320i engine problems.help pls..

[b-buzzin 0]

got a 1987 320i, been playing up wont idle properly, an extemely rough idle . drove it the other day couldnt apply throttle would stutter then accelerate, last time it was started it idled as rough as it ever has, blowing way too much smoke then just died.. checked the intake maifold, found a fair bit of fuely oil in there, not sure if thats good or not? car wont start at all now, getting a pain in the butt, any ideas

Edited August 7, 2008 by b-buzzin

[QuickSilver 0]

got a 1987 320i, been playing up wont idle properly, an extemely rough idle . drove it the other day couldnt apply throttle would stutter then accelerate, last time it was started it idled as rough as it ever has, blowing way too much smoke then just died.. checked the intake maifold, found a fair bit of fuely oil in there, not sure if thats good or not? car wont start at all now, getting a pain in the butt, any ideas

Can only really suggest one thing, but don't worry about the oil in the manifold too much unless it starts pouring out, there is an oil breather attached to the intake which often lets in oil,

Being 87, means pre facelift, pre facelift means old wax filled Idle control valve, this means almost 99% of the time this will be your problem, if it is very rough and stallish when cold, it is stuck closed, if it is great when cold and idles very high when warm, it is stuck open, (I think thats the right way around)

Anyway, to test it, remove it, (It was two coolant lines connecting to it, and two vacuum lines) boil some water and stick it in and see what it does.

[ducatiss 1]

While the idle valve definitely wont help your idle, unless it is leaking quite a lot, I dont think it would be giving you the symptoms you are describing. Certainly worth checking though. It sounds more like a fault in your Air Flow Meter (AFM) so take a look in there after you have follwed through with what QuickSilver has said and make sure that the spring flap is moving freely. Other than that it could be a bad connection to the AFM so check that as well. Also worth checking is that you don't have a large air leak somewhere else in the system. The L-Jet has a lot of vacuum hoses that do split with age so check all those carefully. As quicksilver said, don't worry too much about the oil in your manifold just yet.

After that I would be checking electrics such as plugs, leads (for moisture buildup in the harness) and distributor rotor and cap for wear.

Edited August 7, 2008 by ducatiss

[b-buzzin 0]

While the idle valve definitely wont help your idle, unless it is leaking quite a lot, I dont think it would be giving you the symptoms you are describing. Certainly worth checking though. It sounds more like a fault in your Air Flow Meter (AFM) so take a look in there after you have follwed through with what QuickSilver has said and make sure that the spring flap is moving freely. Other than that it could be a bad connection to the AFM so check that as well. Also worth checking is that you don't have a large air leak somewhere else in the system. The L-Jet has a lot of vacuum hoses that do split with age so check all those carefully. As quicksilver said, don't worry too much about the oil in your manifold just yet.

After that I would be checking electrics such as plugs, leads (for moisture buildup in the harness) and distributor rotor and cap for wear.

ohk sweet thanks for the suggestions guys that Idle control valve im not too sure where it is/what it looks like though..

Edited August 10, 2008 by b-buzzin

[320guy 0]

What colour is the smoke?

[b-buzzin 0]

What colour is the smoke?

im pretty sure it was blowing out greyish smoke aye

[williams 0]

check small vacume hose on fuel regulator if fuel is comming out of it/ if so the fuel regulator is leaking excess fuel into the manifold