May 2009
So my '91 535i was running strong as always. I went to get new tires. while I was heading there, it stumbled twice, but small, just a single missed fire on each occasion which I attributed to the engine being cold and old, but still idled smooth and ran strong. I pulled up at the tire place, and went inside. They came out a few minutes later and it didnt want to start on the first try, which is wierd, then it started right up but idled a bit low(probably around 500rpm). They pulled it in, turned it off, and lifted it. they lifted it a bit off balance though. all pressure was on the back, the front was about 2 inches off the lift, but it was just one of those low lifts that brings the car up just high enough to do the wheels, so I didnt say much. Car wasnt teetering or anything. They put on new rubber. lower it, and it cranks right up. They back it out about 6 feet just past the bay doors and leave it idling, I get in and get ready to backup and it just sputters out. I try to crank again and no start. no spark, no fuel. Starter motor is turning engine over, there is plenty of power from battery, but just no start. I was supposed to be at my grandmothers funeral in an hour, but no such luck. So I started with the obvious.
-Battery-OK(brand new)
-Checked all Fuses-OK
-Checked Ignition coil(new MSD coil) plenty of spark.
-Checked Fuel pump-OK
-Checked Fuel Pump Relay. No ground, but when I jump ground to a nearby suspension bolt, fuel pump fires right up, so PUMP is OK.
-Relay told pump to turn on, so RELAY is OK
-Checked CrankShaft Position Sensor-not sure how to test, but also less than 6 months old and appears fine.
-Checked all connections and wires in both electronics boxes under hood,
-Checked all connections and wires under rear seat and in trunk.
After getting the car towed and getting a ride to the funeral, I dug a bit deeper and started replacing things. here is everything that is new:
-DME-NEW
-Crankshaft position sensor-NEW
-Main relay-NEW
-Fuel Pump Relay- NEW
-All fuses-NEW
-Ignition Coil-NEW
-Spark Plugs-NEW
-Fuel Pump-NEW
-Battery-NEW(and expensive. red top optima battery)
-Fuel Pump turns on when jumped from relay terminals 30 and 87 but still no start.
-Fuel Pump does not turn on without jumper.
-No Spark from coil.
So to me it seems like maybe the DME isnt powering up? Maybe a bad ground somewhere? Gonna check the grounds in the morning, its dark and raining out there now.
Any other ideas?
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I see as a result of a crash between a police car on a training run and an ambulance in the highlands the road was closed for nearly 12 hours ,surely this is a bit over the top ,
it was all in daylight hours so no hold up there .
I realise a reasonable time is needed but a closure of this lenth of time which means a 70 mile detour I dont see the need for . what are they going to find after 10 hours that couldnt be found in 6 for example ?
on another closure that was caused by a cycle race and caused locals to be stuck in their own homes for a few hours someone scattered carpet tacks and managed to puncture over 500 of the bikes ,cant say I totally approve but at least their problems will be addressed by the organisers instead of being ignored as before Read more
I believe from news reports here that the RTA was initally treated as an accident by the police, but the usual closer investigation by traffic investigators at the scene highlighted more information, that is now being treated as murder. Certainly highlights the reason why police are rightly thorough at the scene of all fatal accidents
we have 4 cars in the family , all could use new coolant
anyone suggest whats good stuff ? id like a good few years corrosion protection from it, and prefer not to buy ready diluted stuff i see in all the local shops Read more
between France and the England was washed away after the ice age....
;-)
Pot, kettle and black spring to mind oh he who coats everything in grease.
Good tease though..;)
On the subject of leaks and colour of coolant, didn't the problems mainly occur when people bought the much cheaper (orange?) methanol based coolant from their local accessory shop.
I seem to remember that very short life stuff having a habit of searching out any weaknesses.
We were down there by chance in 1993 a week before the race - just as the scaffolding was going up for the stands.
I remember the Maestro Clubman D (non turbo) going up the hill, palm tree (original then?) on the left.. It lumbered up like an old truck with a ponderous gait and a sound like the U-boat diesel on Das Boot. Then down into the tunnel at around 30mph - mixing it with the best.
We drove through the streets of St Tropez a little later - past the pavement cafe with the view of the harbour resplendent with gold coated men and sun tanned women.
Then crept out without stopping or even being noticed - towards the back-lot of the campsite and tea bags in tin mugs in Le- Lavandou.
The Maestro...It knew it`s place.
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Never done Monaco but I've driven Silverstone .....
Same here. It was at the Top Gear live event there back in the late 90's.
Also drove around the Stow circuit in a Ford Puma with an instructor telling me to drive it like I had stolen it. Fastest time of the day got given a Puma (a brand new one, not the ones that were thrashed within an inch of their lives)
Later I was taken round the main track in a 4 seater race prepared Nissan Primera touring car - which was far more enjoyable and breath taking than any ride at Alton Towers. The driver even burnt up one of the Volvo T5 estate police cars that were there.
Can anyone tell me how to de-activate the immobilser on this car? It's my dads car and it's alarm system allows you to start the engine only if you open the car with the key fob.....if you lock it with the key and open it with the key then the engine will start, but if you lock it with the fob and open it with the key, the alarm goes off and it won't start because of the immobiliser. His problem is that he locked the car with the key fob then the fob broke and he opened it with the key, now he can't start the car.....are you still with me??....anyway, he reckons if he could just either immobilise the alarm and immobiliser he can just carry on with using the key. Is this possible?? Or is he going to have to give in and buy a new key fob??
Thank you
Lesley1716 Read more
Have you solved this problem yet??
