Check engine light

[iPee]

Long story and wasn't sure if I should have posted in the Electronics section or here.

I went to The Ridge Motorsports Park today. I did 7 20 minute sessions the car ran fine no issues. As I was leaving the track the check engine light started flashing intermittently, but the car still felt normalish maybe a bit hesitant as I gave it more throttle. I babied the car back and when I reached Seattle ish the light never came back on again. Any idea whats going on?

When I reached closer to the boarder car started smelling like rotten eggs so I thought it was the cat, but once I reached home, Vancouver and popped the trunk the battery was boiling over. Could this have caused the check engine light to go off? There wasn't any smell though when I left The Ridge.

I have the Luke Box sound system
Bav Auto ground kit
Replaced alternator Nov 2015
Replaced battery Feb 2014(Motomaster)


Should I still do a stomp test?
Also how come some e30s have the check engine light in the middle of the dash and some have it on the lower left area of the dash? They both function the same way correct?


Thanks

The Ridge was a blast by the way, hopefully have all this sorted out before next time.

[roguetoaster]

Yes, do a stomp test.

The battery actually released fluid, if so you need to 1., assess the current condition or just replace it, 2., clean the area above/below it ASAP, 3., diagnose the case of the failure if possible as you don't want a repeat with a new battery.

The check engine light is always in the LL panel if the car is capable of utilizing one, or so I believe. The center light is a check light for the overhead panel functions.

[iPee]

Ahhhhh okay that makes sense then since I don't have an overhead check panel. I was wondering why my car didn't have the middle check light.

It was steaming out the breather tube, guess that counts as liquid.

I'll have a look at it tonight tomorrow.


Thanks

[roguetoaster]

Oh, well it sounded more drastic than that. If the breather is all connected it just ran on the ground, and won't cause any real issues with the body of the car. In that case I'd check the fluid level in the battery/verify output when under no load and when charging. I suspect that you'll see an overcharge situation, so be safe when checking the battery.

[iPee]

I checked the output under idle and it was 15.9/16V. So I believe the VR is done. Also I did the stomp test and it gave me the code 1231 which seems to point to this issue as well. I pulled the old VR out pictured on the left and it looks a little different than the Bosch(right) replacement I bought a while back. Physically the brushes still look okay could something internally be wrong? What can cause the VR to fail?

I couldn't wiggle the Bosch one back in so I'll need to pull the alternator and test it another time. It's getting late and the GF is probably waiting lol. Times like these I wish I still lived at home. Sorry for the big pictures.

[roguetoaster]

It's quite possible that the no-name, made in China regulator you had went bad in some way, or was never right for the application in the first place.. However, the only failure of a VR that I've seen has been worn brushes.

[iPee]

Oh man things just got a lot more complicated. So I took out alternator swapped in the Bosch VR, and plugged everything back up. Car batt measured 12.8V. Turned the key to on. Lights come on, radio comes on everything seems fine. Cranked the engine and everything just shut off. Measured batt and still read same voltage. Turned the key to On and nothing comes on anymore.

On the alternator there are 3 wires.
Thicker one goes closer to engine, smaller one goes closer to the fender side. The 3rd is the ground and goes to the alternator bracket/mount plate thing. I'm pretty sure that is the correct connection.

Also I couldnt' get the bottom alternator bolt back in all the way. It may be slightly bent I also had trouble getting the bottom one in last time when I replaced the alternator. It is in enough though for the alternator not to shift around. I can't see how this would affect the car not starting on even powering on anymore. Also it's in enough that it doesn't interfere with the belts.

Other than that I can't see where I may have went wrong :(.

[Boris3]

No power to anything at all (including lights on the dash, interior lights when the door is open, etc)? You probably already checked this but as a start and especially if you pulled the battery to clean things up from the overflow take a look at your battery cables where they connect to the battery terminals to make sure they are on tight, and the ground cable from the battery to the car.

[iPee]

Thanks I'll have another look at those. Correct there is no power to anything. Also I should check the fuses and relays maybe something has blown when I cranked it. Any specific fuse/relay I should look at?

As for the bottom alternator bolt I think it's getting jammed up in the bushing, should I just bore it out a little? I'll probably head to hardware store too and get a new bolt in case mine is slightly bent.

[roguetoaster]

You should check all of your main grounds, and then look for power at the engine bay terminal.

The best way to get the bottom bolt is to do it first and jiggle the alt as you try to feed it through. Failing that take your ratchet and tighten (even though it's not through) the bolt when it's stuck.

[iPee]

I'm guessing that would be the junction block by the passenger firewall.

The bottom bolt is such a PTIA, I've tried doing it first and ratcheting it in to no avail. It goes in about 3/4 and does not move anymore. Even tried tapping it lightly with a hammer. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll keep trying with the ratchet.

[Gkwan]

For the alternator bolt, have you tried indexing the opposite side of the bolt with another bolt to line up the bracket? Maybe it's not lined up on the bottom?

[iPee]

Didn't have a bolt that short and big enough to index it properly. That's a technique I used last time. This time I just used a screw lol guess that is pointless. You got time next weekend or weekday to take a look if I don't get it done this weekend?

[iPee]

Woooh feels good to have this sorted out now. I'm not sure what was wrong before but I just redid all my connections and got the alternator back in properly this time. The indexing method worked great but still need a light tap with the hammer to get the bottom bolt all the way through.

There were several fuses blown, but I don't see how'd that prevent any power going to car or starting at all.

18 - auxillary fan
20 - heater blower air con
30 - passenger fog light

Was wondering for awhile now why the right fog light was out, glad that's sorted out now as well.

Lastly anyone know if this is a grounding point and where it's supposed to attach to.




Thanks for all the help guys, can't wait to get back on the road.

[roguetoaster]

That's a ground point for engine bay mounted battery cars.