E30 frustrations

[BigFurryWhale]

Now its just a matter of hunting it down. Is the power antenna supposed to move/make noise everytime the battery is reconnected?

[Dave]

omg i can't stop laughing dave

its the "boing" that does it . . .

[Mike325]

Now its just a matter of hunting it down. Is the power antenna supposed to move/make noise everytime the battery is reconnected?

I don't know because I have never had a radio in my e30. I don't think it should because it should only get it's power from the radio when it's on, which it isn't. Try the radio fuse, #12.

[Jand3rson]

Ya, turns out all the fuses were blown. I just bought a 10A multimeter and I'm getting good readings now.

BMW's are a mess electricly. The shop I love refuses to touch a BMW or a Land Rover because neither company released wire diagrams to be able to work on them. Good luck.

So your shop wouldn't have been able to figure that one out because they're afraid to go near the electrical systems of BMWs and Land Rovers? I'd reccomend you find a new shop.

[Ray Smoodiver]

Land rover yes, seeing as Lucas elecs are a nitemare, but BMW systems are a dream to work on.

[joshh]

So your shop wouldn't have been able to figure that one out because they're afraid to go near the electrical systems of BMWs and Land Rovers? I'd reccomend you find a new shop.

Thanks for the recomendation but you have never used them so you have no clue what you're talking about. I wouldn't bring any of my cars anywhere else....other than the bmw....
I know exactly what he is talking about. Some of the E30 wiring is anything but direct and simple.
Sure it's a "dream" to work on....thus the name of this thread.

[schmidty]

Now its just a matter of hunting it down. Is the power antenna supposed to move/make noise everytime the battery is reconnected?

mine does

[808BMW]

Shrug, I wouldn't go to a shop that doesn't even look at the car before they blow you off, but thats just me.

Be lucky your using a multimeter. I didn't have one forever and just used a light :P Just one question, how is it wired in series? I'm just not getting a mental picture here (I only use my DMM to check voltage, which is pretty straightforward)

[BigFurryWhale]

Shrug, I wouldn't go to a shop that doesn't even look at the car before they blow you off, but thats just me.

Be lucky your using a multimeter. I didn't have one forever and just used a light :P Just one question, how is it wired in series? I'm just not getting a mental picture here (I only use my DMM to check voltage, which is pretty straightforward)

I disconnected the negetive battery lead from the battery, then placed the multimeter in between the battery lead and the negetive terminal. The positive end is still hooked up.

Anyone else care to comment about the power atenna moving whenever the battery is reconnected?

[schmidty]

Anyone else care to comment about the power atenna moving whenever the battery is reconnected?

Does your antenna actually work? (does it move up and down?). I was thinkin maybe the antenna is stuck in the up position and everytime u connect the battery it's trying to put the antenna down. Kind of a long shot but who knows.

With the stock head unit the antenna goes up when u turn the radio on but if you have an aftermarket head unit maybe the way it was re-wired has something to do with the antenna's behaviour???

[eighteight325is]

I don't know if anyone saw it, but there was a pretty good little article in Grassroots Motorsport a couple months back (ironically the issue that had a big writeup on Spec E30) about using a test-light prior to going to the multi-meter to check your grounds and zero in on the problem.

It was pretty informative, but my memory is shot so I'd need to read it again to provide any real information. Maybe someone else saw it or one of the electrical geniuses out there can offer some sound test-light techniques.

Don't get me wrong, I love my multi-meter but I like the idea of zeroing in on the problem in a binary fashion before worrying about volts and amps.

[BigFurryWhale]

Well, I narrowed it down, and it seems that it's fuse 21 that's causing my problem. First question:

1) Can I drive without fuse 21? (The bentley lists a vague "fuel delivery" as being run off of fuse 21.


2) The bentley lists the OBC as being run by fuse 21. In the bentley wiring diagram for the OBC it says that if the display shows either "PPPP" or "AAAA" then the OBC has detected an "electronic fault." Does this mean that it's the OBC that is draining my battery? (it's around 2.7A of draw from the battery).

3) If it is the OBC that's draining my battery, how do I go about fixing/disconnected the OBC?

[schmidty]

Well, I narrowed it down, and it seems that it's fuse 21 that's causing my problem. First question:

1) Can I drive without fuse 21? (The bentley lists a vague "fuel delivery" as being run off of fuse 21.

Only one way to find out :D

[gerlando]

Wow, lucky you. I have the same problem. Battery draining after 1 week in the garage,.. isolated down to Fuse 21. If you search you'll see a lot of fuse 21 issues. I haven't tried narrowing it down from there but I'd suspect it's somewhere in the sound system. I had another thread open and the only advice I got was to start pulling things until the drain goes away.

Good luck,.. if you find out what it is please post here. I'll do the same.

PS: for now I just pull the fuse when parked in the garage.

[BigFurryWhale]

Wow, lucky you. I have the same problem. Battery draining after 1 week in the garage,.. isolated down to Fuse 21. If you search you'll see a lot of fuse 21 issues. I haven't tried narrowing it down from there but I'd suspect it's somewhere in the sound system. I had another thread open and the only advice I got was to start pulling things until the drain goes away.

Good luck,.. if you find out what it is please post here. I'll do the same.

PS: for now I just pull the fuse when parked in the garage.

Have you tried driving at all without fuse 21?




And what do you mean by "pulling things." Whats the best way for me to go about testing individual circuits? (i'm quite an electronics noob).