1993 318i stalling

[iamianoliver]

first of all the 1993 318i is a 5 speed, with a brand new air intake boot , a checked and working MAF. I seem to be having the same problem as other 318i (the stalling and sputtering) owners except that my problem only seems to happen when my car is heading down a hill or should i say its more of a profound problem on an incline.

the only thing i can think of is that there is a vacum leak opening up when the weigh shifts forward.

has anyone else experenced anything like this, any ideas will help.

thanks. -ian-

[CPTON]

yes this only seems to happen to 318's. ive had this problem for a while now, im thinking of selling the car cause it just isnt fun to drive anymore. i also have the problem where the shifter pops out of first gear.

when you pump your brakes when its idling, what does your rpm do?

[Wayne 962]

It may be a reverse leak, where the engine is lugging the car down a hill. Does it do it if you open the throttle while going down hill?

-Wayne

[iamianoliver]

Ill check today on the way to work for both of them, i looked last night and i think the hose off the in take boot seems to be loose im gonna get a better fitting.

[iamianoliver]

ok so today after i put the better fitting on my boot, it deff is more reliable. its more off and on now i think its a dirty idol controle, whats the best way to clean it. im guessing take it off and use thottle body cleaner.

ohh and to awnser the brake thing when i presss the brake in the idle does nothing at all.

thanks -ian-

[CPTON]

Originally posted by iamianoliver


ohh and to awnser the brake thing when i presss the brake in the idle does nothing at all.

thanks -ian-

pump the brake pedal a bunch of times as fast as you can to build up pressure, then post back here. thanks

[Wayne 962]

Did it have the problem as you were going downhill, giving it gas?

-Wayne

[iamianoliver]

OK i pumped the brake alot multiple times and nothing happened. Since i fixxed the vacum leak i then filled the car with high test gas and everything has seemed to have gone away. maybe it was a combination of bad gas and a leak.

and just out of curiousity what does your car do when you pump the brakes.

[blkongry]

When you press your brake pedal, it takes vacuum to drive the vacuum assisted brake system. This vacuum comes from the engine and forms in a vacuum canister. If you pump the brakes really fast, it depleats the vacuum canister and draws more air volume off the engine. If you have a leak somewhere in the system, it will cause disruption and it will show up as a flutter/deviation in idle RPM.

[CPTON]

Originally posted by blkongry
When you press your brake pedal, it takes vacuum to drive the vacuum assisted brake system. This vacuum comes from the engine and forms in a vacuum canister. If you pump the brakes really fast, it depleats the vacuum canister and draws more air volume off the engine. If you have a leak somewhere in the system, it will cause disruption and it will show up as a flutter/deviation in idle RPM.

yeah when i pump my brakes it either makes the rpm go up ~200 rpm or it makes it stumble like the engine is losing air (which i guess it is) so i have a leak somewhere.

I guess ill try the carb cleaner idea, i bet the leak i have isnt that big so it might be hard to find.

[blkongry]

Have you checked all your boots, hoses, fittings, and such? It could just be something that isn't tight, or it could be a crack in one of the bellows on the air intake. It's in there somewhere!!

[CPTON]

Originally posted by blkongry
Have you checked all your boots, hoses, fittings, and such? It could just be something that isn't tight, or it could be a crack in one of the bellows on the air intake. It's in there somewhere!!

yeah ive gone over them a few times but its hard to tell if theres something wrong with the hose or fittings. I put a few hose clamps on the brake booster line and another line going to the carbon canister.

What is the purpose of the carbon canister? I kind of want to pull the hose off of it and plug the line to the intake manifold and see what happens.

[blkongry]

With the engine at idle, can you push or squeeze any of the hoses and get an effect... squeeze the main air duct and see if the idle flutters. May be an easy way to track down the leak or approximate area. The other alternative is to disassemble the intake system, check everything, and make sure it's re-assembled appropriately.

[CPTON]

ok no vacuum leaks, i figured out that it doesnt matter if the car is cold or hot.

today driving to work car gets to operating temperature, almost there and come to light car wants to die so i keep the rpms up, get to work and stop to turn car off, car goes to die so i turn it off

end of day (12 hours later) start car wants to die, so i sit there for a minute and keep the rpms up, it still wants to die, so i drive home, come to a stop sign and the cars idling fine and does the rest of the way home.

so its not a vacuum leak

thinking it is either:

icv (cleaned 2 times)
pcv (cleaned 1 time)
carbon canister
O2 sensor (i get a check engine light every so often but i can get it to go off by driving to 5000 rpm then engine braking, sounds like its too rich)

im pretty sure my engine is lacking air when it wants to die, because i can press the pedal and it will idle fine, if it was lack of full or spark i still wouldnt fire properly if i gave it gas


Thanks for any input

[CPTON]

ttt

[CPTON]

cars getting bad gas mileage too and its dying more often now

[frankzen]

Originally posted by CPTON
cars getting bad gas mileage too and its dying more often now

Hi

Did you ever figure out the problem. I ask because my 95-318i does similar things. Dies at lights once in a while...sometimes just refuses to idle and the check engine light will come on...then it'll go off again a few minutes of driving later. The idle hunts a bit as well...a variation of 50-100 rpm..you can hear it rather than see it. But it's still a fun car...and will be better when I find someone to replace the front struts without a bank loan!!!!

[CPTON]

Originally posted by frankzen
Hi

Did you ever figure out the problem. I ask because my 95-318i does similar things. Dies at lights once in a while...sometimes just refuses to idle and the check engine light will come on...then it'll go off again a few minutes of driving later. The idle hunts a bit as well...a variation of 50-100 rpm..you can hear it rather than see it. But it's still a fun car...and will be better when I find someone to replace the front struts without a bank loan!!!!

nope still have the problem

[CPTON]

ttt

[parolof]

if you're getting bad gas mileage aswell, I bet $1 on the O2 sensor...