Won't pass 4k!!! Help!!

[russhixmo]

Just picked up an 83 533i and it won't rev past 4k. Any ideas why?

[b*saint]

Are you revving it in neutral?

[Kershaw]

is it an automatic?

[russhixmo]

Any gear even neutral

[russhixmo]

its a 5 speed, someone told me on here that it was the distance the crank sensor was away from the ballancer but im not sure what the distance should be, does anyone know?

[russhixmo]

So mow I'm thinking clogged cat, got a new section of pipe I'm Gunna weld in in and see if that helps by deleting it( there only good for quieting noise anyways as far as I'm concerned)

[Kingb]

If it is hitting a limp mode back until it hits Idle then I would say its a cam wear issue that is seen on some of the euro only motors but you didn't mention anything like that. Care to elaborate on what it does at 4K?

[russhixmo]

At around 3500rpm's it starts to bog out a little then progressively worse as it gets closer to 4k then it won't put down power to push past that i'n any gear including neutral. I've also noticed it's lacking alot of power as well. I'm thinking of unclogging the cat and seeing if that helps any.

[russhixmo]

So I hallowed out the cat to see it that was the problem. It did somewhat resolve the problem but it still chokes up around 4k and mow I need a new cat(was doing an exhaust regardless) I have a feeling it's a cap and rotor issue because of the way it reacts under load. Good news is the power is back though.

[PNWDan]

Sometimes bad wires will cause this. They work at low Rs but as the load increases they misfire

[russhixmo]

Always a possibility, I may as well do the hole ignition system (cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coil) while I'm in there, new maintenance parts never hurt anybody rite.

[russhixmo]

So I got a wild one for those who have been helping me diagnose my problem. After unclogging the cat and changing the wires and plugs I went to go do my cap and rotor and when I pulled my cap about an ounce or so of oil spilled out, naturally I gave the "wtf" face and investigated. The guy who previously owned the car had the valve cover gasket done apparently and when they did it they broke the seal and somehow oil was leaking into my cap causing the spark on the bottom two connections to work sometimes but as it got higher up in the rpms it settled down the bottom causing me to lose those two cylinders. Sprayed it with break clean and dried it off and put the old cap and rotor back on just to see if it was the problem and wouldn't you know it the car runs beautiful. I gotta say though this was a new one for me. Thanx for all the help r3v members.