If not, if you look inside the engine compartment near the front off side, there is a keyhole with on/off. ive got one in mine but not sure if this is to switch off the alarm. I have no key for this so can't test it.
Hello all,
Anybody know how to take the slack out of the accelerator cable on these? Mine has a slight bit of "nothing" before the engine starts picking up which makes it a lumpy drive.
My 1.8GL picks up as soon as you look at the pedal!
Cheers,
James Read more
thanks again Woodspeed - one more notch sorted it!
James
So I managed to burst a tyre (stupid alloy wheels) just outside the office. Rang the breakdown company and went back into the office to wait. Two young women there told me they could change the tyre for me (where's the "embarrassed" smiley?) but at my age I'm not going to start doing that sort of thing.
Any breakdown company that you'd recommend? Read more
The standard of service depends largely on the patrol who attend. I've changed from my previous breakdown cover a few years after being left out in a lane for four hours on a freezing December night. I've called my current service twice since I joined, once for a clutch cable, and just a few weeks ago after running out of fuel (yes, I know, no excuse really but I'm blaming the fuel guage in the Espace which swings wildly between forlorn pessimism and amazing optimism).
There were two patrol men who attended the clutch cable and although they arrived promptly their level of competence was slightly below that of Laurel and Hardy. Suffice to say they proved totally incapable of fitting the cable, and I ended up driving the car 20 miles to my local home mechanic who did the job on the spot in less than half an hour. I complained about the service and was offered a 25% reduction in the next year's cover which I accepted.
The guy who attended when I ran out of diesel on the other hand was great - turned up quickly with a tin of the thick stuff, gave the engine a good looking over, primed and started it, then followed me up the road to the nearest garage to make sure it was running well - and didn't laugh at me once.
My Vectra 2.0 LSd it won't start without jump starting it and when it's running i have very heavy steering, it sounds as if it has a slight misfire and it has a steering wheel icon with an exclamation mark in the control indicator.
Can you help me PLZ??
Thank you
Rob Read more
Thank you
ill go and test it now
I was at a local independent service/repair/MOt garage this week getting my son's car MOT'd when a young woman came in to pick her Citroen C2. I got chatting to the guy who runs the garage and he told me the lady had taken the C2 (57 plate 10,000 mileage) into the main dealer for a service. The dealer had rang her at home to say the front pads were "80% worn" and needed changing urgently. The lady had checked with her husband who didn't think the pads were worn, and told her to decline their offer, but to take it into the said independent the next day for a second opinion.
The Citroen dealer had then rang the lady again (the day after the service) at home to request that she book the car in for pads as it was a safety item, and that the car could be dangerous to drive.
Needless to say the independent had taken the wheels off, checked the pads, discs, road tested the car and found absolutely nothing wrong. Pads having plenty of life left.
The woman was really jumpy and nervous about driving the car (she had a baby with her as well) and the independent garage guy had to spend quite a lot of time reassuring her that the car really was safe.
I was quite disgusted how low the dealer had sunk just to try and get another £60 or so out of their customer.
J Read more
Don't need your likes round 'ere.... never heard of plod and builders getting on!!
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Dad was in the Met' for 28 years. Got on with them all. Great upbringing and the tales I could tell!! Had lots of fun etc. You guys get bad press today. Damned if you do/don't, but too be very fair I blame almost all of our ills on the Politically correct brainwashed folk. If the 'Dog' bites you give it a slap. If it bites you again, give it a whack. 3rd time unlucky dear 'Dog'. You get my drift. Did me no end of good.
Very best regards,
Martin.
Mention of the Bedford CF van in another hread reminded me of one of the most obscure and difficult to fix breakdowns I ever came across.
The garage I worked for was called out to a CF and I got the job.
The instructions were to check if it was anything obvious, if not, drag it back to the garage.
On arrival, you always checked for fuel and sparks first, which I did.
Both present, and the van would run, but not well.
I managed to get it running better by retarding the ignition, but it was still not right.
Towed it back to the garage, and the job was solved after a lot of head scratching by people far more expert than me.
Turned out the timing belt had jumped one tooth.
The valves were opening a fraction of a second too early or too late, but it would still run - just.
Anyone else come across a far from obvious cause of a breakdown?
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Presumably you both had to know what you were doing.
Well the breakdown fella knew what he was doing..;)
The air held up just long enough, but proper truck breakdown motors have a long airline to plug into the broken trucks air system, so it wouldn't have mattered i'd still have had full brakes, and a very loud hooter to let him know when to stop, but i'm certain he used a bar anyway.
It only needed a couple of yards pull to get it to bump start anyway.
Hmm...another thought, that's something else we won't be doing any more now most trucks have automated manual boxes of one sort or another, apparently its called progress.
I recall another one with a dodgy starter...articulated car transporter this time, starter had died...i kept it running all day (bump started meself on a hill) and took the vehicle loaded into the main dealer for the make that evening at home.
Had a chat with the young man who was going to do the job, i asked him if he'd like me to 'jack knife' the truck so he could get the cab up...''no just turn it off, i'll get it going with jump leads''...i suggested he wouldn't as it was the starter.
''Just turn it off and leave it''...so i did as i was told , he connected the jump pack to show me i was wrong and it was really the batteries.
The truck wouldn't start strangely enough as apparently the starter had died...result the lad had to squeeze under the unable to be tilted cab through the wheelarch and do it the hard way.
Some knowing smiles from older mechanics there who i knew from the past.
You just can't help some people..;)
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How did you get on since Sunday? No doubt you checked fuel was getting to the injectors, and there was a spark at the plugs? Basic I know, but often overlooked..