'93 520i (M50) Flooding Plugs ?!!

[henry161]

When my car is cold , it is a pig to start - it is soaking the spark plugs with petrol (gas). As soon as it has any warmth in it , it runs and starts beautifully. I would appreciate any suggestions as to what to try to solve it please !!! The coolant temp sensor has been tested and is ok.

[henry161]

When my car is cold , it is a pig to start - it is soaking the spark plugs with petrol (gas). As soon as it has any warmth in it , it runs and starts beautifully. I would appreciate any suggestions as to what to try to solve it please !!! The coolant temp sensor has been tested and is ok.

I should have added - what could make the car overfuel when cold so that it floods ? It has only been doing this since the cylinder head was replaced.Once started it runs great for the rest of the day.

[henry161]

Well , I am glad it has beaten all of the "experts" on here because it certainly has beaten me for the time being.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Injectors.

But it's still kind of odd since they would leak hot or cold and flood the engine.

Are you sure it's gas...not oil or coolant?

cold..the fuel would have time to evaporate and be less noticable.

hot...the fuel is still in the manifold and floods the intake. You'd smell gas once it started after a few cranks.

I just replaced the injectors on Sunday, after experiancing intermitant flooding after a hard drive while still hot. cold starts were fine.

[henry161]

I am starting to suspect the injectors - if they weren't so much money I would buy a set and try them. I took the pipes off the fuel rail the other day to swap the pressure regulator and there was no pressure in the rail - there was still some fuel in there but definitely no pressure - does this mean that they are leaking ?
Today after cold starting I could smell the fuel.

[632 Regal]

if you have no pressure with the new regulator than I would suspect the injectors, they are available and not expensive.

http://www.fiveomotorsport.com/Injector_Sets.asp

[joshua43214]

Its almost for sure bad injectors. Unbolt the assembly so you can pull out the injectors complete with fuel rail. Run the fuel pump briefly by bypassing the relay. Pull the assembly out, there should be no leakage or driping. Some will claim that a tiny amount of fuel at the spray tip is ok, but my experience is that a good injector will not leak at all. If they are leaky, you can either use an injector cleaner or take it to a shop for an injector flush. This will somtimes fix the leak, but normaly you will be into new parts.

[henry161]

Thanks for your help guys. It is booked back in to the BMW dealer tomorrow for them to have another look. I will ask about the injectors but I bet they are money over here in rip off britain! They will be twice the cost at least. That site looks good - are re-con injectors okay or should I go for brand new ones ?

[henry161]

Finally got the car back from the main dealer - they have had it on 2 occasions totalling 6 days and charged me £520 GBP (about $900) to tell me that it has leaking inlet valves. What do you think about that ???? I almost turned green and tore my shirt off. Could it be leaking valves causing starting problems when cold ? I am undecided. I guess if it doesn't start more or less instantly it is going to wet the plugs - simple as that.

[Dave M]

Dear Hulk,

I'll take a stab. I don't imagine leaky intake valves alone would cause you to foul your plugs with fuel (if this is in fact your problem). Leaky valve stems would allow oil to foul your plugs after sitting overnight, but would cause tell-tale smoking at start-up. However, leaky valves seats may exacerbate the flooding situation by allowing additional fuel to trickle into the cylinders.

So the dealer charged you $900 to tell you your intake valves are leaking? Did they do a leak-down test? Did they tell you how this affects starting or why it would cause your plugs to foul? Do they smell fuel? Do they agree its fuel related? Maybe they need to reply to your question

Alright, I don’t want you turning green again. RRrrrrrrrrr. We / you’ll figure it out.

Dave M