engine died while driving

[paulpoko21]

Hello
i was driving my e30 down the road when out of no where the engine just died..
I know the fuel is good
i think the spark plugs are good too
I'm thinking it is the fuel pump
since it was running and the engine shut down does that narrow it down to anything in particular?
Thanks

[aegul44]

I assume you don't have any check engine light on. If you don't, it sounds like a fuel pump to me. Check your fuel pressure to be 100% sure.

[e30onBBSs]

Check your cps I put mine back in the car wrong and my fan ate through the wires after a couple weeks of being lucky.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Check for spark, easiest thing.

Pull a plug, place it in the plug wire/coil, place plug in the end and rest the threads of the plug against clean metal on the engine. Have someone crank it over (shut it back off if it fires, not going to hurt anything though) and watch for spark. If you have spark, move on. If no spark, figure out why.

If you have spark, now time to check for fuel. The best way to do this is with a fuel pressure gauge, but I tend to just open something at the fuel Rail or press the Schrader valve to make sure there is pressure.

If no pressure, I like to head straight to the fuel pump. Disconnect the fuel pump connector and plug a test light jn to one of the terminals, other end of the test light to a good ground. Crank the motor over and see if it lights up. If no, switch to the other wire. If still no power, then figure out why.

If you DO see power at that last test, but didn't see any pressure at the rail, replace the fuel pump.

Diagnosis is everything. Much cheaper to take the time to eliminate possibilities than to just spend money on guesses.

[turbo55]

^ what he said.

Also, you can check if the fuel pump is running if you jump the fuel pump relay terminals with the car off, you can hear it. I don't remember which ones the are off the top of my head, but Bentley has it in there.