working.
Once, when doing a test run, I accelerated up to about 4 grand and it cut out hard, like suddenly there was no spark.
I'm pretty convinced it's something electrical, like the cranksensor. But it starts just fine every time. All these symptoms happen when the car is cold or warmed up. It doesn't make a difference.
I actually feel bad posting about this. It's been covered so many times. But I've done the normal checks that people say and so far nothing. Someone once told me that it could be the alternator due to the crazy electrical system these cars have. Has anyone heard that before?
Anyways, this car ran just fine before I swapped the trans and rebuilt the motor. It just leaked oil like a sieve. the timing belt had snapped during previous ownership but it was repaired with new pulley and belt. While the car ran just fine when I bought it, I figured a rebuild was in order. (I was right, the head was ruined. why do broken things run better than nice new things?)
Any suggestions on things to check? I've got my uncles coming over tonight to see what they think. I'm thinking a bad tune thats running it so rich it doesn't have a chance to breath.
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