URGENT HELP!

Have you tried unplugging the crank sensor and checking if there is any coolant in the connection plug? Could be causing a dodgy connection?

BB

Are sure it is not flooded as this sounds very familiar to what i did ages ago. Was the car moved and switched off for a short while. Try and pull the fuel pump fuse out and then turn the key, it may spit for a while depending on how bad it is and how much you have all ready turned it over......

Dont worry anyway as all the roads will be closed by 8 am as the uk would have more than 2 cm of snow

It m ay not be flooded but if it has been turned over loads then the spark plugs are going to have to come out and dried off with a little oil poured down the holes. and then do the fuel pump fuse malrky, when the car is spluttering then push the fuse in with the other hand.

Was it moved or started and then stoped, if not then its probably not this but i did this ages ago to the let the misses out and the RAC sorted and show me how to do it. Good luck......

I have to travel an hour to work so hopeing for a "cant get to work" moment in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you can't see the wood for the trees?

I thought about fuel pump failure, the crank sensor getting soaked, loose wires or pipes I may have knocked when changing my thermostat etc. Printing off all the checks I should perform from my TIS CD. Then I got home, got it all sorted in my head in the order I should check everything. My first port of call was to remove the fuel pump fuse i and crank the engine so I could drain the engine of excess fual that may have caused flooding.

I located the fuse and hey presto, the damn thing had blown! Good news I had found the fault, but what caused the fuse to blow?

The fuse was one of the old style ones where instead of looking through the see through plastic, it was solid in colour and had the wire exposed across the top so I figured it may have been the original fuse and under the stress of 13 years of engine vibrations and constant hot/cold conditions it may have just been weak and therefore unable to carry the amps.

With fingers crossed, I replaced the fuse and cranked the engine and straight away it started. I took her up the road for a quick blast up the dual carraigeway (mainly to re-charge the battery after all that cranking) and not a problem.

I can only assume my theory of it being an old and worn fuse was correct.

After my recent thermostat and fuse problem, all seems well again and I can now do lots of this>>

Mike

Exharper wrote: You have reason to smile, it cost nothing but a fuse!!!!!!! and now you can do donuts in the snow tomorrow..........cant wait!!!

*in the voice of homer simpson* "mmmmm, dohnuts!"

Mike

540 V8 wrote: With fingers crossed, I replaced the fuse...

...with a nail  

Exharper wrote: You like your nails!!!!!!!!!! perhaps we should start a bmw survival kit to insert in to the tool box in the boot. A nice set of B&Q assorted nails, all different lenghts and thickness. This should ensure we have the ultimate driving experience. As long as they dont get in the tyres

If we all keep them in the toolbox in the boot then they wouldn't get in our tyres

You need to grade them by length, thickness, and resistance

Ideal for any event - never be immobile at the side of the road again.

I've had a few problems with some of the original BMW fuses. The fuel pump fuse in my E34 525i became intermittent, and in my E34 540i the heated rear screen fuse under the rear seat just melted.

Seems they are manufactured by crimping the main connectors over a piece of fuse wire. Over the years the point of contact between the fuse wire and crimp connect ages, corrodes, and becomes intermittent/high resistance, as they are fully exposed to air.

New fuses of a 1-piece design seem to cure this.

Sudden starting problems almost always seem to be electrical in nature and BMW's, being stuffed full of electronics, suffer many electrical 'glitches' in later life.

A great many of these are simple 'connection' faults-dirt, corrosion etc. Relays glaze over their contacts, causing all kinds of intermittent mayhem and engines cutting out for no reason.

In many cases the cure is cheap and simple-it's the time expended to track the damned faults down that costs in labour, especially the intermittent faults.

Over the years I've had intermittent relays causing engine cut-outs, intermittent central locking due to corrosion in the door electrical plugs, failing lights due to light corrosion on the bulb holders, intermittent fuses, failed solder joints on ECU's, instrument clusters-the list goes on!

In virtually all of the cases, a good clean-up of electrical contacts works wonders, followed by a very gentle brushing of external contacts with grease and a small modellers paintbrush to ward off corrosion. I repaired failed ECU's and instrument clusters by opening them up and just having a very close look at the circuit cards, before re-making suspect joints with a soldering iron.