Stored car for winter, now it runs terribly

[Gooch]

So I put my car away at the beginning of January outside under a car cover until this past weekend. The car was running great when I put it away. Fast forward to this weekend when I tried to start it up. It ran like shit; searching for idle and stalling out.

I was completely surprised because I wasn't expecting this at all. Looking over things I noticed my intake boot was torn in multiple places very badly. Okay, so it was a massive vacuum leak. I ordered a new intake boot from Blunt (which arrived the NEXT day, thanks Blunt!!) installed it and thought for sure it would fix the problem. It didn't. WTF?!?

Stomp test indicated 1215;

MAF Fault: The mass air flow sensor measures the amount of air that is currently being drawn into the engine. A big hole in one of your fuel injection intake boots may cause the car to stall and generate this code.

Alright, so I thought I fixed this with the new intake boot...so I swapped in a spare AFM I had laying around. No dice.

I'm kind of at a loss here. For some background, this past summer I replaced the fuel pump with a TRE 255 LPH, new fuel filter, new CPS, cleaned the ICV, and completed the "mess under the intake". So I honestly have no idea what the deal is here.

(The real kicker is that I have my s52 stripped down to a bare block on an engine stand, sitting in the corner of the garage taunting me.)

Any help, suggestions, or ideas are much appreciated. Thanks, guys.

[Eecen]

Did you use fuel stabilizer?


I just started my 318 yesterday (first time since November) it did the same thing, but the problem went away after some throttle blips/holding at 1000rpm.

[ButtJuice]

Did you use fuel stabilizer?


I just started my 318 yesterday (first time since November) it did the same thing, but the problem went away after some throttle blips/holding at 1000rpm.

Good point.

[AndrewBird]

I'd say bad gas if you didn't change it. Drain it and refill.

[Gooch]

I did not, I've left it over winter for a few years now as I go to school in PA and live in NJ. This year it was left a month longer; Jan-March instead of Feb-March. I was thinking of buying some Techron or similar fuel additive tomorrow just to give it a shot. I assume it couldn't hurt.

It runs fine when I rev it but when it comes back down to idle it will sputter, run shitty, and/or stall out.

[Gooch]

Wow, quite a few posts while I was typing that. I didn't think gas could go bad in that timespan. Couldn't hurt to try it. I'd really like to have this fixed by Sunday when I have to go back to school.

[jaywood]

Wow, quite a few posts while I was typing that. I didn't think gas could go bad in that timespan. Couldn't hurt to try it. I'd really like to have this fixed by Sunday when I have to go back to school.

Kinda hard to say how old the gas is...you don't know how long it was sitting before you filled up from the station. Drain the gas and put some fresh fuel in!

[Gooch]

Very good point, that is now my #1 suspect. Any idea why it would still be throwing 1215 after replacing the intake boot? I'm not aware of a way to clear the codes with the stomp test.

[jaywood]

Did you do the "pedal stomp" method to get your code? (just curious)

1215 appears if there is a break or short-circuit at: Air Mass Flow Meter or its supply wires or the voltage supply to Air Mass Flow Meter insufficient. 1215 is usually caused by a damaged wire

[Gooch]

Jay, I did do the stomp test for the code. My brother actually has a Peake tool that I will be using tomorrow to read/clear the codes. This is the first time I've heard of an insufficient voltage to the AFM from 1215 but I am certainly willing to check it out tomorrow.

EDIT. I did remove the BMW recall jumper wire that was installed between the AFM and the engine harness, and that didn't help.

[ReallyDirtyThirty]

Did you try unplugging the battery for 60 seconds to reset the ECU?

[Gooch]

Yes, and I also just used a bavauto tool to reset the faults, AFM code reappeared. I'm going to go get some fuel additive now we'll see what happens.

[jaywood]

Yes, and I also just used a bavauto tool to reset the faults, AFM code reappeared. I'm going to go get some fuel additive now we'll see what happens.

How much gas do you have in your tank?

Fu*k the additives if you don't have too much gas..just drain it and add new fuel.

[Gooch]

So I got it all figured out...pretty ridiculous actually.

The intake boot has two holes in the bottom; one for the vacuum line for the ICV, the other isn't used on our cars I guess. I remember reading about it somewhere maybe on m42club, so when I installed it I just sort of assumed the other hole was plugged, I didn't even think twice about it. Hooked up the ICV line and that was that.

Well today it hit me while I was checking for vacuum leaks for the millionth time spraying carb cleaner that there is an open bung in the intake boot. Duh. So I grabbed my old one out of the garbage and sure enough it has a plug in it for that hole. So I popped the plug into my new intake boot and voila, car runs fine.

I feel like an idiot, but at least I figured it out. Maybe this will help someone in the future.

[EN318isPDX]

I did the same thing when i replaced my intake boot!