3.5 rev limit in a 318is?!?!?!?

[Rigmaster]

plug wires?

Whatever you do, DON'T start replacing parts (i.e.-24# injectors) until you figure out what the problem is for sure.

I had one plug wire go bad recently- it burned thru the insulator and was arcing to the valve cover before it got to the plug. Car ran OK without load, then when loaded up, it would miss and not rev worth a crap.

Worth checking anyway.

Fuel problems are typically slow-acting, meaning that the car will sort of "bog" down as the fuel pressure drops, but spark problems are much more fast acting, the car will buck + jump immediately as the spark drops.



Bret.

[asubimmer]

ahh cool...thanks for that info bret. Could I put like more rubber or something to test that? Or should I just replace them?

[lordofthewaters]

Well i agree. I wouldn't install the 24# injectors till you know what the problem is. Afre you going to change the afm too?

As far as the plug wires go, just pop the hood tonight when it's dark, and get someone to turn her over for you. If there's any arcing, you'll see it. Have you checked that plug for spark btw?

[asubimmer]

I need the 24's for the turbo anyway...I'll hold off putting them in though. BTW I checked for sparks after dark tonight and didn't see anything
what now? could they still be bad enough to be giving me this big of trouble and not sparking? Would it help if I made a little video of it bouncing off the "rev limit"? I am really getting tired of this

[asubimmer]

anyone got any ideas?

[AppState325]

sell it and buy a mustang......JK of course. I can vouch for Charlie though, it is really weird, it just bounced off the 4......weird stuff

[asubimmer]

would a little video help any...

[AppState325]

I have some video we just took of the problem, but tinypic won't host them b/c of the format. can anyone else host them?

[asubimmer]

alrighty I figured out how to host it on tinypic.com

You can see how it bounces off:
R3V

[robbieosterman]

Video was helpful, I know you might not want to listen to me because I have a different car, but I want to say I had the EXACT same problem, sometimes I'd get it above 2 - 3,000rpm to redline, other times it'd bounce off 3,000 or so and buck.

Get your fuel pressure checked and/or replace the fuel filter and see what the result is instead of throwing stuff at it.

alrighty I figured out how to host it on tinypic.com

You can see how it bounces off:
R3V

[lordofthewaters]

Well I think if you haven't replaced the fuel filter, then do so anyway. As for robbie's suggestion, it can't hurt. Could very well be a faulty fpr.......

Still wondering if the #2 plug is firing or not..........

[asubimmer]

I don't have a way of checking to see if 2nd is firing...I wish I did. My car isn't smoking at all so who knows. I think I am going to change the fuel filter tonight or tommorro.

[lordofthewaters]

Pull it out but leave the wire connected, and have someone turn the car over it'll spark if everything's as it should be.

[asubimmer]

well the plugs are brand new...well 3 days old. So they are working fine.

[Rigmaster]

well the plugs are brand new...well 3 days old. So they are working fine.

Ahh Grasshopper- do not assume that because the plugs are new, that they are OK!! (Ask me how I know.......) :)

Another thing that could be a problem is a bad coil- since the M42 has 4 coils, if one goes bad, it can make the car run like crap.

If you have an E36 bentley, it should have the resistance specs for checking a coil (or I'm sure someone here will pipe up with those specs....).

I've heard that if you run an M50 with a bad coil for any length of time, it will mess up the ECU..... not sure if this applies to the M42 as well, but it seems like it could since they both use the same coils.


Bret.