Engine Stalling Itself - Please Help!

[Bexxi66]

Hi guys,

So, I've had my 99 323 CI for around4 months and its been having an issue where it stalls itself instead of idling.

This only happens after the engine has been on once, is turned off, then gets turned on again with in an hour. It puts itself into limp mode as well, so there is no power.

I've had diagnostic run on it which came up with a lambda sensor and cam sensor, which I replaced. It was fine for about 2 days, before the issue came up again.

Does anyone have any idea what could be the issue? I'm out of ideas and really want the bimmer to be running how it should. Please note that the length of journey doesn't seem to matter and after couple miles it usually begins to idle itself again.

Please Help!!!!

[Dizgav]

MAF sensor,,,if that is bad it will run like a bag of nails,

[Bexxi66]

MAF sensor,,,if that is bad it will run like a bag of nails,

Thanks for the tip - I unplugged the MAF sensor, it seemed to hold its idle.

Think I will definitely try this one next.

Thanks :)

[Bexxi66]

So I've tried the MAF sensor - still not working!!!

Does anyone have any ideas?

It's becoming a pain when getting fuel etc as I may not get back off of the forecourt once I fill up.

Diagnostics aren't showing anything <_<

[Guest DazH]

I was ganna say, put her on the reader again and see what that says but you said; Nothing.

This is another thing to consider:

The ICV. The engine you have (M52) should have, an Idle Control Valve under the intake manifold. Remove the air box and the pipes leading to the throttle body and you should see it hanging.
Give it a good clean and go from there. Reasoning behind this is, the ICV does exactly what it says on the tin, maintains idle. If your car is cranking fine but doesn't seem to hold idle, this little sod might be messing with the air supply and/or sending the incorrect signal to the ECU messing with the fuel ratio.

Daz

[Bexxi66]

Hey Daz, thanks for your reply.

First thing I tried was the idle control valve. Even tried a new battery since a flat battery can mess things up in weird ways.

Not sure what to try next except to pay some specialists a lot of money lol

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Becky theres an air intake hose that runs from the airflow meter to the side of the throttle body which splits into two parts, part of the hose is corrugated and I have seen them split in the corrugated part and where it seperates into two parts, even a minor hole will give the symptoms you explain, it would also explain the cam sensor code and lambda code.

Stephen

[Bexxi66]

Hi Stephen,

I've checked all the hoses and they are all fine.

Just had it plugged into a computer again, nothing is coming up still. But it hasn;t stalled itself for about 2 days - so maybe it was the MAF sensor, but the ECU still decided there was a fault for a couple journeys before sorting itself out?

Will just have to see how it goes for a week or so :blink:

Thanks everyone ^_^

[Guest DazH]

See how it goes and keep us all in the loop!

GOOD LUCK!!

Daz

[Bexxi66]

Ok so some good and some bad news..... the engine still stalls itself... but only intermittently!

Not sure what to do next :(

Any suggestions?

[Bexxi66]

I added a video of it stalling itself to youtube, incase that helps :)

http://youtu.be/ZWk2-zEKAmI

[mickl3008]

Take it to a garage that have a diagnostic machine, Snap On, Launch or a main dealer. Using an EOBD2 reader is a waste of time for the problem you have

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Ok Becky back to basics then, pull every multi plug and look for a bad contact, a loose wire into the multi plugs, green joint etc, anything that doesn't look right tidy it up trace all the wires back to the loom check for any breaks, chaffs, shorts etc.

Are you really sure that pipe I told you about is 100%?.

Stephen

[Estoril X5 D Sport]

Is the lambda code still always present?

Stephen

[Guest DazH]

Micheal's suggestion is spot on in my opinion.

Take it to a garage that can run a "Live" reading of what the engine is doing. If you can recreate exactly what is shown in that video on demand, it will be nice and quick.

Again, keep us posted Becky! and good luck

Daz

[E36-Steve]

I had a similar problem with the E36 323 touring I just brought. Plugged it in and it came up with lambda sensor, cam sensor, crank sensor and a few other bits and bobs. Changed the crank sensor cleared all the faults and now she purrs like a kitten :). No cutting out, but she does still idle quite low. But apparently that is because all of the settings have been re set and it needs to be run for a while to log everything.

Not sure if this helps but just thought I would mention it as it sounded pretty similar to my problem.

[Bexxi66]

Hi guys,

Thank you all for your suggestions :)

The only sensor I haven't touched is the crankshaft sensor - so I may try that one. No codes are showing up when it goes through diagnositcs at the moment.

I;ve tried to make the problem happen at least three times to get the fault stored in the system though.

If not, then I have a specialist guy who will take a look at everything and has a promise that he doesn't leave until we know what he problem is!

So fingers crossed it gets fixed soon - I;m not enjoying having to plan my life to allow the engine to sit for at least 2 hours before starting her up again!

[E36-Steve]

I got my sensor for £15.40 (at trade). Admittedly it probably isn't the best quality but I needed it that day to get the car running. From BMW they wanted £101 (at trade). You can get the for around the £50 for a decent one. So worth a look I say.

[Bexxi66]

I've found a used one for £12, and they've confirmed its in full working condition, so I'll give that a go first off :)

Thanks for the suggestion Steve :)

[E36-Steve]

No problem :), keep us posted. Hope it sorts the problem out.