Comments on: Cleaning E36 ICV (Idle Control Valve) . . . DIY!

By: Vidma

Vidma — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:43:12 +0000

Lerato – maybe your radiator cap (its valve) is broken, and not working as should… it should hold ~2bar of pressure.
And you can to try to do a “cooling system, bleeding”. Maybe there is air in the system.
Have you tried to stop fan coupling on hot engine? Try it with scrolled paper. If it stops – its bad, if it don’t stop easily, then its ok.
But I would check the cap of the radiator at first.

Engine vacuum don’t have anything with cooling system…

By: Lerato

Lerato — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:10:08 +0000

I have a problem with my E46 318i 2000 model, it overheats after about 20KM and when i open it in the front the water horses are so big.. they look like they will burst anytime. most of the parts are new (thermostat, radiator, “head is been cjecked for cracks”, water pump, V-belt); the only thing that i noticed that seem not to work properly is the crankshaft position sensor(pulse generator), can this cause the overheating? oh! and when the engine is running and switching it off, there is sound of air(pressured air) coming out but i cannot see where but its like coming from the back of the engine. it’s like there is some air coming in the engine at place where it’s not supposed to… please help

thanks
Lerato

By: John

John — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:47:12 +0000

Getting at the ICV in the M50 can be a royal pain….its located UNDER the intake manifold and unless you can tiny hands and wrists its next to impossible to reinstall properly without removing the manifold. Getting it out isn’t so bad, but good luck hooking up the hoses underneath and the clip they connect to.

From past experience here’s what I know to check on these cars for hesitation and rough idle.

1. ICV, cleaning it does help

2. Check for intake leaks, although you’ll probably have some pretty bad surging if this is the problem

3. The clip under the intake manifold where the ICV connects to, it can sometimes pop out or break. I epoxied mine in because I have a supercharger and it litterally shot it out across the engine bay one day under boost

4. The MAF (Mass Airflow Sensor). This can either get dirty and need cleaning, especially the contacts on the connector, or, like what happend to me, a wire broke near the connector from age I think.

5. Your intake boot has a hole in it….yeah this happens unfortunately, especially next to the ribs on the rubber. I think oil fumes in the engine bay eventually weaken the rubber..

6. Vacuum Leak. If you have a vacuum gauge or boost gauge with vac on it, you can see if your car is at about 18-21psi at idle. (I ”think” this is the number, but please correct me if i’m wrong). If you don’t have a gauge then while the engine grab a propane torch and just turn on the propane a little bit, but don’t ignite it. Run the nozzle up and down all your lines and alone the intake parts as well. If the engine surges or changes idle while going over a certain spot, thats likely where the leak is.

7. Your o2 sensor……I would leave this assumption to the very end because I can tell you for certain that the car does NOT use the sensor until the engine is at operating temperature. So if you have problems after you’ve just started up the car then its almost definitely not the o2 sensor. The car will run like complete crud if the sensor had an issue anyway, since it will default to using the MAF sensor only and the maps in the motronic ecu can only do so much to correct the a/f ratio

By: Vidma

Vidma — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:35:44 +0000

Hello
I have changed my instrumental cluster and DME (from another M50b25tu), economizer don’t work anyway. I think it will be of wires.
But got another news too. When I’m starting engine, rpm needle jumps for 1 time – as per manual, if needle jumps on start, then ignition is ok. And my rpm needle don’t get higher then ~1200 rpm on start (usually it gets as good start, of cold engine). Another thing is that I don’t have strong rpm jumps as previous, it became only 50-150 rpm. Engine response to acceleration on cold engine became better. Now I’ll driver for a few days to look for fuel consumption.
I’ll inform you, what it will be.
And got this whistling sound on acceleration, as it was on b20tu when it was driving fine
p.s. DME was changed on Friday morning, so adaptation is over. Got a trip on weekend and for 120 km/h for 200 km I got ~25ltr, on way back 110 km//h for 200 km I got ~15ltr… interesting thing.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:57:06 +0000

i have used carsoft i’ll try to figer out what it means.

By: Vidma

Vidma — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:58:05 +0000

Andy – lambda relay shouldn’t do such effect, its for quicker heating, for ecologic purposes. That fuel mixture would be perfect asap. You’ll not get any difference, when you’ll pull out relay… but you may try, maybe heating component is bad…

I got my car on diagnostics with carsoft 6.5 and got few errors. Maybe someone works with that program, and know what does these errors means?
“Inst. Cluster dia. – Status ERROR -> read the error memory
9 – Service period display (SIA)
(This is if of that I didn’t reset my oil service)
5 – Over supply on binder 15 is recognized

109
11 – Colling liquid sensor voltage is not plausible
(checked it on Saturday, got 5V – normal)
12 – Oil temperature sensor voltage is not plausible

Single diagnosis AIRCO – Status: ERROR
34 Layering selector wheel
Please check the connection of the white component plug PIN 21 to the layering selector wheel. There should be a voltage of approx. 5 volt on the layering selector wheel. If the connection is operative, the component must be replaced.”

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:15:37 +0000

Widma how is it going with your problem?

I toock my car for a spin today, to make the problem appear.
But i only idles bad for about 20 sek after start.
As usual this problem does not show up as often when it cold or wet outside.
Im going to try it in a couple of days and when its warm and idling bad i’am going to pull the heating relay for lamda to see if it makes a instant difference.

How expensive is the lamda heating realy to buy?

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:04:24 +0000

it jumps when puching clutch down or standing still in neutral.

I haven’t seolved the problem yet.

By: Vidma

Vidma — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:30 +0000

Tried to film, but no engine sound can be heard… my mobile is to weak…
Andy – you had the same situation, that jumps stops when car stops, or you had jumps like mine, and rpm jumps were when car wasn’t moving? What was your solution of the problem?

By: Vidma

Vidma — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:53:59 +0000

I’ll try, but its hard to catch a moment, when rpm is jumping, and I’m on normal road, as it usually starts when I’m going from a job on traffic jams…
A sound is like I would push accelerator a bit. Its accelerating itself in short times.
Anyway, I’ll try to film it today.