Grrr. E36 Drama's

[Nate 0]

Ladies and gentlemen....

After a fair bit of self diagnosis and a trip to a helpful Honda mechanic (refferal from a friend) I've decided that that I have one or two issues that I need to deal with on the E36.

The car hasn't been getting such good mileage since I brought it, And I've discovered recentley that the whistling noise I hear when I stop down on the gas is actually not a good thing (cut me some slack, I've come from a supercharged Toyota)...

If I take the car for a quick drive, say, along the motorway and I come to a stop at a set of lights, I slip the car into neutral and it idles pretty crap, almost as if it weren't firing on all cylinders, but its sort of random, and not "that" rough. If I stick it in 2nd and plant boot, the car takes off with a disturbing amount of omph for a car its size. It also pulls along quite nice over 3k, it isn't mis-firing, back firing, and I don't believe its down on power.

The Honda guys checked over the timing with a Haynes manual for me, and told me that it was aligned properly. They also checked the firing order, which was okay, the plugs, which were new, and the leads and distributor, which also passed the checks.

I've replaced the air filter, and I've run a check over the 02 sensor, which is fine.

The gentleman at Honda informed me that they thought there was a vacuum at the "Intake area", but because they're more familiar with the workings of the H22A and the B16 engines, they didn't know what the M50 was supposed to sound like.

So, Vaccuum leak sounds like a safe bet. Who's experienced this? what am I going to have to pay to get this fixed up - ball park figures?

I like to try and get this sort of thing fixed in my garage with a hammer and some gear from SuperCheap, alas, I don't have the tools or know how to fix a semi major like this one.

Any good advice out there in BMW land?

Cheers all.

[Carl 3]

I've experienced this.

I'm not sure on the E36 layout but check all the plastic/rubber piping on the intake side for cracks, it's as common as syphalis on the E30's for the rubber cock connecting the AFM and throttle body to split causing exactly what you describe.

Cheers

[318is 0]

As above. Try crimping all the little vacuum hoses one by one, and see if that makes a noticable differance. By crimping I mean, if you can, fold the hose by hand to block off the hose, or use some pliers with insulation tape on them to prevent taking little chunks out of the rubber.

Also try an old trick. Grab a can of brake clean or ether, and start squirting your inlet manifold where it meets the head. ( spot on direction is best to pin down a leak ) If there is a leak there, it will raise the idle as the spray is induced into the motor. Work you way from the head up through the intake system.

Hope this helps.

[Guest Andrew]

or ether

damn bats :drugs:

[topless 7]

Can't remember if these motors are affected if the dipstick is not pushed in and sealing..??? Certainly the M20 engines do what you are describing if the dipstick is leaking air as they run a negative crankcase pressure...

Also try an old trick. Grab a can of brake clean or ether, and start squirting your inlet manifold where it meets the head. ( spot on direction is best to pin down a leak ) If there is a leak there, it will raise the idle as the spray is induced into the motor. Work you way from the head up through the intake system.

this old trick also works a treat... sometimes if the leak is small, you will need to use a gas analyser in the exhaust to detect it sucking in the ether.

[318is 0]

damn bats :drugs:

Yeah not sure on the spelling, but it's also called "engine start"

CRC 'Engine Start' is one of many

[Guest Andrew]

Yeah not sure on the spelling, but it's also called "engine start"

CRC 'Engine Start' is one of many

hah no you're right - I was merely thinking of Fearing and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[Guest Spargo]

No point mentioning these bats, I thought. The poor bastard will see them soon enough.

[Nate 0]

Update....

I finally took the car to a BMW specialist. If there's anyone in Wellington reading this I totally reccomend Page European on Home Street. They've got an excellent hourly rate and they do "just that bit extra" which makes taking your car to a mechanic seem less wimpy than trying to fix it yourself...

Anyway, long story short, apparentley its supposed to sound like it does

Is there anyone else driving a non vanos E36 320i that can confirm this for me?

[Carl 3]

Update....

I finally took the car to a BMW specialist. If there's anyone in Wellington reading this I totally reccomend Page European on Home Street. They've got an excellent hourly rate and they do "just that bit extra" which makes taking your car to a mechanic seem less wimpy than trying to fix it yourself...

Anyway, long story short, apparentley its supposed to sound like it does

Is there anyone else driving a non vanos E36 320i that can confirm this for me?

ALi might know, just make sure you bring the car along to the next gathering we have so we can all gather around it and make our ill-informed judgements on it.

[Williams BMW 0]

I had an air leak on me E30 325 intake hose. It had an erratic idle at umm....idle, which was the air stabiliser valve compensating for the leaking air.

Tried the brake-kleen and went over it looking for splits, cracks etc, in the end I just replaced the intake hose ,$76 ChCh BMW, problem solved.

Ps. Did Page European fix your engine problems.