Non-BMW Stuff on a BMW Forum
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Need some help here. The temp gauge started jumping around, lost power, and the car died. Started up and got it to a safe spot just as it died again. Tried starting it and nothing. Just clicking of the starter. Waited for a bit and then it started up, ran fine for a second and then started idling rough and died. I’m afraid to try to drive it home. What’s stranger is that the aftermarket temp gauge is twitching too. It’s not just the temp gauge on the cluster. Please see the video. When I’m idling it’s not as bad but then once I give it gas it twitches more. If I try driving it I lose all power. Barely any response from the throttle.
The two temp gauges are completely separate from each other I should add they get their power directly from the battery lead in the engine bay on the firewall and it has its own temp sensor. So the flickering of the two temp gauges are related but one isn’t causing the other.
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Need some help here. The temp gauge started jumping around, lost power, and the car died. Started up and got it to a safe spot just as it died again. Tried starting it and nothing. Just clicking of the starter. Waited for a bit and then it started up, ran fine for a second and then started idling rough and died. I’m afraid to try to drive it home. What’s stranger is that the aftermarket temp gauge is twitching too. It’s not just the temp gauge on the cluster. Please see the video. When I’m idling it’s not as bad but then once I give it gas it twitches more. If I try driving it I lose all power. Barely any response from the throttle.
The two temp gauges are completely separate from each other I should add they get their power directly from the battery lead in the engine bay on the firewall and it has its own temp sensor. So the flickering of the two temp gauges are related but one isn’t causing the other.
Possibly a grounding issue? I have a bad ground on my temp gauges at the moment and they bounce around quite a bit. I'd take a look at the engine ground strap. Not sure if that would cause it to die, but with the gauges bouncing around that is my first thought.
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Possibly a grounding issue? I have a bad ground on my temp gauges at the moment and they bounce around quite a bit. I'd take a look at the engine ground strap. Not sure if that would cause it to die, but with the gauges bouncing around that is my first thought.
Since the aftermarket and cluster gauges were reacting the same way my first thought was either a grounding or battery issue. The battery is old and has died flat several times from me leaving doors open and whatnot when working on it. So maybe the heat just did it in and any draw is taking it out? Idk, I’ve had bad batteries do some weird stuff before.
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Car is home. It appears to have been the battery.
Another thing it was doing this morning is the temp gauge would twitch when I pressed the brake pedal. And since this was happening to both sets of gauges which are on separate circuits with their own sensors, it made me assume that there were interruptions in the power draw.
The battery was 2015 and like I said the battery had drained to zero several times. So it must have decided today was the day and it sent out all sorts of fucked up voltage into the car.
On the way home the gauge was steady the whole way and the car actually ran cooler. I’m not saying the car is physically running cooler, but perhaps the gauge is now reading accurately.
We’ll see tomorrow. This is the period where I don’t want any issues as I’m driving to make sure it’s good for the rally.
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Alright. With that kerfuffle behind us. Back to business.
It is amazing how much room I have to go higher but how much further it is already off the ground compared to jack stands.
Some marks on the floor for next time. I’ll do the same with gray paint for the e30.
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How tall are your ceilings? My bad if you’ve mentioned it earlier
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How tall are your ceilings? My bad if you’ve mentioned it earlier
8' plus a few inches for the curb that the walls are on.
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Part of me wishes I got a maxjax lift instead of my scissor lift, due to it being in the way of jobs that are directly under the car. But then the space savings around the car of the scissor lift is the plus side. Either way, not having to deal with Jack stands and such makes any style lift well worth it.
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e30 died at lunch again today. It just turned off. This time it would crank and the engine would turn over, but it would not start. Yesterday when I tried cranking it the engine wouldn't turn over. I wasn't getting any goofiness with the gauges this time either. So I don't know if this is related to yesterday or not. It seemed like it wasn't getting any fuel, I pulled out the rear seat and cranked it and couldn't hear anything. Pulled the connector off and hooked up my voltmeter and confirmed it was getting 12v but at the same time the car started (it died right away because the fuel pump was unplugged). Plugged the fuel pump back in, car started right up and I drove it back to work with no issue.
I don't know. I have no idea. I'm going to put some dialectic grease on the fuel pump connectors and see if there's some way to better secure them and maybe it was just a loose connection.
What's been replaced:
- New DEM, fuel pump, and other orange relay in the engine bay
- New cap and rotor. The coil is only a couple years old.
- New OEM crank position sensor.
I have new coolant sensors coming soon. Maybe one of them is getting too hot and give the ecu bad data. I don't know.
I don't know why it's doing this.
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stupid idea, maybe, but did you check your battery connections? (dropped in a new battery, right?) i forgot to tighten once and was left with car that died then had starting issues at a gas station till i figured it out it was very loose.
