BMW E36 Forum

here's the problem..

my car won't start. apparently (i was out the country at the time) the battery went flat and after charging it, it turns over the car but it won't catch and fire. its not a fuel issue as there is fuel being delivered to the rail. All the fuses are good and the wires are connected. I think the immobiliser may have been spiked?? Any ideas suggestions remedies?

thanks all

-M

its a 98 automatic

I take it the car is in Park or Neutral!!!
I had a few customers ringing up when i was working at the garage saying there car wouldn't start, i arrive out and the car would be in "drive"!!!

How long was the car sitting there?
If its been sitting there a long time you will need to pour some oil in to lube up the top of the engine.
Have you checked to see if your getting sufficient spark?
A car needs 4 things to start, feul, air, compression and timing.
The immobiliser should be alright as that has the coding programed into it and even if you left it unplugged for a year the coding wouldn't of wiped itself. Your immobiliser only sends a signal to the E.C.U when you turn the key and the E.C.U sends the command onto everything else to allow the car to start.
When you turn your key to the "on" position (where the dash lights up, hand brake light, oil light etc etc) do you hear a quiet whinning noise from the engine bay?

trust me its in park haha

not a sound. just the hum of the internal fan. switched the fan off and there was no noise.

It hadn't been left for longer than a few days. literally overnight the battery had drained itself. battery was charged up, put back in, and now i have the current problem. Haynes manual is useless on this matter. the car turns over just doesn;t fire.

Another stupid question, you have plenty of fuel yea?
Keep trying the turning the key to "on" position, then to "off" and leave in off for 2 or 3 seconds, then back to "on". Keep doing this for 10minutes if you don't hear anything. Failing that i'd do a compression test, anything less than 70 in each cyclinder and it wont fire up.
If your pulling your hair out over it i'd suggest you ring the AA or RAC and get them top connect a diagnostics to it or go rent one from your local motor factor.

a plugged in diagnostic revealed the camshaft position sensor had failed. It was replaced and the fault cleared itself.

However, the car does not start still!!

Now, there is compression in the cylinders, ignition at the sparks and fuel going into the cylinder. Its just not firing. VERY frustrating!

If you can get a lend of an E.C.U off someone, thats the only next step i can think off!
Where in the world are you?

north bristol. think its the crank position sensor. if its not, then there is a mystery gremlin in my engine

crank position sensor replaced, still no joy. I'll update this when the thing runs for future reference for other owners

hello there!! well i had the same problem yesterday on the same car fella, i removed the spark plugs and cleaned them, still no success then brought new one still nothing, i called out the AA and we were out there for 3 hrs we got it going in the end!!! try removing the fuel pump fuse, turn the car over as some one puts it back in, this will stop more fuel going in when starting as mine was flooded!! i would recommend you use jump leads from another car as it may take a while to start!!! hope this helps out fella.