Finished "e" to "i" swap. Big problems... Now Fixed!

[ryan_george]

Well today was a productive day. Got everything reinstalled.
I went to start it tonight and I've got 2 big issues. (Using eta tranny btw).

1) Clutch is very strange. I can push the pedal about half way down (very little force), then it just goes solid. I can't push anymore. It will spring back up when I release my foot. I didn't disconnect any clutch lines, so I know there isnt air in the system. If I need to take off that tranny again....

2) It won't start. Won't even turn over. The starter I pulled from the eta was a larger unit than that from the "i", but I used the "i" one because the wiring harness matched up better. After it didn't start I tried plugging the eta starter, but still nothing. I'm getting power through the big wire that runs straight from the positive lead in the engine bay.
What do the other 2 wires from the harness do? There's a smaller red one and a black one. There is also 3 terminals on the starter. I put the 2 red ones onto the biggest terminal, and that seems ok. But I'm not 100% sure about the black one. One terminal seems like it is isolated, and the other one is soldered to a braided line that runs to another point on the starter. Which one should it be connected to?
I'm using the original relays from the eta when it was running.
I also noticed that there is one extra wire on the "i" harness at the c101, that the eta fuse box does not have.

This is excedingly frustrating. I need this car to go to school in a week... Please give me some solid advice.

I'm more concerned about that clutch issue, becuase it seems like it could turn out to be a huge pain in the ass to resolve.

[e9nine]

How did you connect the slave cylinder? Did you ram it in? Can you change gears? I say disconnect the slave cyl, re-attach it, then bleed it. Can't help on the other stuff though.

G.luck

[erik325i]

Re: Finished "e" to "i" swap. Big problems...

2) It won't start. Won't even turn over. The starter I pulled from the eta was a larger unit than that from the "i", but I used the "i" one because the wiring harness matched up better. After it didn't start I tried plugging the eta starter, but still nothing. I'm getting power through the big wire that runs straight from the positive lead in the engine bay.
What do the other 2 wires from the harness do? There's a smaller red one and a black one. There is also 3 terminals on the starter. I put the 2 red ones onto the biggest terminal, and that seems ok. But I'm not 100% sure about the black one. One terminal seems like it is isolated, and the other one is soldered to a braided line that runs to another point on the starter. Which one should it be connected to?
I'm using the original relays from the eta when it was running.
I also noticed that there is one extra wire on the "i" harness at the c101, that the eta fuse box does not have.

The starter wiring varies depending on year. I believe 88 and older use three wires and 89 and newer use four (check Bently). On my '89, There are four posts on the starter and four wires. Two are big, and two are small posts. One big post has the braided cable on it. Leave that one alone. Nothing goes on that one. The other large post is where you connect the two big wires (one to the battery, and one to the alternator). The last two wires go to the two remaining posts. I don't remember which ones off the top of my head though. Good luck. Hope this helps.

[Jand3rson]

Ryan, the starting problem you are having sounds almost identical to the problem that Jordan and myself had when we swapped an 87 325i motor into my last E30, an 88 325 (didn't have the super-eta motor, just a normal eta). When we got the motor and harness from the 325i in, the car would not start at all, wouldn't even turn over. We eventually got the idea to swap the 325e harness back in, and it started right up.

If you want more info on the specifics, talk to Jordan, because I don't remember exactly what the issue was, only that once we put the 325e harness back in, it fired right up.

[DaN]

What transmission/ flywheel/clutch kit are you using? E or I
If I remember correctly there are some differences in at least the flywheels.

[ryan_george]

What transmission/ flywheel/clutch kit are you using? E or I
If I remember correctly there are some differences in at least the flywheels.

I'm using a lightened 325i flywheel with the 325i clutch kit. The tranny came from the "e".

Ryan, the starting problem you are having sounds almost identical to the problem that Jordan and myself had when we swapped an 87 325i motor into my last E30, an 88 325 (didn't have the super-eta motor, just a normal eta). When we got the motor and harness from the 325i in, the car would not start at all, wouldn't even turn over. We eventually got the idea to swap the 325e harness back in, and it started right up.

If you want more info on the specifics, talk to Jordan, because I don't remember exactly what the issue was, only that once we put the 325e harness back in, it fired right up.

