525 TD - Help please

[jrgibb]

Hi,

I've just acquired a UK 525td Manual, there's a couple of problems;

1) The electronic odometer is faulty, it's showing the numbers but parts of the numbers are missing, intermittently it shows everything correctly but most of the time it looks garbled. Is this typically a fault inside the instrument cluster or loose wiring ??

2) The tick over is running at about 950 rpm and tends to drop away / stalls as soon as this bite point is reached on the clutch (manual transmission). It also tends to stall if the car is stationary, in neutral and I turn the steering, i.e. as the power steering draw power off the engine - any ideas ??

Thanks,

J

[High Compression II]

Have you checked for fault-codes, recorded in the DDE?--To do this, turn on Ign, without starting, and within five seconds, press accelerator to the floor five times. The "Injector' light will flash one long flash, then a series of shorter flashes if there is a fault code stored. At the end of the flashing, press accelerator 5 times again for second fault code if stored If the second number of flashes is the same as the first, then you only have the one fault code stored.

950 RPM is a bit high for the M51--Should be around 6-750 ish. This is only adjustable using specialised DDE BMW equipment.--My guess is, the DDE is trying to compensate for something...........

You are saying, even the small load of the steering pump causes the engine to stall?--

Could be a pump issue. Hows the starting?--If you rev to 2000 rpm, and release the accelerator, does the engine speed fall quickly and come to rest at 900, or does it fall untill around 1200, then very slowly fall to 900?--If so, Has anyone messed around with the injection pump, say, replacing the top-seals or in an attempt to gain more power by mis-adjusting the position of the actuator cover assy?

My odometer is exactly the same!--Ive had so many more important faults to sort out--I havent bothered yet......

[jrgibb]

HCII,

Thanks for the detailed reply. To recap this car is a 94 524td M51 manual transmission. As per your comments, when at normal running temp I rev'd to 2000 and lifted off. The revs drop quickly to around 1200 then nore slowly drop to around 950. Would welcome any further thoughts you may have.

Re the "stomp" error codes after depressing the pedal 5 time the injector light flashes once then 29 times. After pressing the pedal 5 times again the injector light does the same thing. Can anyone advise what this means - problems with the injectors I guess :-)

Many thanks,

J

[High Compression II]

Fault code 29, according to the data I received from here a week or two suggests the 'speed signal' Mine does this, has the same fault code (29) but runs normally, so I guess its not the cause of your problem.

Do you know if anyone has messed around with your injection pump?--The position of the top cover is quite critical, and used to set up the fuelling by sliding front and back, as this sets the position of the control-spool actuator which sets the fuelling.........

[jrgibb]

Thanks, will check out the pump. It seems like it may be fuel related, this morning when cold, it stalled again, I caught the stall on the clutch, and got on the gas quickly but the revs just died away.

Thanks again.

J

[High Compression II]

Silly question, but have you changed your fuel-filter recently--Could be that its restricting fuel-flow--Worth checking/changing.

Easy to change the fuel filter--It just unscrews from the filter head--BUT get some fresh diesel in a can before you change the filter, so you can fill the new filter to the brim before fitting, This is to prevent a huge quantity of air entering the IP when you first start the engine after changing filter, which could be a pain to shift sometimes.......
Be prepaired for a small spill of diesel when you remove the old filter,--This is normal.

Also worth checking if there are any bubbles of air in the fuel line from the filter head to the pump inlet--You should have NO air present when the engine is running--the car should have a semi-rigid plastic pipe here, through which you can see air if present.--
If there's air, the filter head connections for the fuel line are infamous for drawing in air where the plastic fittings enter the filter head, and where the fuel lines attach to the pipe fittings which are 'plugged in' to the filter head--

These plug in fittings have two 'o' rings each, and can be a sod to remove without breaking the 'elbow' from the plug.--
Best way Ive found to remove these without breaking, is to remove the metal spring-clip and then using two screwdrivers, one each side in the small slots, lever out the plug with equal force on each side--They can be horrendously tight!--The O rings are fairly easy to get and fit once the plugs have been removed.--If you dont have any air in the system, DO NOT risk removing these parts needlessly as they are so prone to breaking.--The Stealer, wants around 25 quid for the body-to-filter pipe!--So not worth the risk if they are not giving trouble

worth checking the elec. pump in the tank and the fuel-pump relay in the elect. box drivers side--Its the black relay in the centre section. The pump will only be operational when the engine is running--A pain to check, unless you bridge out the fuel-pump relay. Check also that the relay is coming in when the engine is running...You should have a fuel pressure of around 7PSI, or half a Bar at the fuel pump inlet, with the elect pump running and engine not.


Check all these things before condeming the more expensive parts, Its a case of elimination by trial and error half the time with faults like this!

[jrgibb]

Hi,

Thanks again, sound advice !

I picked up the car at the weekend, it's pretty "tired" and been neglected all round. I've not yet had a chance to get under the bonnet and start some basic maintainance, will be doing an oil / filter change at the weekend and will include fuel filter. I'll check for air in the lines at the same time.

Just checked your profile, same car / year as mine, hope you don't mind if I tap you up for some more help in the future

All the best,

Jason

[iainand]

yet another 525 diesel owner, at last more and more of us.

we all seem to have similar year and mileage car, hope we can all help each other

welcome jrgibb

[jrgibb]

. . ahh an S SE . . don't know if we should talk to you with such a classy set of wheels :-)

Thanks for the warm welcome, and yes I'm gonna need all the help I can get !