Murphy's Law - Help Needed ASAP

[Martin C.]

All good pointers...much appreciated.

...and yes, the inline fuel filter was replaced, paying special attention to the direction of the flow. The issue (though not as prevalent) was present before I replaced the filter.

[E30_Pare]

i vote fuel pump(s)

had my in tank fail a couple times & the last time was my in line which didnt allow the car to idle until warm. the in tank pump was giving my power surges then hesitating.

might as well also check if the fuel pump relay is clicking. which probably means its faulty.

also check your intake manifold ground. would give you these issues. Should be located somewhere around your ICV

[eurotrash]

Could be any number of things. Bad grounds, coil going bad, tps, maf, hard to tell over then net.

[robert1700]

Check the signals on each spark plug cable. I had that issue once and it turned out cable three was broken.

[Rennsport]

Sounds like a fuel issue. Did the tune up include a new fuel filter? (if so, is it in the correct direction?) Is the fuel pump making any abnormal noise?

[Martin C.]

Thanks for the advice to the few. Everyone local must be busy having a good time at Griots, or at the BBQ. I am going to miss both so I don't strain the car any more than I need to.

Having ruled out the head gasket and vacuum leaks, I am pretty sure the issue is with some dang electronic stuff. So I am going to drive it to the Picnic tomorrow, Bentley and tools in trunk, in hope of no driving issues.

MC

[cbouchez]

when my o2 sensor was going out on my E36 it was the same issue as yours.

[MT325is]

I have experienced some of those issues.. And for me it was o2 sensor. I don't know how to test that... And the tps... Put a multimeter set it to ohms omega symbol.. Put it on outer 2 pins. Open throttle and close it slowly. When throttle is almost closed you should get a resistance.. A low one..
^bentley
I wasn't getting a reading and thought I was doing something wrong.. Well then I unplugged the sensor and drove her around and it ran great. Give it a try. Unplug both(1 at a time) o2 and tps and drive it around see if anything changes. The tps issue for me was when the car was at operating temp. Best of luck!

[Martin C.]

Edit: I went back to the car about 1.5 hours later. It started a little rough, but managed to get good 'feel' for power. It was revving up pretty good at the driveway with no apparent issues, other than the idle is a little iffy. I got it to the house, where I hope I can run some doohickey diagnostics tomorrow morning.

I am lost when it comes to electrical stuff. If anybody has done this before and is up for a beer and/or cash, please PM me.

PS: the Supersprint catback is sweeeet!

[Martin C.]

So, the car has been running a little rough recently, and hesitated when the throttle was just pressed...no go for like a second, then it would hit the tach pretty good.

In my way home from having a new cat-back installation, going up hill at the highway, the car all the sudden started losing power. The whole thing felt like topping at 3000 rpm, and when downshift it would go 4000 rpm and then back to 3000 right away.

The car will not go up the hill now (not very steep) unless I put it in 1st gear. Concerned about making a mess with the (newer) engine in case of a faulty gasket, I have now parked the car about 1/2 mile from my house in hope I can figure this out.

Quick notes to consider in the troubleshooting:

- New complete tune up, including wires, sparkplugs, etc. Car was hesitant before the tune up, and certainly after it.
- Car checked a month ago for vacuum leaks (they charge me for it anyhow), and reported no leaks.

I am considering swapping the old wires, and old injectors to see if this makes a difference. One of the members said it may be an electrical problem if the oil is not milky (which is not, I just checked).

Is there anybody in light of the Picnic available to give me a hand in figuring this out? I am willing to pay some cash for the help (really), I just want to make sure the car is ready for Sunday...

PM me for my cell number if you want to come to the Factoria area, or post here what your thoughts are.

Many thanks.