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'88 BMW 325i not starting

My '88 325i refuses to start. Battery is good, it cranks but it just does not want to start. I have investigated the following:

FUEL System:

  1. Using 2 wires I connected the fuel pump directly to the battery - the pump ran and delivered fuel (I had a hose with one end connected to the fuel pressure regulator in the engine compartment and the other end in a container to receive the fuel). So the fuel pump is good.

  1. I removed the fuel pump relay and using a jumper wire I've connected sockets 30 and 87 then I measured the voltage between the terminals in the fuel pump connector - it was battery voltage - good.

  2. I cranked the engine while watching the hose I had connected to the fuel pressure regulator to see if fuel was delivered. There was plenty of fuel - good.

IGNITION System:

  1. I tested for spark using a grounded spark plug connected to one of the wires that I had disconnected from one of the spark plugs. There were blue sparks while cranking the engine.

So I have spark and fuel delivered to the cylinders but the car would not start at all... Could anyone please help with a suggestion/idea of what could be wrong? What should I check next? Thanks a lot, Dan

Reply to
Dan Brenner
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Timing belt slipped?

Reply to
JimV

My 87 525e did the same thing, same engine type. The trouble is the spark was too weak! We found a dry solder joint on the main output resistor in the Motronic DME, that was resoldered and the fault fixed.

You may also have a bad temperature sensor.

Reply to
John Burns

How can I check if the timing belt slipped? And if true, is there a way to check if there was engine damage or not? Right now, when I crank the engine I don't hear any unusual sounds coming from the engine. Is this a good enough indication that the engine is (still) ok?

Thanks, Dan

Reply to
Dan Brenner

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