[skinnybalboa]

hey everyone hoping someone can help me out here, ive just bought a bmw 318is coupe 1994, the car had a slight misfire the other night for a few seconds then cleared up and ran away fine. but today the car has stopped altogether and wont start, ive checked all the vaccum hoses andpipes, cant see any splits, i checked to see if the coil was sparking and it would only give a spark at number 1 and 4 cylinders, is this the coil pack gone, any help would be great.
thanks

 

[skinnybalboa]

sorry forgot to add that when thecar did fire up it was running very bad and wouldnt idle, the rev gauge was also going up and down like a yoyo when there was hardly any revs, she also gave a few backfires! any ifo wanted asap as the car is sitting at the side of the road! lol

 

[RYM]

sorry forgot to add that when thecar did fire up it was running very bad and wouldnt idle, the rev gauge was also going up and down like a yoyo when there was hardly any revs, she also gave a few backfires! any ifo wanted asap as the car is sitting at the side of the road! lol

Sounds like crank/cam shaft sensor to me. I recommend you have a diagnostic scan to pull the codes from the ECU to determine which one it is:thumbsup

Also, I have had to retitle your thread so that it complies with forum rules. Please re-familiarise yourself with these as it creates a lot of Extra work for the mods which means they have less posting time:thumbsup

 

[skinnybalboa]

do you think a dodgy cam or crank sensor would let the enginefire on two cylinders?! this is the bit that is confusing me as i didnt think the coil would just stop working, normally they develop a slight misfire then get worse,

ok sorry about that thanks for editing it

 

[RYM]

If you get a diagnostic scan done and no faults come up then it will be the coil packs as these often do not show up on a scan:thumbsup

You are aware that each plug has it's own coil pack, so if you had a problem then it would be on both 2 and 3 packs:thumbsup

http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f3/how-to-test-an-ignition-coil-guide-t1183/

 

[skinnybalboa]

the coil on my car has a single block coil, 4 in a row not like a normal coil in a square pattern or single coils on each cylinder, it has the long coil block with the plug leads goin to all the plugs, lol

 

[RYM]

the coil on my car has a single block coil, 4 in a row not like a normal coil in a square pattern or single coils on each cylinder, it has the long coil block with the plug leads goin to all the plugs, lol

Take the cover off and you'll notice they are separate

 

[Ronnie]

Sounds like the coil has taken a dive, it's usually cylinders 2 and 3 or 1 and 4

 

[skinnybalboa]

i know what you are meaning mate, i was meaning that the coil itself is just one unit, and has 4 leads off of it and goes to the four cylinders, ive got a coil on order and im thinking about ordering the cam and crank sensors as there is ones on ebay, im away to college for a week next week so wont get a chance to get it on a computer, was hoping one of the three things will fix it

 

[RYM]

Sounds like the coil has taken a dive, it's usually cylinders 2 and 3 or 1 and 4

I PM'd Ronnie as he is far more knowledgeable:thumbsup

i know what you are meaning mate, i was meaning that the coil itself is just one unit, and has 4 leads off of it and goes to the four cylinders, ive got a coil on order and im thinking about ordering the cam and crank sensors as there is ones on ebay, im away to college for a week next week so wont get a chance to get it on a computer, was hoping one of the three things will fix it

They obviously changed the coil design as my 318is 1992 was four separates under a cover:footinmouth

 

[skinnybalboa]

hey thanks for that, its a pain living up in shetland as i have ordered the coil today and it is going to be here on wednesday at the earliest thats why i was wanting to find out sum info incase i needed to order any more bits.

 

[Ronnie]

I would also check your DME(ECU) box hasn't got wet, it may have flooded the DME.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-DME-Repair/E36-DME-Repair.htm

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/Mult_Chip_Install/Mult_Chip_Install.htm

 

[skinnybalboa]

would this cause the car to just cut out all of a sudden and lose spark?!

 

[skinnybalboa]

just read on another forum that it could be a temperature sensor on the car thats made it cut out when she was getting warm???

 

[RYM]

not heard of that one before:confused

Why do you think we have soo many overheating threads on here?

 

[Ronnie]

would this cause the car to just cut out all of a sudden and lose spark?!

It can do :frown

With all the wet weather it will be worth checking the DME hasn't got flooded, we have had a few on here that have had this happen to them

 

[RYM]

It can do :frown

With all the wet weather it will be worth checking the DME hasn't got flooded, we have had a few on here that have had this happen to them

I think Gildersol was the first member to raise this and he found the cause himself. He wrote in his thread exactly what he had done and he has helped other members where he thought it may be the cause of their problem:thumbsup

 

[Ronnie]

I think Gildersol was the first member to raise this

Do you want to put a bet on that :lol

:hihi

 

[skinnybalboa]

thanksguys ive just read through the links that ronnie sent, im going to try and read the codes using the method in the link as in pressing the pedal 5 times etc.... hopefully i will be able to get the guy who is fitting the coil for me to do this as im away all next week

 

[RYM]

Do you want to put a bet on that :lol

:hihi

Nah, You're the forum FOGEY so you should know:lol