E36 328i - Couple of Issues....

[bodhi]

Hi Folks,

I've had a couple of issues this week with my 96 328i. It's a steel linered model with 131K on the clock, and is currently doing around 550 miles a week up and down the M6. The issues are:-

1) Fuel gauge has stopped working. I understand this is a problem with either the fuel sender or the wiring to it, however my concern is that its linked to point 2

2) In the past week or so it has started running a little rough, and doesn;t start as instantly as it used to. It still starts every time, just not as keenly as it did. By running rough I mean it feels a bit lethargic and I get the odd judder at low revs, and this morning in traffic, when the revs returned to idle when stuck in traffic, it started hunting around. It settled down soon afterwards, and still has plenty of poke in the upper rev range.

Are these points related? And should I be worried its about to leave me stranded on the motorway? Main reason I ask is I have a customer appointment tomorrow I have to get to.

[s m]

Bodhi, more than likely fuel gauge will be a loose wire on connection to sender under rear seat - cheap fix if you can solder.

Get a diagnostic check and look for faults on cam/crank sensor - both DIY jobs if you're handy. A new sensor will be about £100 tops for genuine BMW ones.

As long as oil & water look fine and underside of oil cap is clean I wouldn't worry chap

Also check intake hoses for cracks and splits

Edited by s m on Thursday 19th January 17:42

Edited by s m on Thursday 19th January 17:43

[kev b]

I would start by checking the intake hoses very carefully for splits, its best to remove them to do this as they are hard to see in situ and you can clean the throttle body whilst you are there Splits can be temporarily repaired with silicon sealer. HTH

[S3_Graham]

kev b said:

I would start by checking the intake hoses very carefully for splits, its best to remove them to do this as they are hard to see in situ and you can clean the throttle body whilst you are there Splits can be temporarily repaired with silicon sealer. HTH

I'd bet £10 on an intake hose. Mine did exactly those symptoms. I inspected the pipe, 2 people at work inspected it, the AA man inspected it and the garage diagnosed it with a smoke machine in less than 5 mins....

[s m]

Yes agreed - particularly check the big concertina hose - all starting to go now.

Get Warchild and Tone to check the other stuff whilst you look for cracks and splits

[bodhi]

Thanks for the replies fellas, I had a bit of a dig around under the engine bay when I got home. I managed to rule out a couple of things.

1) Problem happens when cold as well, so I'm guessing O2 Sensors are OK.
2) If I take the oil cap off when the engine is running, the idle drops slightly but it doesn;t stall - Crankcase valve OK?
3) There sounds like a massive amount of leaking air when I boot the throttle at idle. I'm guessing a hose

Am going to have a dig around at the weekend again, but I think we've found the answer. It ran OK on the way back, its difficult to drive smoothly in traffic without it kangarooing down the road, and there is a definite hesitance when planting the right boot of justice.

Sound about right?