Dan
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stupid idea, maybe, but did you check your battery connections? (dropped in a new battery, right?) i forgot to tighten once and was left with car that died then had starting issues at a gas station till i figured it out it was very loose.
It wasn’t super tight. Maybe that’s what it was. I feel like this is a power issue. The ground is super grody and where the power wire comes into the distribution block in the engine bay is really corroded.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like these can be taken apart and cleaned and it needs to be replaced. I’m going to get some new power wire and distribution block.
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This flowchart hasways been my fav for diagnosis.
https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php/Engines_Troubleshoot
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This flowchart hasways been my fav for diagnosis.
https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php/Engines_Troubleshoot
I've never seen that before. That looks like something worth printing and framing to keep in the garage.
I'm going to start with new battery power cable from the battery to the engine bay with a new distribution block. There are visible signs of wear at both ends of the battery cable and the battery ground is in poor shape.
Once that's done, Tom gave me a link to a nice write up for testing voltage drop and other electrical thingers. The hard part is it died, and then it worked. I can't diagnose why it died when it's running completely fine in that moment.
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^ Another quick thing to check out if you haven't already.
I'd imagine any high resistance connections between the battery and distribution block could cause similar issues as well, as you wouldn't be getting the full battery voltage anywhere beyond that point.
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^ Another quick thing to check out if you haven't already.
I'd imagine any high resistance connections between the battery and distribution block could cause similar issues as well, as you wouldn't be getting the full battery voltage anywhere beyond that point.
That's an awesome resource, too! Thank you. I got 20' of 1/0 gauge battery cable. I'm hoping to have enough to make a new battery to chassis ground and engine to chassis ground. I'll go through and clean up all other grounds, too.
Some of the symptoms I'm reading in there sounds like something I've been experiencing. It mentioned pressing the brake pedal and lights dim. When it died the first time, I noticed on my way to work that when I pressed the brake pedal the temp gauge would twitch. It's gotta be some type of disruption in the power lead or a bad ground somewhere.
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Wrapped up the suspension on the 850 last night and when I went to switch the cars the e30 wouldn't start. pushed it into the garage and the fuel pump isn't getting power. Jumping the relay doesn't turn it on. With the relay jumped there was less than a volt at the pump fuse. I've been reading a lot about the fusible link wire from the battery to the power block and how that specifically powers the main relay and ultimately the fuel pump.
Tested the voltage at the power block and here's what I got at the main power block (please enjoy my fabulous pink sparkly nail polish from my 5yo a few nights ago):
And at the fusible link junction:
I'm assuming this is my main issue. My guess is that it's a combination of the not super great battery terminal setup installed by one of the PO'S, aging fusible link, and things being dirty. But I read several stories of the fuse getting old and causing issues.
Does anyone know if this comes off?
Here you can see the corrosion inside of it. The picture actually makes it look a lot better than it is.
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I'm throwing this out there. Engine to chassis ground strap. I've had these corrode or loosen causing an intermittent no start. Run a jumper cable from the battery negative to a ground on the engine and see if it starts. If yes, replace your engine to chassis ground. If no, ignore me.
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I'm throwing this out there. Engine to chassis ground strap. I've had these corrode or loosen causing an intermittent no start. Run a jumper cable from the battery negative to a ground on the engine and see if it starts. If yes, replace your engine to chassis ground. If no, ignore me.
lol. I got enough cable to replace the grounds so I'll be doing that regardless. But before I do anymore testing, I need to get the fusible link wire to have 12v in the engine first.
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Brief update:
Still working on the new power leads. After receiving the incorrect terminals and messing up my first solder loaded terminal, I'm hoping to have better luck tonight so I can finish those. But I have done:
New AC condenser more appropriate for r134.
Mocked up the power distribution blocks.
Swapped out the larger subwoofer/box for an under-seat subwoofer that I mounted on the backside of the rear seat. Now I have the full trunk.
Replaced the super sagging muffler hangers.
Installed new oem coolant temp sensors and thermostat.
What's left:
- Power leads
- Grounds
- Oil change
- Coolant fill
- AC charge
- Replace soft fuel hoses in engine compartment
The Recaro saga may soon be coming to and end. After the owner of shop only offered to refund me $300 or attempt to fix them again, I filed a dispute with my bank/Visa. Once that process was started and he was notified he offered to purchase the seats from me for $1500. I said he could purchase them for $1800. While I would love to save them, I think the grim reality is that it will cost me MUCH more than $1,800 to ever have those look like they should. While I recovered the cost of the front seats, I'm out the cost of the rear seats. Sadly this was an expensive life lesson and if there's a next time I know who I won't use and I know who I will use.
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Lifts putting in work!!
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