the car is a 1991 318i. A stalling issue recently started happening where the I will be driving down the road and i will lose power an the car will stall out. If I turn the key off then on it will start back up but then only run for about 10-15 seconds. rinse and repeat. The next day I will go out to fiddle with it to see if i can find the problem but the car will run fine and not stall out (it seems to only do it when I am trying to get to work). I have recently had a little work done to fix a small battery draw (SI Board was bad) and a brand new battery and everything has been working great since then. Smoke test was done at the shop and the tech said it was tip-top shape. I did and vacuum and intake overhaul a couple of years ago. I checked the cam position sensor as I thought that might be going bad but it is reading 500 ohms which i believe is normal. I haven't checked anything else yet.
I went out yesterday and started the car and it ran for about 30 minutes at idle. I also would occasionally give it some gas and it sounded healthy with no stutters. I did however seam like it was a little rich as I was getting a little more smell from the exhaust, but no smoke. This could be because I let it sit for about a week and a half. But could also be indicative of a fuel issue (possibly the FPR or fuel pump). I am kinda at a loss as what direction to go in to narrow down the problem, especially since the problem doesn't always present itself. I've read some other posts from users with similar problems but nothing that matching my issue with the car running normal on some days. If anyone has experience tracking down what might be causing this I would love to hear how you went about fixing it.
Thanks!
*edit* I forgot that I had a weird issue after the car had come home from the shop with the new battery and SI board, where the SI lights started flashing and the tach would drop, kick back on, then drop out again. Got to work and after my shift I came out to go home and the issue didnt happen again. About a week later was when the engine stall issue started. I dont think it is related, but you never know with these things.
I went out yesterday and started the car and it ran for about 30 minutes at idle. I also would occasionally give it some gas and it sounded healthy with no stutters. I did however seam like it was a little rich as I was getting a little more smell from the exhaust, but no smoke. This could be because I let it sit for about a week and a half. But could also be indicative of a fuel issue (possibly the FPR or fuel pump). I am kinda at a loss as what direction to go in to narrow down the problem, especially since the problem doesn't always present itself. I've read some other posts from users with similar problems but nothing that matching my issue with the car running normal on some days. If anyone has experience tracking down what might be causing this I would love to hear how you went about fixing it.
Thanks!
*edit* I forgot that I had a weird issue after the car had come home from the shop with the new battery and SI board, where the SI lights started flashing and the tach would drop, kick back on, then drop out again. Got to work and after my shift I came out to go home and the issue didnt happen again. About a week later was when the engine stall issue started. I dont think it is related, but you never know with these things.