My Starting issue on E30 320i M20 engine continues

[zippy320]

Hi Guys , im my quest to sort out the never ending intermittent starting issue on my E30

The car is a 1988 E30 320i Automatic M20 B20 engine .

I have now reached a point where , well I have actually found something thats not working . But I dont know what it is and how to go further from this point .

as per the instructions on this website

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php?title=Engines_Troubleshoot#Bulb_Across_Fuel_Pump

For testing of the fuel pump relay .

Bridge Fuel Pump Relay

The fuel pump relay is another relay in the engine compartment, covered by a black plastic hood. It is identified by the green/purple wire going to its base.

First, remove the fuel pump relay from its socket, and link together pins 30 and 87 with a short length of wire. You should easily hear the fuel pump whirring away under the rear seat of your E30.

If you can, then you should ensure that power is reaching pins 85 and 86 of the fuel pump relay socket, by using a 12V 5W bulb. If power is present, then expect your fuel pump relay to be faulty, but if it's not then you need to find out why. Test for power on pin 87 of the DME relay.

If you can't hear the pump running, then you need to confirm that power is getting to the pump by linking a bulb across the fuel pump.

What i have found is , as above in bold , Power is not coming to pins 85 and 86 of the fuel pump relay socket . If I bridge pins 30 and 87 the fuel pump works , after that , some fuel goes into the rail and I can start the car but it dies after as no fuel is being pumped .

Where do I go from here? Where is power supposed to come through from pins 85 and 86?

Also , Which is my cars DME relay ? My car seems to have two . one is next to the fuel pump in the engine compartment under the plastic piece and another attached to the outside of the Fuse box . Which is which?

Thanks guys for all assistance.

 

[Hubblyking]

Where are you based ?
I will be able to bring someone to help if you are in pta.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[zippy320]

Thank you so much for offering your help I really appreciate ,Im so thankful for the offer , I wish someone could help , Im in Durban a little far sadly.

Where are you based ?
I will be able to bring someone to help if you are in pta.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[ZaynM]

According to the site you linked, the DME relay should be the one next to your fuel pump relay. Hope this helps.

 

[zippy320]

I replaced that relay with a new relay (just because well I didn't know what condition the original relay was in and I guess 30 years , the relay wasn't that expensive so I replaced it) , The old relay was a silver/grey metal square relay , the new one is a plastic brown relay . Thing is , on the side of the fuse box , there is another relay and some people tell me that that is also a DME relay , it was Identical to the one that is next to the fuel pump relay , BMW replaced that one some time ago , the original was also a silver grey/ metal box relay but the new one that they replaced it with (then) was white plastic .

I have no idea what relay that is on the side of the fuse box , how can this car have two DME relays? I have attached pictures of the relays . Also It cant be for any special electrics , the car is stock standard and kind of bare , Besides the extra button computer on the dash it does not even have electric windows lol

According to the site you linked, the DME relay should be the one next to your fuel pump relay. Hope this helps.

 

[zippy320]

Hi Guys!

So this is a Blast from the past , not sure if I did an update on this on another post but I seem to have finally solved the starting issue on my E30 . Believe me when i say , I went through this car over the many many years with a fine tooth comb , checking everything over and over , replacing countless parts with new BMW parts , Not a total waste though as many of the parts were original to the car so for reliability sake it was good to change them .

Anyway , things were getting progressively worst , the car was over fueling on ever cold start , sometimes it would take and sometimes non at all .

One of the first things that I did was replace the blue temp sensor , the sensor that sends a signal to the ECU to tell it what its temp is and how much fuel to give the car , I must have replaced that about 4 times ( wondering if maybe the last one was faulty lol ) it wasn't that expensive but the last one from BMW was not cheap .
Anyway , all the wiring is original on the car ( or so I thought ) All still wrapped in its fabric wrapping . Now this sensor has two wires going into it .
I tested the wires with an ohmmeter and I was getting the correct readings for a cold engine , so dismissed the wiring as an issue .

I thought for the heck of it , let me check the wiring , I unwrapped the fabric tape , and lo and behold , somebody had cut the wires and joined them together , Then taped it all up and back onto the sensor plug . I undid this , solder the wires correctly , now they actually do read the sensor .

Turned the Key and it now starts perfectly , every time , even if parked off for a long time . Touch wood , I hope this solves the problem I been having with this car for over 15 years , To think this could have been my issue all along , all those late night non starting issues before leaving for campus and at campus when I needed to get home . Im still in shock . AND it could have been the reason for my dad wanting to send this car to the scrap yard soo many many years before I took it over . (apart from a few other issues ) but this was the biggest issue)

Anyway Thought I would conclude this massive hurdle and issue finally ( I hope ) .

Now I shell continue my next step amongst many other steps in search of an original Exhaust system for this car .