How did you do this? The 325e harness has no input for the ignition pulse or the crank position sensor. I would imagine that it wouldn't start without those sensors connected.

How did you connect the slave cylinder? Did you ram it in? Can you change gears? I say disconnect the slave cyl, re-attach it, then bleed it. Can't help on the other stuff though.

G.luck

How am I supposed to put it in? I did have to push on the back of it to get it flush with the tranny. It probably moved about 1/2 - 3/4 inch. Is this an issue? I figured there was excess fluid in there from the pressure being released, so pushing it back in would be ok.
I can change gears fine, but I will check today to see if the clutch is disengaging or not.

The starter wiring varies depending on year. I believe 88 and older use three wires and 89 and newer use four (check Bently). On my '89, There are four posts on the starter and four wires. Two are big, and two are small posts. One big post has the braided cable on it. Leave that one alone. Nothing goes on that one. The other large post is where you connect the two big wires (one to the battery, and one to the alternator). The last two wires go to the two remaining posts. I don't remember which ones off the top of my head though. Good luck. Hope this helps.

Both starters have 3 terminals, one of them being attached to the braided cable. Both engine harnesses have 2 wires that go to the starter. So I guess I had it wired up correctly.

[NickP]

What year is your car and what year was the wiring harness from?

[ryan_george]

What year is your car and what year was the wiring harness from?

The "i" engine and harness came from a 12/86 car. The car that it's going into is a 5/86 325.


UPDATE:

Well I've got the starter working. It's cranking nicely, but there is no spark. I've got new distributer, rotor, plugs. Wires are used but were working fine before. I checked the resistance of the CPS and it is within specs, so I assume it's working fine.

The clutch issue was a strange one. I removed the slave cylinder and found that it wasn't pushing out enough to fully disengage the pressure plate. I had to fab up a longer push rod for it, and now it engages and disengages perfectly. Feels like it should.

But I've still got this issue of no spark. Trying to determine what it might be... Is there any easy way to test the ECU if it's functioning? I don't have access to any spare "i" ECUs though.

[ryan_george]

Well I'm stumped. I've gone through the entire Bentley trying to find something that would help. Nothing.
After all of this cranking I went to check the plugs. They didn't seem overly wet with gas. So that leads me to my next problem. Possibly no fuel. Now on friday the car was running fine with "e" engine, so I know that the pumps are good.
I have to assume that it's got a bad ECU. Anyone care to disagree? I've exhausted all the possibilities. When an ECU goes bad, is that just the one chip, or the entire computer box? Maybe this is my excuse to get a MarkD chip then...

-Ryan

[Jordan]

Josh's harness was a 88 super eta harness. It worked with his "later" c101 connector, when the 87 325i harness did not.

[ryan_george]

Josh's harness was a 88 super eta harness. It worked with his "later" c101 connector, when the 87 325i harness did not.

That makes a little more sense.

Any opinions on my little ECU dilema?

[DaN]

Are you getting any signal out of the crank sensor?
Should be getting some a/c voltage out of it when cranking.

[ryan_george]

Are you getting any signal out of the crank sensor?
Should be getting some a/c voltage out of it when cranking.

Is it possibly to read that with a regular digital multimeter? I would think I'd need an oscilloscope to read that.
But no, I'm not sure if there is a signal or not. The only way the Bentley describes checking it is to check the resistance of it.

[DaN]

Yea, you can check it with a digital meter.
Set it to ac volts, the little squigly line.

Maybe check power, ground at the ecu (dme).

[ryan_george]

Well, I had to have it towed to an indie BMW shop to solve this damn starting problem.
It took them about 3 hours to diagnose (read.... $400).
There was a problem with the OBC that I installed before the engine went in. It was the "i" OBC and I had it working fine with the eta engine in there, but once the "i" ECU popped into the picture, shit started happening. They managed to solve it by bridging some wires by the OBC relay box. I'm rather dissappointed that I didn't even think about the OBC, but live and learn.

I am very impressed with the difference between a fresh "i" engine and my tired eta engine. I know most of you have enjoyed your m20b25 for a while now, but it's a new experience for me! It's really hard to force myself not to rev it, because it's just begging for it! Damn engine break ins....

Thanks to everyone who had some valuable input.

:D