$500 in parts- now have stumbling issue

[discnick]

Went to autozone replaced it with new one of same brand... same problem... This is definitely a problem with the #2 spark... Im thinking since that wire is right up near the top on the cap its probably grounding out on the screw thats right above it... He ordered one of another brand that will be here in a few hours, so i'll be going back and trying that one. Try pulling your wires off the plug one by one enough you can hear it trying to jump the gap from the wire to the plug... let me know if you don't hear anything when you do it on the #2 wire... oh and i assume no responsibility if you get zapped.. :)
anyone know another reason why a single wire wouldn't be getting electricity? does the coil put out a pulse to the distributor or is it a steady flow? I could see if it pulses maybe it has something to do with whatever is controlling the pulse... but I dont know.. Try to do the wire thing asap
I'll let you know about the new cap
Nick

[bimmerboy12]

I will work on the wires tonight. I KNOW its electrical.
Discnick are your wires new or used? I could rule out wires if I had the spares but I trashed those too.
A thing to think about, when I popped off my cap to peek inside (couldnt take all the way off due to shroud/fan) then replaced, the car REALLY idled like SHIT, stumbling pretty bad for about 3-5 seconds, then went back to the typical kinda shitty idle.
I hate to relay little experiences like this cause it could have been caused by anything, but Im getting desperate as it has been months now with this issue.

[discnick]

So i figured out my issue... My duralast distributor cap from autozone was grounding out the #2 spark wire... I reinstalled the cap without the plastic cover and to my surprise I could clearly see the lightning bolt jumping from the back of where the #2 wire goes in right over to the top bolt(straight shot). Now im just hoping the replacement beck and arnley cap doesn't suck too..
Let me know if you find anything out
Nick

[bimmerboy12]

No kidding! That is bizarre. I am going to do the same thing and see if i get a similar arc. Who would have ever thought... I will let you know asap. Good luck and many thanks for the great info! Let us know what happens with the new cap.

So i figured out my issue... My duralast distributor cap from autozone was grounding out the #2 spark wire... I reinstalled the cap without the plastic cover and to my surprise I could clearly see the lightning bolt jumping from the back of where the #2 wire goes in right over to the top bolt(straight shot). Now im just hoping the replacement beck and arnley cap doesn't suck too..
Let me know if you find anything out
Nick

[bmwpower]

No, i didn't disconnect the battery for servicing since I wasn't dealing with any live leads.

I have driven the car back and forth to work 14 miles round trip every day since performing the service about three weeks ago. It runs perfectly fine and normal with the slightest increase in gas.

AFM is plugged in and I have unplugged/plugged nearly every connection under the hood looking for a loose connection... no luck.

Try disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.

[xLibelle]

durring a recent service, i purchased a Beck&Arnley just to get the job done while away from home. I have been a couple hundred miles since and no issues yet.

[bimmerboy12]

Try disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.

Yeah, I tried doing that, letting it sit over 30 minutes and everything and it had no effect on the idle... Thanks though.

[discnick]

I ended up sticking my old cap back on, im going to order an OEM one at some point, but that was def my problem..

[Erik j]

I just fixed my stumble, turns out my brand new OEM from the dealer cap was cast wrong. I suggest you replace your cap with your old one and go from there. I replaced all the same parts as you and ended up with the same problem.

[bimmerboy12]

I ended up sticking my old cap back on, im going to order an OEM one at some point, but that was def my problem..

So the problem is solved with the old cap? Where are you getting the new cap?

[andrewc53]

Decided to do some preventitive maintenance on my perfectly running 88 325i cabby, so did the following:

Oil pan gasket (shortcut method used)
valve cover gasket
camshaft seal and o-ring
timing belt
reference sensor
coolant temp sensor
wires
cap
rotor
belts
hoses
water pump
plugs
coolant flush

I got everything at Bavarian. I double checked all my electrical connections and cleaned with contact cleaner.

SO, when it started, it ran pretty good cold, but once it started warming up, started stumbling at idle. I can rev it up and it sounds good.

Don't suspect ICV since it ran fine before.
Check engine light was on right after finishing installing the parts, but disconnected battery and reconnected and it was not on after that.

What the flying f***.

Any help would be appreciated- you guys have bailed me out in the past so don't let me down now!
(thats you stereoinstaller)

I read through this post the other day because I have the same problem. I bought this car 90 325i about a month ago. I picked it up for 300.00 and didn't have ant history on it. I did the whole tuneup thing and timing belt. Had some air leaks and needed a FPR. took care of that. Same thing you are experiencing. Anyhow I was checking the connector to the O2 sensor and it was full of water. I blew the water out and put a little dielectric grease on it and it is running good now. Not sure you checked that or not but it did it for me. A Curtis

[bimmerboy12]

I ended up sticking my old cap back on, im going to order an OEM one at some point, but that was def my problem..

discnick,
when you get a new cap (that actually works), could you let me know what brand it is and where you got it?
Thanks,
Brian

[houstonh]

damn same thing here. I can see on my shitty A/F meter that the motronic is trying to adjust the A/F's and it seems I get the stumble at lean.. (this is a shitty AF meter though so take that with a grain of salt).

anyhow I have a the Bremi Cap/Rotor and I am wondering if I have the same damn issue.

please keep us posted.

Mine idles fine.. has no issues starting, runs pretty good. I get an occasion "bump" in the idle that drives me nuts. Definately seems like a miss to me.
I have changed the following. AFM, CAP, Rotor, timing belt, plugs, wires, coil, ECU, O2, intake boot, bled the coolant time and time again, valve cover gasket.

Question.. did you adjust the valves when you did your work? I have heard to tight of valves causing some "stumble". I know my valves were adjusted by the PO right before I bought the car (although they seem noisy as shit).

A few months back I did a MAF swap with new ecu, chip, TPS signal controller and I still get the F'n idle issue.

at this point I would be stoked if it was a cap/rotor issue, but I never thought to question it since I went with brand name shit.

[houstonh]

Did you guys mess with the gap on your new plugs?

[SpecM]

swap those plugs out for some Bosch or NGK coppers