Misfire...

[Nick.Hay]

Right...

18 months ago, I had an issue with misfiring in my 535i.

I was told to replace the ignition leads, which were expensive, and as a result of me being a broke student with two hungry cars to feed, I decided to take the E34 off the road.

Today I bought and installed new ignition leads. When removing them, this is what I found:


I'm not entirely sure what this thing does, but it was completely snapped off the ignition lead loom.



This is where it plugs in on the engine


Which is there, in the scheme of things

[Nick.Hay]

It also looks like there were plug lead issues in the car's history too.. Note the insulation tape!!


More here


I'm yet to take her for a run today... But hopefully the new leads have cured the issue!! :\


On a lighter note... These arrived today!! Yay... Angeleyes

[Torque]

It senses when there is spark in that lead; the ignition system gets a signal/pulse and uses that as a reference point for the firing ... I'm having a hard time thinking up of a correct way to describe it right now. Maybe someone else can better.

[Ferret]

Yeah, as torque says - it's an inductive pulse generator for the ECU to take a reference signal for the exact moment of ignition/firing.

Without it, your engine will have been running in crappy open loop defaulted mode...

[Nick.Hay]

Took it for a short run to the "workshop" (a mate's tiny single-car garage), and it felt instantly better!! Maybe it was a bit of 'freshly washed car syndrome' but, I think there was an improvement. Can't wait til she's all serviced, rego'd and detailed, and back to her lovely self again!!