Damnit!

[L~C~G]

My poor baby,




I had to drive a few kms on a dirt road today. As I got back onto tarred road there was no boost at all. I could hear that the turbo was spinning but not boosting. I suspected it was possibly the boost converter.

I replaced all the vacuum hoses about a month ago so im pretty sure its not that.

I decided to try and drive her home because I could get up to about 60km/h and was only about 20 kms from home.

As I was driving she lost even more power and I could not even mantain speed in first gear. I pulled over to check if a vacuum hose had maybe popped off but could not see anything.

When I climbed back into the car and tried to pull off the motor died immediatly and would no start again.

After standing for about 30 mins I tried again and she started, I pulled off an got full boost and power for about 30 seconds and then she died again.

After that If I started the motor I could put my foot flat down and the revs would not climb above 1000rpm and it died as soon as I took my foot off the gas.

Any ideas what could be wrong? Air flow meter? Crank angle sensor?

Its a F/L E46 320d

I will take it to my mechanic for diagnostics on monday but I would like to know what I am in for.

 

[Stig46t]

are you sure you tightened all boost pipes properly ?

has similar prob with one of my scooby's/.

Left standing on side of road due to lost power, found a loose hose clamp, tighened, and off i went again

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are you sure you tightened all boost pipes properly ?

has similar prob with one of my scooby's/.

Left standing on side of road due to lost power, found a loose hose clamp, tighened, and off i went again

now that i think of it, it was thick 110mm pipe for inter cooler.

check for tightening and leaks

 

[L~C~G]

I didnt touch the boost pipes, I only did the vasuum hoses. I did notice though, that while the car was idling and I was looking at the vacuum pipes I pushed the main intercooler pipe and the revs jumped up for a split second.

It is just strage that it was so intermittent. Surely if it was a leaking charge pipe it would blow through all the time and not only occasionally?

That also should not stop the motor from running?

 

[Stig46t]

it did with my scooby,

gradual lose of power, off-burpling sound,

then wouldn't start at all,

but this is just my opnion, not mechanic / vehicle guru etc.

 

[StK]

What year is your car? Pre oct 2003 models were more prone to turbo failure

 

[Spy007]

HAd the same problem with mine.


came up with 3 Codes

Pressure converter for turbo
Air Mass flow Meter
and Glow Plugs (I know it is not this)

Good Luck

 

[JENICH]

Sorry to hear mate, hope you come right soon

 

[L~C~G]

Its a 2001.

I dont think its the turbo, you can still hear is spinning and it did boost cleanly again for a short while. Surely if the turbo was packed it would not boost at all and not suddenly spool up again?

I have an aftermarket warranty which covers the turbo for around R2k with a top up plan that covers about R11k on mechanical failures so I will put the repair through that.

I hope it is not anything major though.

 

[frikkieh]

Just dont take it to BMW for repairs, unless you have a very deep pocket...

 

[Solo Man]

My brother had a similar problem with his X5 diesel - it suddenly would not rev past 1800 with no power, etc. Eventually found the boost pipe had come loose. When the AC guys overhauled his ac compressor they forgot to tighten the boost pipe. So, i suggest, check for leaks/cracks in the boost pipe.

 

[L~C~G]

Ill take her off to my mechanic today and let you know what happens. My car will never go near the agents.........EVER :nonono:

I have a feeling that I am going to start her up later this morning and she is going to go like nothing is wrong which is worse than her not starting at all. :thumbdo:

 

[L~C~G]

Just started the car, you can hear the turbo is spinning at 3000rpm, I didnt want to rev any higher with the motor being cold and as soon as I release the gas pedal the motor dies.

Its now at the mechanic

 

[L~C~G]

My car has been with my mechanic since Monday morning and we are still not 100% sure what is up.

My mechanic told me he can hear something leaking / blowing and has had to strip every single cover off the car to try and find it.

He eventually found a valve on or near the turbo that was leaking (not exactly sure what he is referring to I am only seeing him tomorrow morning) but he has cleaned it out and it is apparently working now.

He took the turbo off while he was busy to see if it is still good and he says it is 100% fine just heavily coated with carbon which he has also cleaned up.

Im taking him a new gasket kit tomorrow so he can put everything back together and while im there I will fetch the down pipe and have the first cat removed. The back one I can do at anytime but I have been battling to find someone who will do the first one.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Hope that has solved the problem! :thumbs:

 

[L~C~G]

Got the car back on Friday afternoon.

She seems to be going ok for now, but I suspect the underlying fault is still there.

My mechanic cleaned everything out and found that the waste gate was sticking open which has now been sorted. The EGR was also sticking which he has now sorted.

We also found one of the couplings on the exhaust was blowing through rather badly.

The car is pulling much harder than before but occasionally it still feels like it is not getting up to full boost for a little while and then pulls like mad again. On friday afternoon I was pulling off from a robot in first on an uphill with my foot flat and was hardly gaining speed even as it went over 3000rpm then all of a sudden all hell broke loose and it took off like a rocket and was fine after that again.

Also when I come to a stop at a robot or traffic light the revs come down normally until around 900rpm then it drops down below 500 rpm for a second (feels like the motor is going to die) and then is fine again.

 

[Gizmo]

Get those codes read...

 

[Spy007]

Read codes.

Sounds Vacuum leaky to me. At least you still have your car hopefully getting Tbag back on Friday