97 328i hard starting...SOLVED
My buddy has a '97 328i 4-door, automatic. I've helped him out with it in the past (tuneup, brake job, etc.). Saturday, as I was working on the new shift carrier bushings on the E30, he called and left a frantic message. "I was backing the car out of the garage, I remembered it had a check coolant message, so I shut it off to add coolant. When I tried to start it back up, it wouldn't run. Plus, it was was low on oil, so I added 4 quarts."
YIKES!! 4 QUARTS?
My first thought was fouled plugs. I told him that on the phone when I called him back, but I had dinner obligations Saturday night, and the annual charity car show all day Sunday. Didn't get a chance to look at it until tonight. Here's what I found:
Plugs were fouled, smelled of gas. Took all plugs out, brought them home, cleaned them with contact cleaner, a wire brush, and compressed air. Took them back, put them in, and tried starting the car. It would fire instantly, then shut right back off. So, I held the throttle open some. It roared to life, and ran pretty smoothly (blowing black smoke out the exhaust). Classic flooded/fouled operation.
However, it would not idle. Mind you, the car was almost out of gas. The range calculation on the OBC said 17 miles, so I was skeptical about poor fuel pickup. I located the idle control valve (buried tightly under the intake manifold) and gave it a few raps with a screwdriver, but no real change in operation.
As the car was running (but not idling), and so low on fuel, I advised my buddy that we should take it up and put some gas in it at the local station. This required left-foot braking and my foot constantly on the throttle. So, I did that for the mile it is up to the station. By the time we got there, it was idling on its own at about 750 rpm...weird.
We put in 10 gallons, I turned out of the station, and put my foot in the throttle. It sounded terrific, pulled smoothly, and idled fine all the way home. Starts were perfect, repeatedly, with a warm engine.
I remember my 525 doing this once or twice, but never as bad as this car did it. We were about ready to write it off and have him get it towed, but we just applied some good old "let 'er run" luck. And, as its OBDII and I don't have a scanner, I wasn't able to pull any codes (and it only threw the CEL when I disconnected the MAF and tried to start the car).
Now, about that 4 quart oil loss...it appears to be leaking from the rear main, and from the valve cover perhaps. We're going to replace the valve cover gasket soon, but the rear main bothers me. It doesn't leak enough to leave a puddle in the garage, but the underside of the bellhousing is moist. More on that late. Going to switch to at least 10W40 from the 10W30 he's running.
I left him with 2 pieces of advice; check the oil at every fillup, and don't run the engine for less than 45 seconds to help prevent the fouling problem. Actually, I believe it was only down 3, as the oil was about one quart's worth above the full mark after he added it all.
