bekker 7 Report post Posted January 20, 2006 Ok guys, I could really use some suggestions. The car turns over normally but won't start. This is the story so far... Driving down a hill this afternoon, petrol light came on occasionally (I know, I dont normally let it get that low). Then about half way down I notice that I have no power. Its not until I pull over that the tacho returns to 0 and the (normal) dash warning lights come on. I figured I had just let it get too low so I coasted to the bottom of the hill and tried to start it. No go. I went and got about 10 litres of petrol, still no go. Called the AA. AA guy put another 10 litres of fuel in, still no go. He then checked for spark. He said its there (but a little weak) so thats not the fault. He checked and said it appeared (I'm not 100% certain) petrol was getting to the engine. Anyway car ended up being towed home. I need help. Could it be the fuel pump. Both the AA guy and I agreed that we could here the fuel pump working. But the pump has been noisy in the past particularly at start up. Could the pump motor still be running but the mechenism knackered? Whats the easiest way to check? Any suggestions greatfully appreciated and investigated. Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CADMAX 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2006 it sounds as tho you have the same as my sis car happening. fuel pump i would say Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rxsumo 33 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 Check your fuel pressure (I ended up buying a cheap ($100) dash guage to do this), if you have pressure then the pump is ok, you should see if the injectors are working. After cranking the engine (and the car not starting), pull the plugs are they wet or dry?(trying to estabilish if the car is not got gas or has so much gas that its flooded) The spark shouldnt be weak, unless you had flattened the battery cranking it. We had a crazy fault on the E3, that had all the symptoms of a FI failure, turned out to be a collapsed rear muffler. No indication of a failure, pulled out of the hairpin at Manfeild, and the car coasted to a stop down Concorde. Had all the symptoms of running outta gas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bimmer boy 21 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 Blocked fuel filter? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmw_hero_m3 0 Report post Posted January 30, 2006 yeh, def sounds like a fuel pump problem, sounds like its working but when there's a load on the pump it cant keep up there for not enough go juice, could also have a break in the fuel line, that runs along the bottom the the car Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bekker 7 Report post Posted January 31, 2006 Thanks everyone. Cars fixed now - about $500 later! Turned out to be a dead relay. What the Haynes manual doesnt tell you is that the Bosch relays (according to the auto electrician I ended up using) have a different pin layout. I just replaced it with a normal relay. It took (allegedly) the electrician 6 hours to diagnose the fault - and they are the Bosch specialists! I dont think I'll go back there, maybe straight to BMW next time. $500 to finally diagnose a $30 relay! I had assumed that because they were the specialist that they would be familiar with the cars layout. It appears I was wrong. Cheers for all the help anyway. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
