check engine light help... directions fail.

[md325i]

So, my e30 ( 1988 325i 4dr sedan) has the Check Engine Light on. I did the 5x press/depress accelerator already and the light refuses to blink.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? I am putting the key in position 2 (the one before starting the engine) and as soon as the lights come on, I've pumped the accelerator. I've also tried waiting and then pumping.

What's a n00b to do to get the e30 talking to me?

Thanks.

[Eecen]

Timing w/ pressing the peddle?

[md325i]

I've tried both real fast pumps, .5 delay in between pumps, to about a pump a second... nothing for them all...

[Eecen]

Late 1980's systems. Motronic 1.3

The fault codes for these systems will appear on the check engine light when you turn the ignition key to the On position (but dont start it), then: fully depress the accelerator pedal, then fully release it. Repeat the depress,release cycle 5 times fairly quickly, but not too fast. It should be completed in a few seconds. What you are doing here is clicking the wide open throttle switch then the idle switch each 5 times. This signals the Motronic unit to send the fault codes by flashing the Check Engine light. You should see the light flash once then it will start flashing the 4 digit codes. If there are no faults, you should see the 1444 code (and 2444 if you have a 12 cylinder). The codes appear as a series of flashes for each digit. The flashes indicating one digit are about 1 second apart, the next digit appears after a couple second interval. The rest of the fault codes appear in Table 1 below.

Maybe there's something wrong there...?



I'm of no help here...I'm sure someone else will chime in eventually.

[Adrian_Visser]

The WOT portion of the throttle position switch is probably not working anymore. That or the switch is rigged wrong. Test the switch at the connector, IIRC the center pin is the common, so at idle the center and one of the outer pins should have continuity, at WOT the center and the other outer pin should have continuity when checked with a multimeter. If the switch is broken get a used one and test it before installing, new ones are quite expensive FYI.

[call me jack]

Maybe there's something wrong there...?



I'm of no help here...I'm sure someone else will chime in eventually.

where did you find that quote?

[Eecen]

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/repair_faqs/motronic.html


Google "Bosch Motronic Fault Codes" and it come up as the first link.