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HELP – hit pothole, car died?

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    HELP – hit pothole, car died?

    Hi guys, sorry about this being my first post. I've been lurking every day for weeks, been meaning to make a member's ride post, but well...now I have this problem:


    1991 318is with a well maintained 72K miles


    - 2 blocks from work this morning, hit a pothole @ 15-20mph, pretty solid jolt, mostly felt it in the middle of the car. Probably bottomed out the suspension and hit the exhaust, which hangs low.

    - Car immediately died and all the dash lights came on. ??? Turned off/on, started up no problem.

    – CHECK ENGINE light stayed lit.

    - Let off the throttle, car died. Turned off/on, started right up again, gave it some throttle pedal to keep it running. CHECK light still on.

    - Drove 2 blocks to work, car ran perfectly, no issues. Came to a stop, died at idle.

    - Off/on/start and pulled into parking lot.

    - Popped hood, nothing seems obviously out of place. Popped trunk and battery seems fine. No smell of gasoline, no fluid leaks (checked 2 hours later, still no fluid leaks)


    I have no idea what's going on, perhaps the jolt killed a sensor? Knocked something loose in the electrical system? Like I said, it ran perfectly with throttle applied, but won't idle – fuel starvation? Bad fuel pump? I don't know, I'm no mechanic and I'm at a total loss.

    Any ideas? Thanks!

    #2
    Perhaps you smashed the catalytic converter or knocked O2 sensor loose. Do the 91s have codes that can be read? I have an 84 so no codes to read.

    Get a copy of the Bentley manual. There is a PDF version floating around.

    Comment


      #3
      If the O2 sensor got wacked about and failed, would that cause a poor (or no) idle?

      Comment


        #4
        my guess would be that something got jolted loose. maybe the crank position sensor plug?

        1989 Coupe build thread: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=312012
        IG: @mitchlikesbikes

        Comment


          #5
          Did a stomp test and got 1-2-7-1

          "Ignition Coil 1"

          Comment


            #6
            Fixed it!

            Hose on the ICV was what came loose (can't believe I didn't notice it earlier). I plugged it in, tightened the c-clamp, and problem solved. Car idles perfectly again and the CHECK ENGINE light went off on its own.



            Now as for the ignition coil #1, that's a whole different issue. But I can deal with that on my own time now.

            Thanks!

            Comment


              #7
              u lucky
              sigpic
              Reich und Roll!

              Comment

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