car died....?

[mikeltang]

i was on my way home from work tonight in the 318is and after letting my car warm up for 1-2 minutes i started driving and left the parking lot. i stopped at a stop sign and as i started to go my car just cut out and died. the motor cranks, but it wont start up. the fuses are OK, but when i checked the ECU it was really hot, so i am assuming that my ECU is fried, but would anyone know what would cause this?

TIA for any help,
Mike

[YAN-3]

stop stop stop. I started looking for crazy reasons too when my M3 died on the autobahn last month.

a) Check to see if you have fuel! i dont care where you check, the closer to the injectors the better

b) Check for spark.

c) check the main relays after you have checked for fuel and spark.

keep us posted.

[AdamF 88iS]

ECUs do tend to get hot. Probably not the problem. Follow the basic steps above to narrow it down. More likely your fuel pump died or something.

[lordofthewaters]

c) check the main relays after you have checked for fuel and spark.

keep us posted.

I'm gonna say fp or fuel relay. But yan has the right of it. Follow his directions, and you're 95% sure to find the problem.

[YAN-3]

mikeltang, when my M3 died and it was at 125mph I started thinking the worst. I checked everything but spark, because I had a brand new cap, rotor and wires. well guess what went bad, my rotor broke in half and damaged the cap and I wasnt getting any spark.

proof that new parts can go bad too.

[mikeltang]

thanks for the help guys, i think its the fuel pump. im going to try and find some time to plug in an extra one and see if it works. ive been at work all day and i just got home at 440 in the morning so ill figure it out after i get some sleep. ill keep you guys posted.

[YAN-3]

why do you think its the fuel pump? have you checked for fuel from the filer outlet side? always check the simple things before the major stuff.

[mikeltang]

when i turn the key into the on position, i dont hear my fuel pump turning on.

[YAN-3]

same here. did you hear it before? are you 100% sure? did you check for fuel? how about the relay? do you have spark? can you answer these 3 questions.

[mikeltang]

ok i have fuel and i tried cranking my car again and it started, but it ran really rough. I pulled my spark plugs and they were soaked with gas. i'm still learning about cars, so i'm not too sure where to go from here. my friends dad said that my timing might be off or my coil pack might have gone bad. i dont know what my next step is going to be, but i have today (monday) off from work, so i'm hoping i can at least diagnose what is wrong with my car today.

[YAN-3]

the reason why the plugs were wet, is from cranking on it and not getting any spark. check the coil, swap with a buddies if available. also have you looked at the dist. cap and rotor?

[mikeltang]

thanks for your help guys, ive been really busy with work but i figured out what was wrong. my spark plugs fouled out. the car is running now,but is running a bit rich, im going to replace the o2 sensor since thats bad as well. hopefully that solves my problem.