E36 Diagnostics

[freezaburn]

Hi guys,

I am from Joburg and I have inherited a BMW 3 Series E36 316i (1995).
The car was idling OK but was a little sluggish, so I I decided to clean out the ICV and now her revs are hunting all over the show. I've checked for vacuum leaks etc but it all seems OK. Other than that, the car is in mint condition and drives fine.

Is there anyone one the forum that has a code reader for the 20-pin connector under the hood? (For a fee of coarse). I'd really appreciate it if I could get a reading since I am reluctant to take it to the dealership and do not want to pay a fortune just to get an idea if there are any problems with the car...

 

[Ratslaaf]

That car uses ADS, not sure if anyone has those readers still

 

[freezaburn]

That car uses ADS, not sure if anyone has those readers still

Thanks for the reply Gbyleveldt. I see there are still a few places I can get a reader online. But it has to be ODB1 and one has to get a 20-pin to OBD convertor to use with that.

Guess a trip to BMW might be worth it after all....

 

[Ratslaaf]

Getting the 20pin to 16pin adapter is no guarantee that you can make it work. The early E46's support OBDII, but never had it inside the car, only under the bonnet in this 20 pin connector.

That being said, I've managed to read a Z3 before (based on E36) but I couldn't access all the modules on the car, like the Engine Management.

 

[freezaburn]

Getting the 20pin to 16pin adapter is no guarantee that you can make it work. The early E46's support OBDII, but never had it inside the car, only under the bonnet in this 20 pin connector.

That being said, I've managed to read a Z3 before (based on E36) but I couldn't access all the modules on the car, like the Engine Management.

I stand corrected, but the earlier E46's had both the 20-pin under the hood and the initial version of OBDII under the dashboard. BMW then did away with the 20-pin and became fully OBDII compliant. You could read some info from the 20-pin and the rest from the OBDII connector. In fact, there was a way to cross-wire the 20-pin connector so that you could read all values from the ODBII port.

Anyway, I just need to get error codes, nothing else.

 

[Ratslaaf]

My '99 E46 328 didn't have an OBDII port

 

[Fappas]

Getting the 20pin to 16pin adapter is no guarantee that you can make it work. The early E46's support OBDII, but never had it inside the car, only under the bonnet in this 20 pin connector.

That being said, I've managed to read a Z3 before (based on E36) but I couldn't access all the modules on the car, like the Engine Management.

I stand corrected, but the earlier E46's had both the 20-pin under the hood and the initial version of OBDII under the dashboard. BMW then did away with the 20-pin and became fully OBDII compliant. You could read some info from the 20-pin and the rest from the OBDII connector. In fact, there was a way to cross-wire the 20-pin connector so that you could read all values from the ODBII port.

Anyway, I just need to get error codes, nothing else.

Hi, did you ever get your codes read? I have the same car with the same bad idling problem after cleaning ICV.

 

[freezaburn]

Hi there,

I finally managed to get hold of the CARSOFT interface but it does not provide much in the way of "engine running" / live data. I did manage to reset some codes and my airbag light which was always illuminated though. None of the other codes had anything to do with engine data.

Anyway, I have ordered an ADS interface for $30 from overseas but am still waiting for it to arrive within the 2-3 weeks. Together with the EasyDIS and INPA software it should provide better feedback.

[/quote]

Hi, did you ever get your codes read? I have the same car with the same bad idling problem after cleaning ICV.
[/quote]

 

[Fappas]

Hows your car's idling now. I've been driving my car with the icv unplugged for a while now. Its idling high when in N but perfect when in D.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

 

[Lizzard]

Maybe a bit late :fencelook: but when I cleaned my icv with some alcohol :hammerhead: , I managed to damage the unit and ended up with a car that idle'd in the sky with its rpm and I had to buy a second hand one to overcome my stupidity :smashScreen:

Why not borrow a icv from a friend and test the car's idle, if it goes to normal then you know it is the problem. Seeing that the car idle'd correctly prior to you cleaning the icv.

Think you might have done the same as I did, should only clean these things with a cloth and no liquids :thumbdo:

 

[freezaburn]

It is OK but I taped up some of the hoses to make sure they seal better. I have another ICV that I kept as a spare if you want to test it on your car to see if it is that which is faulty.

It is a Bosch and it the T-piece type (a vacuum hose connects to it from either side)

Hose===___==== Hose
| |
| |
ICV

Hows your car's idling now. I've been driving my car with the icv unplugged for a while now. Its idling high when in N but perfect when in D.

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

 

[Fappas]

Yes that's what i want to do but I can't find one to test. I don't want to buy another if not sure that my current one is in his chops. This thing is expensive.

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It is OK but I taped up some of the hoses to make sure they seal better. I have another ICV that I kept as a spare if you want to test it on your car to see if it is that which is faulty.

It is a Bosch and it the T-piece type (a vacuum hose connects to it from either side)

Hose===___==== Hose
| |
| |
ICV

Hows your car's idling now. I've been driving my car with the icv unplugged for a while now. Its idling high when in N but perfect when in D.

The T one is the same one as I have. It will be great if I can test it. Where are you situated?