whats up guys? this is my first post on the forums. For the past few years ive used the facebook page with moderate success, but recently that page has died out and its hard to get any decent info, so i thought id try the forums. I recently purchased an 85 325e with 117k actual miles (same owner since 1990, garage kept and very loved, although needing some minor tlc) it made the 4 hour trip home with no drama, the biggest issues are as follows... hard start when cold and will not idle without giving it a little gas for about 1-2 minutes. After that, it will idle pretty good, and when it reaches operating temp, it idles great and starts witj relative ease. Also, the main fuel pump under the car is making a very loud sucking noise, and when i give it full throttle, there is very slight hesitation/bucking and feels as though it doesnt have the power it should, which leads me to believe the in tank fuel pump is dead. I have power to the pump at the connector, but no noise from the in tank pump at all when the key is turned to the on position. I have ordered a new airtex transfer pump from partsgeek and it should be here in a couple days. So with that said, i have a couple quick questions that will hopefully get me on the way to sorting this beautiful baby out.
The car is an 1985, production date of 7/85
1. is the in tank transfer pump supposed to buzz/hum for a few seconds when the ignition is first turned to the on position? I have power to the pump, but not a peep from the pump itself, leading me to believe its dead?? I do hear the main fuel pump under the car priming when the key is turned to the on position, but the in tank pump is completely silent.
2. would a faulty transfer pump cause a hard start/rough idle when engine is cold, but start up with relative ease when its up to operating temp?
3. where is the fuel filter located at on my car? 85 325e, prod date 7/85. It appears i have a filter under the car on drivers side, as well as in the engine bay on the firewall below brake booster. This may make me sound like an idiot, but i purchased a new fuel filter and installed it under the car, right next to the fuel pump, althought the old fuel “filter” was smaller than the one i replaced it with. After doing some research, i have learned thaf perhaps i replaced the fuel accumulator, and the filter is actualy in the engine bay. After doing this, there was no change in the way the car started or ran. One thing that leads me to believe that perhaps the smaller filter/accumulator that i replaced was indeed a filter was the fact that if i tilted it to allow fuel to come out of the “out” nipple, the fuel was clear and clean, but if i tilted it the other way to allow fuel to come out the “in” side, the fuel was brown and dirty, so obviously there was some sort of filtering element inside. Like i said, what i removed was smaller than the OEM filter that I installed, and i triple checked to confirm that the new filter was indeed the correct part number. The old filter/accumulator appears to be in decent condition appearance wise, but there is no part number anywhere on it. Is it possible that my car has 2 fuel filters, or did i definitely install the new filter in place of the fuel accumulator, in which case i should reinstall the accumulator that i removed and R and R the fuel filter in the engine bay below the brake booster? Again, 85 325E, prod. date 7/85. The exploded views on realoem.com did not provide much, if any, clarification on this issue.
4. where is the best place to get a complete shift bushing rebuild kit all in one place. looking for the cheapest way to tighten up my sloppy shifter without having to order 5 different bushings from 4 different vendors. Someone mentioned that i can purchase an aftermarket shifter that will eliminate the bushings all together, can anyone confirm this?
5. again, im having cold start issues where the car wont idle on its own until its warmed up. when i unplug the ICV, absolutely nothing changes. i can feel it buzzing, and when i put 12v to it via jumper wires, i can hear it click, but i think it may be stuck open. ive cleaned it thouroughly. when i look into the opening, it appears to be halfway open. could someone post a pic of what it should look like inside the opening? since unplugging it when car is running doesnt affect the idle at all, would that indicate that it is the source of my cold start issue? does anyone have a know working ICV for sale for a 7/85 325e before I shell out $150 on a new one?
I apologize for the long and tedious post, i wanted to be as clear as possible in order to hopefully make it easy for you all to help answer my very remedial questions. any and all help is appreciated, thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.
The car is an 1985, production date of 7/85
1. is the in tank transfer pump supposed to buzz/hum for a few seconds when the ignition is first turned to the on position? I have power to the pump, but not a peep from the pump itself, leading me to believe its dead?? I do hear the main fuel pump under the car priming when the key is turned to the on position, but the in tank pump is completely silent.
2. would a faulty transfer pump cause a hard start/rough idle when engine is cold, but start up with relative ease when its up to operating temp?
3. where is the fuel filter located at on my car? 85 325e, prod date 7/85. It appears i have a filter under the car on drivers side, as well as in the engine bay on the firewall below brake booster. This may make me sound like an idiot, but i purchased a new fuel filter and installed it under the car, right next to the fuel pump, althought the old fuel “filter” was smaller than the one i replaced it with. After doing some research, i have learned thaf perhaps i replaced the fuel accumulator, and the filter is actualy in the engine bay. After doing this, there was no change in the way the car started or ran. One thing that leads me to believe that perhaps the smaller filter/accumulator that i replaced was indeed a filter was the fact that if i tilted it to allow fuel to come out of the “out” nipple, the fuel was clear and clean, but if i tilted it the other way to allow fuel to come out the “in” side, the fuel was brown and dirty, so obviously there was some sort of filtering element inside. Like i said, what i removed was smaller than the OEM filter that I installed, and i triple checked to confirm that the new filter was indeed the correct part number. The old filter/accumulator appears to be in decent condition appearance wise, but there is no part number anywhere on it. Is it possible that my car has 2 fuel filters, or did i definitely install the new filter in place of the fuel accumulator, in which case i should reinstall the accumulator that i removed and R and R the fuel filter in the engine bay below the brake booster? Again, 85 325E, prod. date 7/85. The exploded views on realoem.com did not provide much, if any, clarification on this issue.
4. where is the best place to get a complete shift bushing rebuild kit all in one place. looking for the cheapest way to tighten up my sloppy shifter without having to order 5 different bushings from 4 different vendors. Someone mentioned that i can purchase an aftermarket shifter that will eliminate the bushings all together, can anyone confirm this?
5. again, im having cold start issues where the car wont idle on its own until its warmed up. when i unplug the ICV, absolutely nothing changes. i can feel it buzzing, and when i put 12v to it via jumper wires, i can hear it click, but i think it may be stuck open. ive cleaned it thouroughly. when i look into the opening, it appears to be halfway open. could someone post a pic of what it should look like inside the opening? since unplugging it when car is running doesnt affect the idle at all, would that indicate that it is the source of my cold start issue? does anyone have a know working ICV for sale for a 7/85 325e before I shell out $150 on a new one?
I apologize for the long and tedious post, i wanted to be as clear as possible in order to hopefully make it easy for you all to help answer my very remedial questions. any and all help is appreciated, thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.
Comment