Hello everyone, Everyone PLEASE respond to this posting. I own a 1989 525i e34 with just shy of 300km (I'm in Canada). Yesterday about 20 seconds from pulling into my driveway my car suffered a very minor loss in power and started to run louder than normal from the front end, but it still drove fine. (Sounded similar to a noisy pulley for example). I got the car in the driveway, popped the hood with the car still running to hear better where the problem was. Turned the car off and decided to investigate later. Went back to look an hour later. Started the car and it ran for about 20 seconds and it stopped. NOW the car will not start at all. The starter does turn over, spins the fan, but it does not sound the same as it normally should. Sounds like it's not really connected to anything. I called the local BMW repair shop for some advice and he said it could be one of three things.
- Bad starter or pinion
- Bad fuel system ( checked the fuel pump all ready and there is pressure getting to the fuel rail from what I can tell)
- Timing belt
Regarding the timing belt. The BMW person mentioned that if the belt had gone I should be able to look through the oil cap and see if the cam spins when I crank the engine. When I crank the engine the cam does spin. To confirm I pulled the distributor off. Gave it a crank and it IS spinning. I took the final pieces off the distributor to try to get a glance of the timing belt. When I pulled the distributor off their was a lot of rubber dust (Like from a belt!). However once I could see the belt it still seems to be intact. I cranked it again and the belt SEEMS to be okay. If I take a long screw driver I can move the belt quit easily. Is the belt loose, broken, normal, or is this the problem at all? If it IS the belt what other damage has been done? how can I check. Etc. If it's not the belt I need some suggestions. PLEASE HELP EVERYONE. This is my ONLY vehicle. I don't like to take buses but I'm also not in the mood to buy a new engine (Or CAR!). Thanks everyone!!
Mark