E30 325IS hard start

[toyotahachiroku]

haha...will look into the fuel system next...too bad i dont know anyone that has a m20...i only know guys with s14 m50 m52 s50us s38 s54....if only i had the right fittings and some sort of pressure gauge then i could check leak down for sure...a vacuum pump/gauge wouldnt hurt too to check the fuel pressure regulator...i wonder if canadian tire lend those out...oh..btw...i dont remember too well. but i have 2 fuel pumps in this car right? one in the tank under the rear seat and one under the car under the driver seat??

[DS Rook]

Originally Posted by direction88 I had a problem today where my car was good and warm. We drove to the north shore from East Van after a good 10 min warm up. The initial step of the wine making only took about 15-20 min and when we went to leave my car took 3 good cranks to start! It was embarrassing to say the least!! I have heard that the M20 often suffers from this problem?

Ive got a book here that mentions starting and idle problems with early motronic 325i cars with the 173 numbered ecu. It says fitting a later 380 ecu lowers the idle to 750 or so rpm and cures the starting issue. Long shot maybe, but worth a check of your numbers. Cheap fix to if you can test with a friends.

[redhatpat]

Originally Posted by Diamondschwartz rook Ive got a book here that mentions starting and idle problems with early motronic 325i cars with the 173 numbered ecu. It says fitting a later 380 ecu lowers the idle to 750 or so rpm and cures the starting issue. Long shot maybe, but worth a check of your numbers. Cheap fix to if you can test with a friends.

Hey! Interesting you mention that. I was troubleshooting the long crank on my car, so I swapped my 173 for a 380 ecu last year, and noticed the idle went down from ~750 to ~600. Starting still seemed to take a few seconds, but otherwise no change. Fast forward to last month. I didn't like the low idle when its so cold out, and I remembered the 173 ecu idled higher, so I swapped the 173 back in. Idle was up again, but I also noticed the crank time went up a couple seconds.

Recap: The 380 would fire up after a very consistent 3 seconds of cranking, and would fire up right away at that time. With the 173 ecu, cranking time went up a second or two, and it would fire up kind of lazily, like it was just starting to get fuel to the engine.

It seems my newly reconditioned fuel injectors have finally solved my long crank time. Its only been a half day, but so far so good. Maybe putting the 380 back in will help it some more.

Does that book mention the dates those two ecu's were used? Does it confirm the 380 is a later ecu, and thus (hopefully) an updated version of the common 173?

Pat

[DS Rook]

Originally Posted by redhatpat Hey! Interesting you mention that. I was troubleshooting the long crank on my car, so I swapped my 173 for a 380 ecu last year, and noticed the idle went down from ~750 to ~600. Starting still seemed to take a few seconds, but otherwise no change. Fast forward to last month. I didn't like the low idle when its so cold out, and I remembered the 173 ecu idled higher, so I swapped the 173 back in. Idle was up again, but I also noticed the crank time went up a couple seconds. Recap: The 380 would fire up after a very consistent 3 seconds of cranking, and would fire up right away at that time. With the 173 ecu, cranking time went up a second or two, and it would fire up kind of lazily, like it was just starting to get fuel to the engine. It seems my newly reconditioned fuel injectors have finally solved my long crank time. Its only been a half day, but so far so good. Maybe putting the 380 back in will help it some more. Does that book mention the dates those two ecu's were used? Does it confirm the 380 is a later ecu, and thus (hopefully) an updated version of the common 173? Pat

Yes. It says the 173 ecu was used from sept 87 to Aug 88 or so and the 380 came into play around june 88 but more commonly seen in the sept 88 on cars

[Flipr78]

Has anyone heard from TOYOTAHACHIROKU ??? Did he solve this issue with replacing fuel pumps?? Mine does the same thing. It cranks over for 5-8 Seconds before firing and then it runs great, idles great. Its a little embarrassing.

Can anyone help diagnose the problem?? Should I buy the fuel pumps?? Are they expensive??

Looking forward to any advice.

[kungfucious0_0]

fuel pumps arent expensive if you go and pull em yourself from ralph's. mine was about $80 but i think those guys are on to it now b/c these things are usually the first to go from new arrivals.

if its not a fuel pump problem (check both), check the relay sensors. thats what my problem was. woulda never found it on my own. apparently mine were installed backwards but somehow my car still ran (with similar symptons as to what toyotahachirico described).

[Flipr78]

Relay sensors??? is that the same as the modules? I was going to install a check valve at the primer pump and then replace my Fuel injection module under the hood and think about replacing my fuel pressure regulator. If that doesn't fix it Im selling!!!!

I am loosing fuel pressure some where, new injectors so I know there not leaking, I think its flowing back through the fuel line into the tank. Once the system is primed and working it runs awesome and I get good mileage, but it starts like crap when ever it sits for more than 10mins.

This all I can do...

[olfson]

Ok, I have the exact problem. I have a 1990 325I convertible...
This is what I've done [so far] with no results:

Placed a check valve in the fuel line because there was no fuel at the fuel rail after about ten minutes of sitting (after reading this forum I'm now going to see if fuel is at the rail, if not: leaking injector)

Replaced: purge valve, oxygen sensor, crank position sensor, fuel pressure regulator vacuum line, and I think that's all.

I checked: coolant temperature sensor, thermo-time switch, fuel pump relay, oxygen sensor relay, idle air stabilizer valve, and correct battery(cca).

I need to go get a new hose clamp, then I will check the fuel line at the fuel rail (between the new check valve and injectors)
I will post my findings.

I really want to fix this-- its super annoying.

[olfson]

Ok, there was some fuel, it had no pressure though (not sure if that's bad).
I've had the car sitting for an hour or so, and a pretty small amount of fuel drizzled out, under no pressure. The first time I tool off the fuel line about six or seven minutes after I cut off the engine -fuel shot out at a high velocity. This time, the fuel was sort of just sitting there.

So: injector leak? Vacuum?

[olfson]

Oh, my ecu is 380 also...