"Check Engine" light keeps flashing

[Cong405]

What's going on guys?

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is ready for the new year.

Alright, now lets get down to business. I hope someone here can help me and yes... I did use the search feature that the forums have to offer before I posted this thread. :D

I have a problem with my 91 318is but I'm not really sure how to diagnose the car. The problem with the car is that the "check engine" light keeps flashing. It flashes every now and then while I'm driving slow but it would flash constantly when I'm on the highway accelerating. Also, when I was driving in traffic on the highway earlier, I noticed that the car started to jerk when I would step on the gas. It felt like a jerk when you down shift at a high speed. When I picked up speed, the car started to jerk more and this time it was pretty constant. On top of that, when I came to a complete stop, the rpm would jump up and down and then the car would either struggle to stay alive or just die.

When this happened, I pulled over and performed the stomp test. The code 1444 came up. I looked up the code # and there's seems to be nothing wrong with the car. I'm not sure what other test I can perform to find out what's the problem.

I'm thinking that it may be miss firing but I'm not really sure and where to start looking.

If anyone can suggest any other test or what might be the problem, I would really appreciate it.

TIA!

[blunttech]

my first guess is vac leaks check the mess under the intake and read up on how to delete that shit. Ill see if I can find the thread for you
Have you checked your intake boot for leaks and cracks? dont beat on it till you figure it out Its leaning out

here read this

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2742

[jlevie]

Are you sure this is the Check engine light (in the lower left of the cluster) or is it the Check Panel light between the speedometer and tachometer?

If in fact it is the Check Engine light the only reason that it would flash and not store a code in the DME would be if the DME is loosing power. That could be a bad main relay, bad fusible link, a problem with the ignition switch, or a wiring fault.

[kishg]

or a vacuum leak... it may not be flashing but coming on intermittently when idle but not under load. i think blunty's one the money with the intake boot. every other e30 i've seen has that cracked.

[blunttech]

or a vacuum leak... it may not be flashing but coming on intermittently when idle but not under load. i think blunty's one the money with the intake boot. every other e30 i've seen has that cracked.

Hey kish, I wanted to wait till I was back in gods country and in the safety of my compound to tell you this but I drove your tow vehicle pulling your spec car while at Gutenfest. It was hot as a motherfucker and I took my pants off and drove to levents shop with my ballbag on your drivers seat

[kishg]

Hey kish, I wanted to wait till I was back in gods country and in the safety of my compound to tell you this but I drove your tow vehicle pulling your spec car while at Gutenfest. It was hot as a motherfucker and I took my pants off and drove to levents shop with my ballbag on your drivers seat

lol. i was wondering why the cab smelt of old man piss.. did you forget to pack your depends on that trip?

[blunttech]

lol. i was wondering why the cab smelt of old man piss.. did you forget to pack your depends on that trip?

just hangin it out there feelin natural dude

[kishg]

well as long as you didn't make levent drink milkshake while driving..

[Cong405]

Thanks for the advice and link Blunt. I'll definitely will check that out when the sun rises.

Are you sure this is the Check engine light (in the lower left of the cluster) or is it the Check Panel light between the speedometer and tachometer?.

Yup, I'm sure it's the "Check engine" light on the bottom left of the panel.

What's weird is, I performed another stomp test earlier today and a new sequence of flashes came up. The new code error is 1288. I see every other error # that is listed on this site but there's nothing about error 1288.

Any idea?

[Cong405]

I'm a little late but, Happy New Years to all!

Alrighty... I finally got my internet backup and some updates about my car situation, unfortunately it's bad.

After reading the advice that was given in this thread, I went out and tried to figure out the problem myself. After a few hours in the cold and snow with no result, I decided to bring my car out to a pretty well known BMW specialist shop in my area. I just spoke to the person (head mechanic/owner I believe) who was working on my car and he told me that he's pretty sure that it's an electrical problem and have never came across this type of issue in all his years of being a mechanic. They swapped the DME, crank sensor, and performed a camscope but still can't figure out the problem.

So my new dilemma right now is what should I do next? I am out $300 and he still can't find out what's wrong with the car. He told me that he would have to test everything out on the car and who knows how much it's going to cost till he figure out what's wrong.

I don't know what to do!!! Should I continue or what should I do? Any advice anyone?


::Sigh::: way to start off the new year:|

[priapism]

I have the same issue. So far my choice has been to ignore it. It seemed to coincide with a very slight vacuum leak (I'm presuming--it idles a little chunky). jlevie knows his shit so that's where I'd start. My guess was a loose relay--it started up after I bumped someone in traffic.

[pepe1136]

Hello Cong405, It seems I have the same problem on my 1989 320i. Did you finally find the reason? Thanks from Spain.

[jrobie79]

don't mean to bring this back from the dead, but I was wondering if anyone found a resolution....same exact thing on my car, although it seems to run just fine regardless if the light goes on or not, it's more annoying than anything