Hey R3V-
I am helping a buddy get his car back on the road after it was sitting for 10 years. Car cracked a head, and was parked for 10yrs.
Backstory:
The car is a 1990 325i, automatic. My buddy had some extra time during covid and wanted to get his E30 back on the road, so he followed an E30 guide, had a crack free 885 head refinished, and performed the HG job. After that, the car would crank but wouldn't start. Wouldn't start with starting fluid, had spark and fuel, but wouldn't fire. I helped him a few days, we swapped every part imaginable with known working parts from my car.
Fast forward:
His business picked back up and brought the car to my place to finish up and get running. First thing I did was check compression, and it wasn't building any. I pulled the head off and brought it to my old trusty machinist, and he found that whoever did the head locally put the seats in crooked and had no valve seal. COOL, explains the no compression.
I got the refinished head on, and before buttoning the car all of the way up, I had everything but the cooling system hooked up, and started it. Car fired right up after building fuel pressure. COOL, problem solved.
With confidence, I then installed the cooling system, accessories, belts, etc etc.
Go to fire the car up, no dice. Same situation as before. Has spark, has fuel (plugs are soaked), verified compression on all cylinders. Verified timing, no issues there. Same exact scenario as before I did all of the work, but this time, with compression.
Plugs are getting soaked, so I figured I'd swap the coolant temp sensor assuming it's telling the DME car is cold so sending too much fuel and washing the cylinders. No dice. Pulled each plug to verify a strong spark. I had a battery with a dead cell once, too, so I also swapped over a fresh battery from Linda. No dice.
Other odd bit of info: if I unplug/replug the battery the first turnover of the engine it tries to come to life but doesn't, and goes right back into it's crankycrankcrank mood.
I have since swapped with parts from my running car:
-Injectors (2 sets, one m50, one m20b25)
-DME
-Crank sensor (ohm at 500)
-Coolant temp sensor
-Plugs
-Coil
-C191 (injector harness)
The car, when started the first time had the AFM unplugged. I have reinacted that scenario, with no change. I unplugged the blue coolant temp sensor plug, and the car sounded like it was firing moreso than normal, just not enough to get it going.
The car started, I shut it off. Installed accessories, cooling system, belts, and now she just cranks with spark fuel compression and air, and won't start.
I am at wits end, and am turning to the R3V crowd for advice. I have NEVER been stumped like this before, and it is incredibly frustrating.
I am helping a buddy get his car back on the road after it was sitting for 10 years. Car cracked a head, and was parked for 10yrs.
Backstory:
The car is a 1990 325i, automatic. My buddy had some extra time during covid and wanted to get his E30 back on the road, so he followed an E30 guide, had a crack free 885 head refinished, and performed the HG job. After that, the car would crank but wouldn't start. Wouldn't start with starting fluid, had spark and fuel, but wouldn't fire. I helped him a few days, we swapped every part imaginable with known working parts from my car.
Fast forward:
His business picked back up and brought the car to my place to finish up and get running. First thing I did was check compression, and it wasn't building any. I pulled the head off and brought it to my old trusty machinist, and he found that whoever did the head locally put the seats in crooked and had no valve seal. COOL, explains the no compression.
I got the refinished head on, and before buttoning the car all of the way up, I had everything but the cooling system hooked up, and started it. Car fired right up after building fuel pressure. COOL, problem solved.
With confidence, I then installed the cooling system, accessories, belts, etc etc.
Go to fire the car up, no dice. Same situation as before. Has spark, has fuel (plugs are soaked), verified compression on all cylinders. Verified timing, no issues there. Same exact scenario as before I did all of the work, but this time, with compression.
Plugs are getting soaked, so I figured I'd swap the coolant temp sensor assuming it's telling the DME car is cold so sending too much fuel and washing the cylinders. No dice. Pulled each plug to verify a strong spark. I had a battery with a dead cell once, too, so I also swapped over a fresh battery from Linda. No dice.
Other odd bit of info: if I unplug/replug the battery the first turnover of the engine it tries to come to life but doesn't, and goes right back into it's crankycrankcrank mood.
I have since swapped with parts from my running car:
-Injectors (2 sets, one m50, one m20b25)
-DME
-Crank sensor (ohm at 500)
-Coolant temp sensor
-Plugs
-Coil
-C191 (injector harness)
The car, when started the first time had the AFM unplugged. I have reinacted that scenario, with no change. I unplugged the blue coolant temp sensor plug, and the car sounded like it was firing moreso than normal, just not enough to get it going.
The car started, I shut it off. Installed accessories, cooling system, belts, and now she just cranks with spark fuel compression and air, and won't start.
I am at wits end, and am turning to the R3V crowd for advice. I have NEVER been stumped like this before, and it is incredibly frustrating.
Comment