Help Needed For A G Reg 316I With An E40 Engine

[Matt1984]

Hi all,

I am new to this group so please don't be to mean :)

My mother owns a 316 i on a G plate, in overall good condition has had the head re built in the past few months due to the timing belt snapping, destroyed 2 of the inlet values.

Ever since been having issues where it will cut off with no warning, then after it has cut out, once you get it going it will run but very lumpy, and will have very little power, will be like this for a couple of days and then seems to correct it self. Also while running lumpy the temp just keeps on claiming and shows no sign of stopping until you turn it off. We have tried to bleed the system on a number of occasions to cure this but nothing seems to work.

Only today did it cut out on my farther, we have been able to get it back home and looks to be an issue with the dizzy cap, and one of the HT leads. We have come across this by using an old HT lead that came with the replacement head we got for the car, so by taking one off and starting the car until we found the the one where no change was made to the sound of the engine, replaced it and seems to of got its get up and go again but still have the issue with the temp of the engine.

Reason we need a new Dizzy cap is that 2 of the contacts are damaged, One is bent and the other has a mark running straight through the middle of it as if something has smashed into it at some point.

So my question is where do you guys go to get these parts and what the damage i am looking at money wise for these parts? :unsure:

So for piece of mind we have decided to go head and replace the dizzy cap and HT leads to make sure these are new and not a cause of the issue, and depending on the price we are going to change the Spark plugs at the same time to rule them out as well.

Any help any of you can supply would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to your response.

Cheers

Matt

[jonmcghee]

You will get a cap for around £6, leads about £20 (ebay) I would pull the plugs and have a look at them when was last time changed? if been a while would replace them too.

As for the overheating are you lossing any water? does the system become presurised? have you had a sniff test done on the water? any signs of white smoke out the exhaust? can you here any funny gurgling sounds around the engine bay?

Have read that radiator can be a problem with blockages and the thermastat housing can be a problem with cracking also, never experianced myself so someone on here hopfully will be more enlightened with the problem.

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

When the engine is in an "Overheated" state, the fuel mixture entering each pot will ignite BEFORE the spark-plug has a chance !

This "throws" the ECU/EMA allover the place hence lumpiness... You have a cooling system issue as Jon is suggesting.

You need to establish whether or not the Head-Gasket has failed !

If you are up-for-it, why not overhaul it by replacing the Water-Pump, Thermostat and coolant... Have it flushed through too before hand. Not a Bank-breaker ;)