M42 owners -- How many times does it 'turn-over' before engine fires-up?
 

Greetings all - I just acquired a 1995 318is (early prod, M42 motor) with 186,000mi on it.

I also have an E46 330Ci, and had a honda before that. I'm accustomed to the way those vehicles 'crank' when you turn the key. That is -- they 'turn-over' about 2 or 3 times and then fire right up.

My M42 seems to need to turn-over about 6-8 times before it will fire. Note, I'm only turning the key once here...it just seems to crank a longer amount of time than cars I've had in the past, but it always starts on the first turn of the key (hot or cold).

From what I can tell (previous owner kept extensive records, which is why I bought the car)...Battery is < 4yrs old, plugs are < 30,000mi old, plug wires are ~100,000mi & 8 yrs (yikes!), and the fuel filter is new as of 2,000 mi ago.

There may not be anything wrong with needing more 'crank-time' than I am used to giving. But, if I'm on the high side of what other M42 owners are experiencing...I would like to address that problem before winter!

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Every time I've had this problem it has been a battery issue. I would start by checking the battery connections then test the battery by jump starting it to see if that improves the start time.

Thanks Jeron!

I'm planning to replace the thermostat (stuck open) this weekend...plus belts, water pump, coolant, engine oil, and MTF as preventative maintenance. When I finish that work, I'll try jumping it with my friend's car to see if it turns over any faster.

Does anyone else have experience with "slow-starting" M42's?? I'd like to hear any/all ideas because I don't have easy access to a garage so this weekend is THE weekend to fix something for me.

Thanks again,
Matt

My 91 318 i, 129,000 miles, starts in 2 or 3 turns hot or cold.
Plugs & wires may be your problem, but weak battery may also be part of the cause.
My battery is trunk mounted, the long runs of wire, coupled with weak battery or just corrosion may also be hurting the problem.
Check battery voltage, car off, then check voltage car running, may be alternator is giving out.

Jeron & everyone else reading...

I stopped at AutoZone (needed a turn signal bulb) and while I was there...I saw them testing someone else's battery while it was in the car -- I didn't know they did that!

So, I had them hook it up to my battery next. The guy put a load on it and measured the voltage across the terminals and he said the battery was fine. As I mentioned, the battery is 4 years old, so I would've been a little surprised if it was faulty.

While I was replacing my turn signal bulb, I took the plastic cover off of the plug wires and inspected them. They're not cracking or anything obvious like that, seem to be in decent shape on the exterior.

According to the previous owner's maintenance records...the plug wires are over 8yrs & 100,000mi old (!). The spark plugs have just under 30k on them.

So, the temptation is to spend the $140 on ignition wires and see if that help the car turn over faster. But...this is a winter car w/186k on it, and the goal is to spend as little $$ as possible. :D That said...if I'm going to spend the $$ on ignition wires, I want to be really sure that's the cause of my longer cranking times while starting.

With that in mind...a couple of questions...

--> What are some other symptoms of ignition wires that are past their prime?
--> Has anyone else experienced long cranking times on their M42?? (8-10 cranks before motor turns over, but always turns over on first turn of the key) If yes -- what did you find the problem to be??

Related to the first question -- I'm keeping a close eye on my fuel economy...now that I've got a working thermostat and new oil in the car. I figure if that's lagging behind, that could point to plug wires as well. What does everyone with an M42 + high mileage usually get for MPG (mostly highway)??

Thanks in advance! I'm curious to read everyone's ideas.

Matt




SmileWavy

Your plug wires need to be checked with an OHM Meter to check resistance, Your manual will tell you what it should measure out to per foot of wire.
With the mileage your car has, you need to have the compression checked, low compression will affect how fast a motor will start.
When I got my car it had been neglected for a while, compression was as much as 30% different from one cylinder to the next, The plug wires were shot, plugs as well. the plug wires didnt appear to be in bad shape.
also needed to replace the gas and air filter.
I replaced all the bad stuff and did a motor flush, then changed the oil about a half dozen times, over the next 2 months, each time using an oil treatment to help loosen up any leftover crud.
The compression came back up and balanced out, the rings had been sticking, and with so much internal crud, it couldnt run right.
Your hard start problem may be more than just one thing
My 91 318i gets 32 mpg (60-65mph) 28 mpg (75-80mph)
Good luck

Fuel + Spark equal ignition, so for 5-6 cranks, you're not getting one or the other. Low battery will cause problems with the computer and spark, but cold start systems will also cause problems with long start times.

Is the car pulling any trouble codes? Not sure, but it could be a temp sensor that thinks the car is warm...

-Wayne

Wayne -- I was tossing the idea of the car being on the 'wrong' fuel map during start-up...but when I pulled the codes (OBD-I), I got the '1444', - no codes stored. Also, the battery was tested and is OK.

olddmann -- I agree that this problem could be more than just long starting times. I'm still 'only' getting about 26mpg with this M42, even after the thermostat replacement last weekend. Ffor comparison, I get 26mpg in my 2002 330Ci doing the same type of driving. Previous owner did state this M42 is 'chipped', but I can't imagine that it makes that much of a difference on fuel economy. I think it may need an alignment, regardless, but I'm wondering if fuel/spark issues might be playing more of a role.

I didn't get a chance to poke around and check plug wire resistances and such this weekend, but I think that's my logical next step. A compression test might be helpful too -- but it doesn't 'seem' like anything is wrong there. The car still pulls pretty strong (for an M42) and the idle is dead on and driveability is great, plus, no noticeable knocking.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will update when i get a chance to dig deeper. But at least now I have a place to start!

Thanks,
Matt

186K + 8yrs difference + chip = I'm surprised you're still getting 26 mpg - I would be happy with that. I don't the 318ti was rated at more than that...

You may just be chasing an "old car" problem. 186K is a lot of miles - if the car runs fine once it starts, I wouldn't really worry about it too much...

-Wayne

Wayne - I agree that I might just be chasing an 'old car' problem; and the car does run well once it starts so this isn't a major concern right now. But I'm going to keep chasing a possible cause to the problem for 2 big reasons...

1] Since this is a winter car, I want to be sure it starts reliably at low temps (...haven't seen any sub-40's weather yet, so I'd like to get this sorted out before I find out it gets worse at really cold temps.)

2] If this issue is low-compression issue or something else that might require expensive repairs (or, a re-build)...I want to know that now so I can plan to sell it in the spring.

Thanks for all of the suggestions & opinions...I hope to learn more this weekend when I have time to verify some of them.

Matt