help! 95 ti start..run..shut off

[projekt EPiK]

Frustrated.

Tired of starting the car with a screwdriver/file anything handy I decided to install a start button and switch. Normally well within my abilities.

However..something managed to touch something else when my ..ahem partner ..said the ground was off..and now the car will crank and start, but turns right back off.

I did the check engine light diagnosis..code was 1215 (maf). I swapped that out and no change. I did swap dme relays, fuel pump relays, ignition harness, checked all fuses.

I'm lucky enough to have another 95 ti sitting right here to parts chase off of.
I tried the dme from the other car, its an auto but the dme has the same #. Car would just crank and not catch, most likely ews. I tried snipping #7 green under the hood and no change
Still crank and no catch. Reattached greens and swapped my dme back in and back to same short run and cut out.

This is my daily driver and needs to be back in service tomorrow night.

I am sh*tting bricks right now.

Car gets fuel, gets spark, has stock ignition harness plugged back in.

Please help ASAP

[projekt EPiK]

okay. update. so flustered yesterday that I didn't check the fuel pump relay. hoping that was it, I rushed out today and swapped it. no go.

I jumpered the 87/30 pins and the pump runs so it is something else. looking for etm pinout so I can check continuity from the dme to the maf, since there is still a maf code of 1215 with a known good maf installed.

any other ideas? 41 people looked at this and nothing???

[projekt EPiK]

how can I bypass ews1 so I can use the dme from my other ti to check it? they are the same # on the case, so should be fine.

[drivinfaster]

does this help??

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...rmation-thread!




df

[projekt EPiK]

Sorta..it tells me that the car is ews2 not ews1. So no bypassing it by clipping wires.
Been checking wires on the etm and running continuity tests thru the harness to the dme plug.

Is there possibly a red flag that goes up with ews2 by cutting and messing with ignition wires?

I have an idea where the problem may have started..trying to figure out what to do with the green white and the blue white wires off the ignition, blue wht turns into blue black after the ignition harness plug in. The green wht is a dead end in the connector. I think the blue white had ground connected.

Testing the ignition harness connector under the dash, the blue black (comes from blue wht) reads 10.8v, and the red is batt+ 12v. It would be a problem I imagine applying ground to that blu wht...but where does it go? Best I can tell it goes up to the instrument cluster.

[projekt EPiK]

okay, i'm at work, and had to use the wife's suv while she is arranged to car-pool. if this is not fixed soon, it will not be a happy home life.

main question right now is what does the blue/blk small wire in the ignition harness feed, or come from? +10.8v

this is so sad.. i have 4 cars in the driveway, and one suv. my racecar is the only running car.

help

[projekt EPiK]

So yesterday I went thru and swapped out every fuse I could find. No luck.
Today, since I have the second ti I'm going to swap every relay..maybe I will get lucky.

Apparently there is a relay under the dash..? Related to ews2? Can't remember the name of it but the etm says it is under the LH dash, drivers footwell.

Wish me luck

[projekt EPiK]

ok swap every relay over including the ones under the dash, found a little box that says EWS with wires running to the key ring antenna. no change

check for spark and have spark on all 4 cylinders although it is kind of weak.

it starts right up then dies or does start, and idle runs up and down once or twice and then dies, it's almost like the timing is not getting the right signal. Sometimes there is a slight backfire through the intake. I'm not throwing a crank position or cam position sensor code though.

I cannot actually hear the fuel pump but when I crank it without the fuel pump fuse it turns over much faster so it's definitely getting fuel just not burning at the right time that's why the backfire.
any ideas guys

[projekt EPiK]

Here is the ignition harness pulled down.

The green/white small wire is a dead end in the connector. The small blue/white I think is where the trouble started. It turns into blue/black in the connector under the dash. That blue/black is showing a constant voltage of 10.8v right now. I'm pretty sure that when I was working on it that the blue/white was connected to ground (brown small wire).


What I haven't been able to figure out is what it does or where it goes. Running out of fresh ideas. Tracing it up the loom it looks like the blue plug in the back of the instrument cluster. But my dash works fine.

?????

I need to add that this is the ignition harness pulled out of my other ti. Mine was completely cut off and was being wired to switches. My plan was to use the key in the ignition to trigger ews and switches for accessory and run, and a momentary switch for start.

[projekt EPiK]

okay for the first time in my long history of working on cars... this one may go to the dealer/"german car specialist"..or at least someone with proper diagnostic equipment.

i have family coming in for the weekend and don't have anymore time to waste on it..and 145 views with no suggestions here is definitely not shedding any new light.

tempted to just park it and buy something else to drive and finally drop in the 2jzgte i've been sitting on for years now.

[xxxJohnBoyxxx]

I can help you and I'm confident we can fix the issue. There are 2 possible causes. First connect back the wires you cut trying to disable EWS that was not your issue. If the car cranks and fires then the EWS is happy and told the DME to start working which means the DME turned on the fuel pump relay and started firing coils.

The are 3 poles on your starter. Center big pole is for Battery cable and has another wire or 2 wires on that pole. Now there are two small poles. One is starter solenoid energize which is working since your car cranks over. The other pole is 12 volts to the unloader relay which powers only essential items to start the car. That unloader system is working since the car fires. As soon as the starter solenoid power is cut the starter stops and so does the motor since the unloader relay turned off, if I'm understanding you correctly.

This means the car is starting off the 12 volt pole on the solenoid that is only active during start and stalls since the DME relay is not active.

I can walk you through a test over the phone if you need help figuring out how to get your DME relay to go active. We can bypass and hook directly into the relay or fix what most likely is a broken wire/fuse from the short that happened.

Let me know?

[BlackBMWs]

Go John, Go! So cool... I like seeing members helping each other...

[projekt EPiK]

John. Thanks so much for the suggestions. Unfortunately, the car is at the dealer right now, although it won't be worked on until Tuesday.

Let me bring you up to speed. I also have a 1995 318ti, automatic. Currently i'm swapping the transmission in it so it is not driveable, but it offers me an excellent source of known good parts to try out.

I swapped every single relay and fuse. No change. I swapped out the EWS2 boxes (under drivers dash and behind glove box) and the DME.. My car should have effectively thought that it was the other car.. no dice, not even crank.

Swapped back in my EWS2 components, and the other DME, thinking it is a bad DME I put it on the trailer and made the rounds of a few local trusted shops. First put it on a scanner.. came up clean. Referred me to another guy, turns out that he is primarily Mercedes, so he referred me to yet another. It was a long day, but Bill (the 3rd guy) set up his eqpt to align the new DME for me. After 3 tries and about 2 hrs, he determined that something was blocking it from completing. I was on my way back home..clueless.

Checked continuity from the maf, and coil to the DME. All good.

Here's the weird part. After Bill's alignment attempts, the car will now start and run, but very very rich, and the idle is a constant 1000-3500rpm. Keep in mind that my EWS2 components shouldnt even be talking to this DME.

It is my thinking that maybe the alignment is in a sort of limbo.. half finished.. ?? that is why I finally resorted to the dealer. for the first time in over 20yrs of turning wrenches. This is killing me.

They are not expecting to get to the car til Tuesday, so if you have any input I will gladly go pick it back up.

pm'ing you my #. Thanks!

[projekt EPiK]

Just picked the car up at the dealer before they could touch it. It is now in my driveway again.

[projekt EPiK]

Awake now..I work nights. I'll be headed outside. Call at your convenience John.
eight43. Nine97.7four66
Jeff