My car, and some help on the side please :)

[dhong089]

This should probably go in the engine section? But to be honest, I don't really know what the true problem is. Anyways, here's the story.

Ever since I got the 318ti, I usually only drove short 15 minute distances (from school to home). Today was the first time I drove it for about an hour. As I was driving home, (on fourth gear, around 40mph) the car’s RPM suddenly started falling. And I suddenly started losing power despite the fact I had the accelerator pressed down. I panicked (luckily no one was around me) and quickly drove to the side of the road. I parked to the side and the engine danced between .8rpm – 1.3rpm. I shut the engine off and just sat there… scared what was wrong with her…. I was only around 3 minutes away from home.. why now?! I’ve heard about the common coolant-system problems. But the coolant-temperature dial (I think that’s what it is?) was right in the middle. So it wasn’t an over-heating issue… hopefully. I sat around for about 10 minutes, and started her back up. It started up thankfully.. the engine dipped down and up and again a bit, but it soon stopped. I slowly started to drive again and the problem went away. I quickly drove home and shut her off…

Now I’m afraid to drive her to school… I’m guessing this is a great time to get to know my car a little bit more, and see what’s going on with her. But still… not a great time for this to be happening as I don’t have accessible tools.. and I don’t really trust mechanics around here with my car. Honestly.. I have NO idea what is going on. My knowledge is very general .. so I have no idea what could be causing this. What should I check-up? And do you guys think its safe enough for me to drive to school tomorrow? I remember reading a similar problem.. but I just can’t find that thread.. anyways, you guys are always so helpful, thanks so much!

PS: Random picture of my car

Also... this rust spots been bugging me.. and I want to get rid of it before it gets bigger... any ideas what to do?

[cooljess76]

Hey buddy, it can be any number of things. It sounds like either a) you had some bad gas and the car wanted to stall due to misfire, b) maybe your fuel pump hickuped and is starting to go bad, c) fuel filter might be clogged d) cracked or split rubber intake boot caused a misfire e) MAF or AFM might be going bad, f) idle control valve(ICV) might be dirty or going bad, g) crank case vent valve(CCV) might be clogged and need replaced, h) crank or cam position sensors might need cleaning, i) might have a fouled spark plug or a leaking spark plug gasket or maybe you're just almost out of gas, lol. It's a long list I know, but without more information, it's really hard to put a finger on it. Did your check engine light(CEL) come on? If so, get the codes read and it'll at least point you in the right direction.

As for the rust spot, that looks pretty bad. I doubt a wire wheel or even a grinder will expose any clean metal. It looks like it's rusted all the way through, atleast most of the way. I have a couple spots on my car that look similar. The only way to really fix that is to cut that section off and weld in a replacement. Cant tell from the pic, but if that's the front fender, your other option would be to find another hellrot fender off of a '96 or older 318ti or e36 sedan and replace the whole fender.

Best of luck man, keep us posted and don't hesitate to ask if you need more help.

[dhong089]

Once again, thanks for the helpful advice cooljess,

I didn't get around to driving the car again (because of the ice-rain around here). HOpefully I can check to see what's going on with my car soon..

I really hope its just bad gas ... Also, my fuel tank was half-full at the time of the problem, so it def. couldn't be the fact that I was out of gas.

When the problem occured, no check-engine light came on. The only thing that happened was the engine started slowing down. I don't know if this helps, but I was driving on sort of an in-clined road (not too steep however) when the problem happened.

Hmm.. I don't know what else info. I should list. All the other symptoms you suggested left my confused haha. I guess I should start doing some research on each individual part.

Is there any other crucial information that is needed to describe the problem more? I just don't really know what else to say :/

[slow_ti]

could it be the PCV valve jess?

[pdxmotorhead]

Start simple, check the air filter, fuel filter, the oil level, verify the gas gauge is working, pull each sparkplug boot and look in the hole with a flashlight to see if the hole is full of oil or water or other contamination. Then pull the plugs and check them, the NGK web page has a good pic on reading plugs with pictures. You can tell if the fuel pump is running if you take the back seat bottom out and listen with the engine idling.

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_su...d.asp?mode=nml

Good Luck

Dave

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by slow_ti

could it be the PCV valve jess?

The CCV is the PCV valve, BMW just calls it a different name.

As pdxmotorhead stated, start with the simple stuff first. I remember you said in your other thread that you really haven't driven your car very much. You very well could have moisture in your fuel tank. Search my threads for "SeaFoam" However, don't expect that to be a fix-all type of solution. As these cars get older, all sorts of problems will arise and you just have to know where to look.

[slow_ti]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

The CCV is the PCV valve, BMW just calls it a different name.

ah, thank you. aha. my bad. and when i was replacing my valve cover gasket, i forgot to put the PCV or CCV back on, and the car was idling so bad, on the verge of stalling. so check that.

[dhong089]

Thanks guys.

Well I just tried starting her up. When I turned the key, the engine definitely sounded different. Normally the engine will crank and start up, but today it sounded a bit "sluggish." It sounded like the engine was about on the verge of dieing. Nevertheless, it somehow started, but kept sounding like it was gonna die off. I revved it a little and drove some circles around the neighborhood (only around 1st and 2nd gear). After about 3 mins of just driving the thing, the engine sounded normal. I drove into my parking spot and heard the engine idle, and it sounded okay. So I just shut her off.

Not sure if I'm going to drive her tomorrow... but some new info. i found about the car. I'm going to start doing some check-up on her tomorrow when the sun comes out..