ETA head swap questions -won't start, need help

[shawmcbigdis]

Swap or not, it's the same starter motor and wiring ;), the m42 is wired this way (as well as m52, m54 etc). The odd ball is the pre-facelift e30's, they used only the starter engagement lug. I used that thread to give you a visual.

Your starter is the same as the one in the pics in that thread, but you have the early style spades. I wouldn't suggest soldering, just use quality crimp connectors/pliers and snip/strip/crimp just like the factory did. If you notice, the only place BMW used solder is on circuit boards, never on wiring.

It's the black/green, excuse my mistake. Often when typing, it's from memory. :/ Correct, that black/green needs to go to the top lug.

OK, so if my starter does i supposed to be wired the same as these, then the black/yellow goes to one spade, and the black/green goes to the other spade. Does it matter which spade each goes to? Like I sais, on mine the spades are bottom and top, and I'm fairly certain the old black/yellow was on the bottom.

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, so I wired the starter, just like the diagram on that other thread, hopefully that all works properly.

Next problem, water pump pulley. I can't find a used one locally, and $110+ for new is just plain highway robbery, as is $80 used on eBay. So, I did the math and the water pump will be about 12% slower if I use the ETA pulley on it. I highly doubt this will be a problem as long as I can find a belt that fits. Anyone have any take on that? is a 12% reduction in water pump and fan speed a big deal?

That's less than what most under-drive pulleys lower things, so I really don't think there will be an issue.

Actually given the fact that it will now rev higher, and I will hopefully be putting a 3.73 rear end when I can find one I don't think it will make any difference at all. Car will be reving more than it was, so the reduction in in ratio shouldn't matter. I just need to find a belt that works.

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, so got it all together this morning. Unplugged the coil to crank it a bit and prime the fuel system. It cranked, so I plugged in the coil, tried to start again, and it just cranks, but doesn't fire.

I know its getting fuel because after cranking for a bit without firing the fuel filter will start to leak a bit (can fix that later, its not constant it just after 5 or more seconds of cranking without starting). I know it has spark, tested it with one of those in-line light up units. I double checked the spark plug wires on the distributor to make sure they are in the right order.

So if engine is turning, its pumping fuel, and sparking, what is going on? My though is it may be pumping fuel but the injectors aren't injecting? But I have no idea how to test that. They are brand new Ford 19lB injectors.

Any thought or tips?

[shawmcbigdis]

I just pulled a plug to check for fuel, no smell of fuel on the plug and it is bone dry. Also checked the harness for injector 1 and 2 for voltage with key in run, both are getting 12+v.

So all the basics, seem to be in order. I still feel like the injectors aren't spitting out fuel though, but how do I test for that?

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, did some more investigating. Hooked up an analog multimeter to the injector plug and when trying to start the car I get voltage spike, then I also put a screwdriver against the injector while tryong to start and could here it clicking.

So injectors are firing, as are spark plugs. I still don't know for sure there is actually fuel in the fuel rail, any way to test pressure at the rail itself? How much fuel will shoot out if I take the return line off the rail and try to start?

I've double checked the plug wires, but I am going to check them again just to be sure.

I also remember reading something about the main/fuel pump and ABS relays sometimes having to change when you do a swap, but now I can't find wherever that was mentioned. What I thought was odd is if I pull the main relay the car will still crank and pump fuel, not sure if it was sparking though I didn't' test that. I thought it wouldn't even crank with the main relay pulled?

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, well there was the first ID10T error. I had the fuel lines backwards, I had feed going to the FPR and return coming off the rail.

So fixed that, cranked it for a bit, started to try to fire, but wouldn't catch. Let it rest a few seconds, tried again, and it fired up after about 10 seconds of cranking, but run really rough and died after 5 or so seconds. Since then, its only just barely coughed a bit while cranking. It won't completely fire.

Soooooo, what now? It seems like it should start, just won't.

[Tinkerer007]

Is the AFM from an ETA, or an M20b25?
Does it run if you unplug the AFM?

[shawmcbigdis]

Is the AFM from an ETA, or an M20b25? Does it run if you unplug the AFM?

AFM is from the b25 (as is everything above the block). I haven't tried starting with it unplugged. I can do that when I get home. I also have a fuel pressure gauge on the way that I will install tonight, to see what that is. Although, I didn't touch the pump or anything in the fuel system (before the motor) so I'm not really sure why I wouldn't have enough pressure now. Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[shawmcbigdis]

So got home and went to put in the pressure gauge and luckily realized before i cut the fuel line why it was so much cheaper than all the rest. Only goes to 15PSI.

So I decide to just install the FPR from my ETA fuel rail. Its only 2.5 bar, but if the other one is bad, it will work better than it. Sure enough after 2 cranks it fires up! Ran really bad, but kept running with some throttle blips, after about 30 seconds it was able to idle on its own.

Hooray!

So after it warmed up, it starts and runs fine now, although it idles kind of low, prob about 500 or so RPM, and just a little rough. Revs smooth though. Spent a while bleeding the cooling system. Have to go out of town for work tomorrow so will hopefully get it on the road for a test drive Friday night, or Saturday.

So will the idle work itself out, or is there a way to adjust it? It never rose up the whole time it was idling while bleeding it tonight.