Please, some help with a no start problem (92 535iM)

[Tyler G]

I know I probably haven't been around here enough or helped others with what knowledge I have enough, but could someone please help me? My 92 535i stalled on me 2 times in my school's parking lot yesterday, and I was able to start it right back up. It seemed that it would stall only if I let the revs die down to idle speed. Since I had to go a few places (to work and my martial arts class), I went ahead and drove it there, thinking it was just some minor problem I could figure out when I got home. However, it stalled when I parked at work (I had the clutch in, but had not yet clicked the switch off). But, it restarted when it was time for me to leave toward my martial arts class. When I got there, I left it idling, opened the hood and started looking around in there trying to find the problem , when it stalled again. This time, I couldn't get it to restart. I had to have it towed home this morning to get it out of that parking lot. I've already tested the fuel pump by jumping at the relay. It is fine, and the car wouldn't start with it running, so tonight someone even came over and I checked for spark, and there is none from either the plugs or the coil. I also tried a new relay tonight. I'm thinking that perhaps it is my Crankshaft Position Sensor, is this a good probability? I've tried wiping it down on the front, and even tapping on it pretty hard with a screwdriver, with no luck. I think my ECU is fine, since the car will still give me the "1444" code, at least. What should I go after now?

[winfred]

if the fuel pump comes on when you crank it, usually means the crank position sensor is ok. it's hard to say what the problem is without getting my hands on it and running my usual tests

[Tyler G]

if the fuel pump comes on when you crank it, usually means the crank position sensor is ok. it's hard to say what the problem is without getting my hands on it and running my usual tests

Well, the fuel pump isn't coming on when I crank it, I had to jumper the relay to get it to come on. But, what other tests are there to do, especially any to do to the CPS to check it?

[winfred]

of the three wires two are signal and one is a shield, i can't remember which, it should have around 540 ohms resistance and while cranking should generate between .5 and 1 volt (AC if i remember right) theres a 3rd test but you need a scope to read the tone signal, i've had a sensor pass two out of the three tests and be bad

[Javier]

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?p=14319

As Winfred said, if you ohm test open circuit between 1 and 2 or short-circuits between any of them, It's surely bad, having about 400-600 ohms between 1 and 2 does not necessarily means it's OK. My experience is they just open wen bad, and it may be unstable, some times reads OK sometimes don't, you can exercise the cable going into the metal bottle (Sensor pickup) and see if it changes your situation. Also be sure that sensor is properly seated in place against the damper pulley, if something is loose, it may fail to pick up the tooth. If you need to change it, be sure to get exactly the same unit. All sensors are similar and may differ only on the groove orientation (The line that protrudes in the bottom of the sensor pick-up) it should be aligned with the steel tooth in the damper. If not, it will not work. It means you can not discard with a borrowed sensor unless it is exactly the same.