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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: SF Bay Area
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'87 Carrera has intermittent no start problem
Last month, the car stranded my wife at work. It had taken her to work in the AM without a hitch as usual but when she tried to start it in the afernoon, it wouldn't. I tried to start it myself to no avail. It would crank but would not start so I had it flatbed towed home until I had time to mess with it. Time passed until I finally had the opportunity to buy a DME relay as was the suggestion by many here to be the probable cause.
On a whim, I decided to see if it would start before I replaced the DME and, as Murphy's Law would have it, the car fired right up. I hate intermittent problems. My questions are: Can the DME relay be intermittent? Shouldn't a relay be bad OR good and no in-between? What else could cause such a problem? Intermittent fuel pump? Thanks for any advice. |
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07-08-2005, 01:04 PM
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Location: S.E. Pennsylvania
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Yes, the DME can be intermittent. Sometimes when your car will not start, you can tap on the DME relay and the car will fire right up.
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The Fox Carrera |
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07-08-2005, 01:09 PM
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Hey Chris,
I had a problem a while back (Christmas). I went to work, no problem. Then, when I was going out for lunch, the car would not start. It would turn over forever, but never fire. Close a couple of times, but no. So, flatbed to RMG, 30 seconds later, diagnosed as a fuel pump. Swapped it out, no problems since. Might be worth a look. -Chris
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1987 Guards Red Targa (sold) 2006 Toyota Tundra DC 4x4, the "man-e-van" 1998 CR500 Well on the fringe...... |
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07-08-2005, 01:21 PM
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Location: Dallas
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I had this on my '87 Cab. It ended up being a broken solder in the DME unit itself...NOT in the relay which I had already replaced since it's cheap and easy to do. Do a search for DME and solder and you should be able to find it. It was really an easy fix once someone explained how to do it...I think it was Jim Sims.
Good Luck
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Buck '88 Coupe, '87 Cab, '88 535i sold, '19 GLC 300 DD Warren Hall, gone but not forgotten |
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07-08-2005, 01:25 PM
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Location: Chicago
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Just had the same problem. Swapped out the DME relay, and it returned to normal. I didn't believe they could be intermittent, but they are.
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Beethoven '88 911 Coupe |
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07-08-2005, 01:56 PM
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 Cracked solder joints can have intermittent contact. In my experience it was temperature dependent. They can also be very difficult to see, I needed sunlight and magnification to find mine. Starting problems are frequently related to poor ground contacts or sensors, these should be tested first before opening the DME computer.
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Russ |
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07-08-2005, 02:47 PM
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Link to a thread with some troubleshooting info.
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Russ |
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07-08-2005, 02:54 PM
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To bring closure to this thread and add another data point, the root cause of the intermittent no-start was the DME relay. Thanks all for your help.
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09-29-2005, 03:11 PM
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