92' E30 325 Won't Crank?

[scoot9]

Can someone help me determine my options. All of a sudden my 92' E30 BMW will not crank. This started last night. I first thought that my wife had flooded it because when it turns over it wanted to crank a little and some smoke was coming out of the tale pipe. This morning it just turns over and doesn't want to start. So, I pulled off the gas hose and tried to crank the car and no gas is coming out at all. Would this be the fuel pump? or what

thanks
Scoot

[kyleabaker]

Yes, that sounds like the fuel pump has gone bad. Either that or the line could be clogged somewhere, possibly the filter.

[scoot9]

Filter it was.. thanks

[scoot9]

Well I spoke too soon..... got up this morning and it doesn't crank.....geeeeee thought I had it fixed... this is weird. once I put the new filter in after a few tries it cranked making me believe that was the issue.

any advise?

thanks
scoot

[kyleabaker]

Is the fuel pump sending the fuel through the line? If there is no fuel coming through the line then I would say the line is clogged or the pump is faulty. You might try running some cleaner through the system. If you can mix some fuel injection cleaner into the gas and get it started at all it should cycle and clean any dirt out.

[scoot9]

yes, I could disconnect it from the fuel filter and at the motor and run cleaner down the line backward and see if anything comes out. I drive 100 mile a day, it just seem odd to me that it would be clogged.. but hey, I'll try the stuff that don't cost first. my relay prongs are a little black as well. I believe I'll have that check to.

thanks
Scoot

[kyleabaker]

Judging by the way you're describing the problem, I would think that the problem lies somewhere between the fuel tank and fuel injectors. The cleaner I was speaking of earlier is really meant to clean the injectors, but it would also clean the fuel line and filter.

If there is not fuel running through the fuel line then it must not be the injectors, however, it is common that they will get dirty and cause problems.

If the fuel is running through the line and through the injectors then it could be the relay prongs or possible spark plugs are bad.

One other thought...you're sure that the battery isn't run down too low to crank?

[scoot9]

now after banging on the fuel pump it started running again.

The battery is low but I'm jumping it off while I'm running these test. so it's turning over well.

It's apparent that the fuel line are clear after pulling off the line going to the engine. Fuel was going everywhere.

I believe it's the fuel pump. any other thought?

where can I find a fuel pump at a good price? Used?

thanks

[kyleabaker]

I'm not sure, other than the injectors possibly being dirty.

There are several links to stores posted here, but honestly (out of those listed) I really like BavAuto.com or BMPDesign.com. Those two aren't used parts, but fantastic quality parts!

There are some others on there, like bimmerpartswholesale.com, but I haven't tried them yet.

[scoot9]

Thanks Kyleabaker,

It looks like I can save near $125.00 using these sites. I probably need to pull out the pump before ordering. my car is the last E30 model and using some newer parts because of the convertible version body styles are changed over the year later.

by the way, are there anywhere to get a parts list for your car by the vin number that would be correct?

thanks for help
Scoot

[kyleabaker]

You can do that at RealOEM.com, but you can't purchase there yet. You can get plenty of info from that such as part numbers, etc.