Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 10:52 AM Subject: BMW
I tried to start my 1994 318i this morning and she
> turns over fine but does not start. I checked the fuel
> pump by taking out back seat and observing fuel come
> out of the pump when I cranked the car. It is pumping
> fine. I checked the spark by removing one plug and
> cranking... plenty of spark. I'm fairly new to BMWs...
> I always thought if you had fuel and fire then you had
> ignition. It seems I have both but no start. Tries to
> fire every now and then with extended cranking, but no
> go. I also sprayed some GUNK Quick Starting Fluid
> directly into the throttle body and again, no luck.
> The only thing I can think may be a clogged fuel
> filter as it is further down the line than the fuel
> pump, but spraying the GUNK into the throttle body
> should give me a temporary start... which it doesn't.
> ECM? I have no idea and any help would be appreciated.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> Be absolutely sure your battery is fully charged. BMW
> is very sensitive to this. Crankshaft position sensor
> failure will cause this too.
> Did you pull any coded to see what they say?
> The 5 pedal pump methid should get you info on the
> codes
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> Hi fun2drive,
> Thanks for the response on bimmerfest. I have been
> reading up on the Crankshaft Position Sensor and from
> what I am reading it seems I should have no spark if
> this has failed. When I pulled a plug and cranked the
> engine, I did observe a spark at the spark plug. Would
> this indicate that the Crankshaft Position Sensor is
> ok?
>
> Thanks for any advice,
> Dave
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Dave:
> Your car cranks and you have spark and fuel so I am
> puzzled because that indicates everything is working
> ok.
>
> You really need to pull the codes off the car doing
> the pedal pressing thing (search will tell you how to
> do this) assuming your car is an OBDI car.
>
> I have seen things like this happen when the battery
> is low even thought the car cranks it will not start.
> The only things I know that will cause a failure to
> start is the crank position sensor or a bad cam
> position sensor but the cam position sensor usually
> doesn't fail hard.
>
> If I understand the problem the plug is wet with fuel
> the plug shows a spark but not fire.
>
> I would either carefully jump the car with another and
> or charge the battery to full capacity then try to
> start.
>
> I think if the dME was fired or wet you would not be
> getting both of these.
>
> How did you verify the fuel pressure was available by
> the way?