E36 misfiring

gazza

///Member
hello ladies

so i got my old e36 323i up and going however now i got a misfire problem.
i serviced the car and have been idling her since dec just to maintain the battery and keep the oil flowing.
Sunday night i decided to give her a run to the wifes place. so from walkerville to kempton about 65-70kms hit the highway cruising at about 120- 140 not a problem, she didnt miss a beat.
Monday morning i climb onto the highway.... 8kms on the highway she starts misfiring, erratic idling and a serious smell of fuel.
decided to bunk work to get her home, on the way she would go and all of a sudden hit a power spurt then gone, then back onto the power spurt and so on, definite misfire. so i drained oil and replaced with new, plugs i check, in nice and tight and ja, started up, idled no problem, the moment i start driving she starts missing.....
any ideas :)
 

MDE

New member
Also check for vacuum leaks.. Cracks in the intake boot after MAF sensor are common
 

gazza

///Member
morning chaps

i didnt think of the fuel pump, come to think of it the fuel pump has never given issues maybe its that time it need to be replaced... she is a 97. lol
i changed the fuel filter, no change in her mood.....
yeah the air intake boot was a little buggered, i did a duct tape patch up but that was ages ago.

how would i test the MAF and the fuel pump?
 

kilotango

New member
to test the fuel pump..you'd need to check the fuel pressure to see if the pressure is holding and high enough. not sure on the e36, but the e46 has a port on the fuel rail on the top of the engine.

to test the maf, just unplug it when the car is turned off.. then go for a drive.if the car works better with it unplugged, then your maf probably needs to be cleaned or replaced.

have you tried running some fuel injector cleaner through the system? could be that some crap is blocking something. try it...you never know. pour it in your tank then drive it hard for a little while..
 

gazza

///Member
Yeah I'll run the tests this weekend.....
Just came back from an awesome place tmss Motorsport....... Did some plugging in and so on.... Cleared all faults, the only one to come back is 55 output stage for oxygen sensor heating, sensor 2 (cylinder 4-6; before cat)

Any ideas as the exhaust has been changed changed.... Decatted..... Unless I'm far off.
 

96328i

Member
Check for fuel leaks around the injectors..
happened on a friends 325 on the way to tarlton..
Could smell the fuel in the car behind him.
 

gazza

///Member
Morning ladies

So I've gotten a quote or 2 for these oxygen sensors, gold wagon want 2k for Chinese set that they can bring in...... Beras want 500 each but then I'll have to splice the connections..... So I did some reading and thought maybe I should check the relay...... My surprise my car doesn't have one. It's a 98 323i....... And I found this post
http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=49435

Could anyone assist?
 

gazza

///Member
morning everyone...
just an update.
so it looks as if the misfiring is solved....
i dont know how but the plug tube on cyl 5 and 6 had water in it, so the coil was earthing out causing the misfire.
cleaned it out and car seems to be running sweet.
 
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