M42 problems,No start

[e30jr88]

Hey guys having issues with my 91 318i, cant seem to get it to turn on.
Here is the story behind what happened when the problem started:

I went to the store a few weeks ago and the car drove fine up there and all maybe only sat in the lot for about 15min, then when i go to start it I get hesitantion then I proceed to start it at WOT and it turned on. I was driving and I slight rumble noise was coming from what I thought to be coming around the Exhaust manifold area, so kept driving it.

Once I was about 5minutes away from my house while sitting on a redlight it turned off on me and the only way to start it was by having the throttle all the way open. I kept driving and restarting the car for about 2-3 times. when I was maybe 2 minutes away the cr starts to smoke up as if it had overheated. Parked her outside the house and took a look under and there was water coming out of the radiator cap.

The next day i proceed to put some water in the radiator and once I did that I started right up, BUT when I went to drive it all went to $hits. Car died and hasnt started since then.

Things I noticed:
-The spark plugs were VERY wet(oil), therefore I replaced gaskets.

-There is alot of oil in the intake manifold and when I try to start the car it does like a back fire effect in the intake boot. When I took off the boot and tried to fire her up slight pop/flame occurs.
- I also noticed that the CPS was drained in dirt so I cleaned it but still didnt help.
- swapped batteries with a truck I have and that didnt helop either
-checked all fuses and all were good.

Need help on what to check for next, I don't know where to go next. Also is the manifold supposed to have any oil in there at all? Because there are drops in there. Thanks

[KenC]

Check the throttle position sensor first.

[e30jr88]

Check the throttle position sensor first.

How would I go by diagnosing if its good or bad?

[KenC]

I'm not sure of the values, but you check the resistance with a multimeter. A quick Google should do it.

[3bvert]

I beleive your car would start even wiht a bad throttle postion sensor, I know because I had a problem with mine and unplugged it. It was unplugged for weeks before I got the new one in. Ran fine, idle was not great, did not like to idle like as if it had a bad ICV

maybe I have something wrong with my car and computer, cause after I put the new one in, it ran better, idled better, and for giggles I unplugged it, and it still ran.

So try it, un plug it, see if your car starts, if it does then maybe it is bad and is sending some strange signal to the computer

[e30jr88]

Will check it tonight and try to diagnose it, don't have too much experince with issues dealing with the TPS so don't know the common symptoms.

If anyone has any more ideas please let me know, what I don't get is why is there drops of oil in the throttle body and a bit in the manifold. Could this be a cause of the small flame that happens when I try turning the car on?

[KenC]

Small flame?? Sounds like you're probably running super rich.

The oil in the intake and TB is normal. Well a little bit is.

[e30jr88]

Small flame?? Sounds like you're probably running super rich.

The oil in the intake and TB is normal. Well a little bit is.

Yeah I know thats what I was thinking but can't pin point on where I should start looking to figure out why I'm getting those small flames. It's strong enough to move the intake boot in the way a heart beat would move and moves the whole intake. It's a weird thing thats going on just wish I knew where to start.

[KenC]

I'd try the ECU and FPR. Can you smell raw fuel in the tail pipe?

[e30jr88]

So this weekend I was able to get the cause for the car not functioning properly, i took off the top filter housing and all was clear when I saw the "milkshake" oil around the filter, sigh. It sucks that i'm going to have to tear her apart but so far I've taken off the radiator and timing cover with the valve cover. Will try to do all the intake and fuel components throughout the week.

I have a question though regarding putting the engine in TDC I've read a few write ups where they move the crank to get the first piston into a position. My question is how do I lock the crank so that it wont move? Do I need a special tool or can it be done differently to where I don't need a special tool?

[KenC]

The only special "tool" you need is the cam lock tool. The cams won't stay in TDC position without tension from the chain.

You don't really need to lock the crank. Just make sure it's right at TDC before dropping the head on and don't move it.

[e30jr88]

Question: when I take the head to be resurfaced, how do I go by making sure that the top end stays "in time" so that I wont have timing issues when installing?

[KenC]

Question: when I take the head to be resurfaced, how do I go by making sure that the top end stays "in time" so that I wont have timing issues when installing?

It won't. You need to pull the cams to get the head resurfaced.

[e30jr88]

It won't. You need to pull the cams to get the head resurfaced.

Thanks alot for the info.

[e30jr88]

Hey guys need some help, while removing the water pump I've come to some troubles. Half of the water pump is stuck in the block!!! There is alot of corrosion around the pump so i'm guessing thats why the other half is stuck.. any ideas on how I might be able to take it off?


Also one of the bolts that held the water pump snapped! and half of it is stuck in there... sigh. I have no idea how to remove either the bolt of the water pump. any help would be appreciated.