Crank position sensor dead / code reader

[glen.riley.1990 25]

Hey Guys, i get the feeling my crank position sensor is on the way out but would rather get the car scanned first before replacing stuff willy nilly.

e36 328i has started dying mid drive, car is manual (converted from auto but have had a couple years driving with no issues) so it bump starts its self and carries on just fine (runs perfectly when not killing the engine.). tach signal drops very quickly when this happens, it looses about 1000 revs in the fraction of a second the motor is not going. if foot is on the clutch it dies out completely.

the only thing that makes any sense to me is the crank position sensor going bad, or the DME is losing power, or has fried something in the DME.

feedback on issue and / or reference to person or shop with a code reader in rotorua appreciated!

Edited March 13, 2017 by glen.riley.1990

[danbullock 15]

Check the wiring from the sensors. My 328 would not start one day and after a week of phaffing about I contacted brent at bmworld. He suggested looking at the wiring on the crank sensor. He was spot on. I checked the cam sensor wiring as well and ditto, all the insulation was just crumbling at my finger tips, causing a short between the wires.

[glen.riley.1990 25]

On 3/16/2017 at 4:34 PM, danbullock said:

Check the wiring from the sensors. My 328 would not start one day and after a week of phaffing about I contacted brent at bmworld. He suggested looking at the wiring on the crank sensor. He was spot on. I checked the cam sensor wiring as well and ditto, all the insulation was just crumbling at my finger tips, causing a short between the wires.

 

Thanks for the heads up Dan, The sensor in there was only 3 years old! so the insulation was actually ok.

Had the car scanned and came up crank sensor, so pulled and replace and fixed the issue!

Turns out the o-ring in my thermostat housing had gone hard and lost its seal. crank sensor vs antifreeze not so good!