Long cranking.

[Groove_D]

I've had this problem on and off and i'm getting fed up with it. Maybe someone else had the same issues so if you could share any info on it?
Cold starts it alwats starts perfect. Sometimes when you start the car on the cold start and then shut it off right after it would crank forever untill it starts again. The other times the car will be completely warmed up and i will shut it off for few minutes to run into the store and it will also have those symptoms. It doesn't happen all the time though.
Few days ago it finally let me down and my battery obviously died cause i cranked it too long. I pulled out the sparkplugs and they were soaking wet with fuel. I did the injector flush already and that didn't help. It happenned today again. I had to step on the gas pedal and hold it down while cranking and only then it started. I smelled unburnt fuel from the exhaust.
So what do you guys think it is? Leaking injectors?
Maybe i'm not getting spark? I didn't check for it by trying ground the wire with the plug. I know sometimes you can see a spark but its not strong enough to ignite the mixture.

Any info is appreciated.

[greese]

Fuel pump. I replaced mine 1 1/2 years ago with a junk yard part. Always started but long crank. The replaced pump died last week. Decided to buy a new pump this time and the car starts immediatley. Check for fuel pump failure.

[Groove_D]

If it was the fuel pump problem, how would i get fuel on my sparkplugs?
Fuel pump was replaced on the car couple of years ago.

[speedaddict]

it will supply fuel but not enough to have the burn to force the pistons down. or the fuel pressure regulator is starting to go bad.

[eyagel]

fuel pump, or fuel pressure regulator.

[kenika65]

What year is your 325is?

Do you have spark when the starting problem occurs? If so what color is the spark, blue, white, yellow...

Does it blow white smoke when if finally starts back up? If so yes you could have injectors leaking or your fuel return line could be clogged causing high fuel pressure.

But this sounds like spark to me and could be a bad ecu so tap on ecu in glove box when having no spark problem, could have a cracked solder.

Dont forget to check your coil, it could be overheating and not working until its cooled again.

[Groove_D]

The problem happened again. I chipped the ecu by the way but it has nothing to do with it. Problem was there before. Now when it happened i stepped on the gas pedal and it fired up after a bit of cranking. Smelled rich fumes from the exhaust raw fuel smell.
It's quite possible to be a spark problem but if the coil was not good the car could have shut off while driving wouldn't it? I haven't checked for the spark but i will next time.
What does color of the spark tells you though and anyone know resistance of the coil?
It's a 325 is 1990.

[kenika65]

Now I am wondering when the last time you changed your spark plugs?

[Groove_D]

2 weeks ago and i used the proper sparkplugs.
I haven't changed the rotor, cap and wires. No idea if this was ever changed before.

[Groove_D]

P.S and if any of those components were not good it wouldn't be that intermittent i believe. It always starts on the cold start.

[wagonizzle]

Are you throwing any codes? I used the stomp test to trace down a bad coolant temp sensor that failed two days after I bought the car. Acted similar to your car. I was shitting a brick but it cost me under $20 for a new one. These cars will 'talk' to you and let you know what's going on. With a little forum help you should be able to track this down. Good luck.

P.S. A lot of things are different when the car is cold... motronic 1.3 can help guide you down the right path

[Groove_D]

There is no engine codes, well at least the engine light is not on.
I've never done a stomp test either. It seemed a bit tricky. You have to stomp the pedal 5 times within 10 secs interval? And then how do you count?
Between each digit there is a longer interval while the next digit starts to flash?

[kenika65]

http://opel-scan.ru/files/DME_1.1_1.3.pdf

Here you go this should help...

On a normal car when it wont start up after driving because of spark the ignition module, or coil needs to be replace and if it is getting too much fuel then there is a clog in the fuel system causing high fuel pressure which makes the injectors leak fuel... if you have a friend with an extra ecu try it out... and make sure your fuel return line is not clogged. have you checked your fuel pressure?

[Groove_D]

No i haven't checked the fuel pressure. I know when i got the car the vaccum line from the regulator was either ripped off or disconnected. It looked more like it got old and just broke leaving the left over on the regulator vaccum housing. It idles fine when you look at the tachometer but i do feel some rpm change at the engine though not alot though.
How can i check for the return line being clogged? I know it's attached to the regulator.
Should i open the fuel cap and blow air through the return line?
The thing that bothers me, it doesn't happen all the time. If the line was clogged or fuel pressure was too high it would have been doing it every single time.

[kenika65]

To check spark bring a extra spark plug with you and when it wont start hopefully someone is with you.

They can turn the key after you put the extra spark plug in any plug wire and touch the plug to bare metal to ground it if no spark or faint spark then it is your coil or ecu.

As for your return line lets check spark first!

So let me get this right it happens after you turn it off when the engine is warm or even when the engine is cold?