[uucdigest] Friday, February 28 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6161
_________________________________________________________________ | | Search the ARCHIVES: | http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Visit Richard Nott's Ultimate BMW Database: | http://www.bmwdatabase.com | | For all available Digest commands including unsubscribe/subscribe, | visit the BMW UUC Digest page: http://www.uucdigest.com | | Send SUBMISSIONS to [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Complaints? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you must. | Technical Problems? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] Electrical/Charging System [uuc] charging RE: [uuc] Electrical/Charging System [uuc] Victo's are toast, what next? [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII [uuc] [E36] Parts needed [uuc] BMW CCA Qs RE: [uuc] BMW CCA Qs Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:37:42 -0500 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Electrical/Charging System Bob says > > I have an E30 (87' 325) that yesterday decided it did not want to charge > the battery. Everything was fine on Wednesday, but on Thursday I first > noticed that the heater fan was not working. I then noticed that the tach, > temp and fuel gauges were not working and the battery charging light is > on. In addition, when you first start the car, the fan and gauges work for > a split second and then cease to operate. I checked the battery and found > it to have 10 volts and it was not charging. Though I have an electrical > diagram, I have no clue as to the problem. It almost seems like it is a > capacitor/relay, because it does work for a split second. This may be obvious but you didn't mention it. Have you tested the battery (places like Auto Zone will even do it for you)? How old is the battery? How about the alternator, have you tested it to see whether it is putting out adequate power? The Bentley manuals covers these procedures. If it is the battery, it doesn't completely explain your circumstances based on the details you have provided as far as I can tell. As far as working initially, maybe the battery is able to put out enough power initially and then is quickly drained and power is inadequate so everything stops working and the alternator isn't charging properly. If the battery is no longer able to hold or accept a charge, replace. If the alternator, I would suspect the voltage regulator or possibly the brushes. Never a bad idea to check the ground to the chassis from the block, these corrode and fail. I once chased a similar issue on my E30. Turned out to be a loose connector on the firewall near the fuse box to the main wiring harness. It was my mistake as I had not connected it properly. Have you done anything to any connectors that could be causing the alternator to not be able to charge the battery like this? > On reading other posts, I know there is a wealth of knowledge on the board. > Hopefully, the board can help provide some hints as to what to check. Hope it helps. Regards, Rich ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:56:55 -0500 From: "David A. Leonard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] charging Bob Wrote:>>I have an E30 (87' 325) that yesterday decided it did not want to charge the battery>>> Is the drive belt tight? Will the battery charge fully on a battery charger? How old is it? Have it load tested. A bad battery can cause a no charge. It should charge up to 12.75 v if it is taking a good charge, this measured after it sits a while and you run the fan blower for a bit to knock down the "surface charge". The pos. wire on my starter solenoid once loosened up and produced the symptoms you described, as will loose/dirty battery terminal or ground strap connections. I would clean and check all the battery cable connections on both ends of the pos. and ground cables. If you try all this, and then still no charge.. It is alternator testing time. With a good battery, and tight and clean connections, when the car is running, and has been revved at least once to over 1200 or so to kick in the regulator, system voltage should be 13.8 or so, even with all the loads on. I made a cig lighter plug adapter for my meter(Cig plug, pigtailed into a wire with two butt splice connectors ,one end crimped to the wires..meter leads fit into the other end of the butt splice, and gently crimped around the meter probes, so as to be removeable, but pretty secure) so I can easily check system and battery voltage from inside the car, for troubleshooting. Good luck, Dave Leonard 88 e32, 91 e 30 rag top in the hangar for winter. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:20:23 -0800 From: "Brant" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] Electrical/Charging System Bob - Since you suspect your generator of not charging, check your generator. First ensure the drive belt is tight. Then check the electrical connections. Then measure the output voltage and the voltage available at the voltage regulator. Output voltage should be about 14v and at least battery voltage should be available at the regulator. If all of that is good, check the voltage drop between the generator and the battery on both the positive and negative sides. Both should be less than 0.2v. By now you should have located your problem, which will probably be that your generator has failed. Brant <<<<<<Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 12:55:06 -0500 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (by way of UUC Admin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) Subject: [uuc] Electrical/Charging System I have an E30 (87' 325) that yesterday decided it did not want to charge the battery. Everything was fine on Wednesday, but on Thursday I first noticed that the heater fan was not working. I then noticed that the tach, temp and fuel gauges were not working and the battery charging light is on. In addition, when you first start the car, the fan and gauges work for a split second and then cease to operate. I checked the battery and found it to have 10 volts and it was not charging. Though I have an electrical diagram, I have no clue as to the problem. It almost seems like it is a capacitor/relay, because it does work for a split second. Bob Olson>>>>>> ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:25:28 -0500 From: "Robinson, Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Victo's are toast, what next? So I was looking at my victoracer's today when I picked them up (friend took them back in his truck--gave the plastic bags I took them down in away). Anywho, it's nice & sunny out, allowing me to see very clearly that they won't hold up too much longer. So Roebling finished them (I think it was Jeff Minor who used the term "cheesegrater"). Now I have a quandry about what to replace them with???? The car sees a lot of autocross. I.e. the Victos survived for about 2.5 years and 40-50 autocrosses and one track school. Assume on about 10+ autocrosses a year plus one to 3 track events (maybe). I was considering the Victo's sister tire the Ecsta V700. I can get it in 225/45, which weighs less and is an inch smaller in diameter (hopefully helping the final drive ratio a bit--less than 5%). Anybody have any comments? I could use the Victos again, but I figured on trying something else. BTW, I'm still trying to get over the sticker shock of the Hoosiers & Michelins........ Before Eric chimes in, yes I know if I want to win, to buy Whoosier-daddys AS03's, but since that's not really the point, I'm going for cheapo.... Any other suggestions would be entertained...... Thanks, Lee 88M3 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:31:02 -0800 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII Jim, heating the cat is usually sufficient if the car is OBD-I, but the problem is an OBD-II problem. (See my prior post.) You're right about the need to read the codes. Unfortunately, it sounds like the shop that re-set the codes for Lee did so BEFORE reading them out, so any history on the problem component, if any, has been lost. Now, in addition to heating the cats, they need to drive the car in the prescribed manner until all the OBD-II memory buckets are full again. Scott Miller GGC BMW CCA >Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:00:44 -0800 >From: Jim Bassett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: [uuc] Damned OBDII > >At 08:09 AM 2/28/03, Robinson, Lee talked about: >>My question is, how the F!#$%^$$#ing hell long do you have to drive this >>thing until it will pass an emissions test. > >Just long enough to get the cats good and hot, then it should pass. > >As to the CE light, it comes on *for a reason*. You need to have the >dealer, and independent BMW mechanic, or someone with a Peake code reader, >READ the code. Then you can fix the cause of the CE and chances are the car >would then pass smog. > >How many miles on the car? I would guess it's time for the O2 sensor to be >changed? Also, when was the last time the plugs were changed? Those tend to >be the two most common causes of failing smog checks, IME. > >My 2 cents, >Jim Bassett >1998 M3/4 >1993 325is #44 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:54:35 -0600 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Jim, heating the cat is usually sufficient if the car is OBD-I, but the > problem is an OBD-II problem. (See my prior post.) Now, in addition to > heating the cats, they need to drive the car in the prescribed manner > until all the OBD-II memory buckets are full again. Guys, I think you are misreading the original post. The problem was not with passing the emissions test with cold or hot cats, but with having enough data in the OBD computer to pass the OBD check codes inspection. > You're right about the need to read the codes. Unfortunately, it sounds > like the shop that re-set the codes for Lee did so BEFORE reading them > out, so any history on the problem component, if any, has been lost. It sounded like the car had a recurring problem triggering the CE light. The recurring approach to solving it was to ignore it and reset the codes. Which is exactly what the OBC history scan in GA is designed to discourage. alex f ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:16:23 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Turgeon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] [E36] Parts needed All: I am looking for a few parts that some of you may have laying around. 1. (1) large door midrange speaker (does not have to work just the grill in good condition) 2. (1) windshield washer fluid reservoir Thanks, Mike #418 ITS/JP __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 09:49:14 +0800 From: "E M L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] BMW CCA Qs I understand this is not the venue for CCA-related Qs but would just appreciate if people can point me to the proper venue (or people) for asking CCA-related stuff. Thanks. Edwin _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 21:06:48 -0500 From: Bill Matthews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] BMW CCA Qs Unofficial CCA discussion List http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BMWCCAtalk/ Bill Matthews Hockessin DE > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of E M L > Sent: Friday, February 28, 2003 8:49 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [uuc] BMW CCA Qs > > > I understand this is not the venue for CCA-related Qs but would just > appreciate if people can point me to the proper venue (or people) > for asking > CCA-related stuff. > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:53:05 -0800 From: Jim Bassett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII At 01:31 PM 2/28/03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] talked about: >Jim, heating the cat is usually sufficient if the car is OBD-I, but the >problem is an OBD-II problem. Doesn't matter, Scott. My OBD-II M3 also needs to have it's cats hot in order to pass smog. Sounds like Lee has 2 issues: 1) Correcting whatever is causing the CE light to come on. Correcting whatever fault is being set may or may not then allow the car to pass smog - - depends on what the fault is/was. 2) Getting the cats/car up to operating temp prior to having the smog test. This is independent of the CE light, and needs to be done more so on OBD-II cars. >Unfortunately, it sounds like the shop that re-set >the codes for Lee did so BEFORE reading them out, so any history on the >problem component, if any, has been lost. Correct, but I thought in Lee's post he mentioned that it continues to come on periodically. If that's the case, just wait til the next occurrence of the CE light and get the fault code read out. Then fix the problem and re-test. Jim Bassett ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:56:20 -0800 From: Jim Bassett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Damned OBDII At 01:54 PM 2/28/03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] talked about: >I think you are misreading the original post. The problem was not with >passing the emissions test with cold or hot cats, but with having enough >data in the OBD computer to pass the OBD check codes inspection. > > > You're right about the need to read the codes. Unfortunately, it sounds > > like the shop that re-set the codes for Lee did so BEFORE reading them > > out, so any history on the problem component, if any, has been lost. > >It sounded like the car had a recurring problem triggering the CE light. >The recurring approach to solving it was to ignore it and reset the codes. >Which is exactly what the OBC history scan in GA is designed to >discourage. Hmm, yeah, I guess I missed that. Wasn't aware there was a "check codes inspection" required. (Just had the M3 smogged in CA - don't recall if they checked codes or not (there weren't any anyway, I own a Peake code reader :-)). Jim Bassett ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6161 *************************** | | In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. |________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | | Autoscope-Motorsports - http://www.autoscope-motorsports.com | |==================================================== | | Koala MotorSport . BMW technical information, special tool sales/rental | http://www.koalamotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | Taylor BMW - http://www.taylorbmw.com - Doc Bimmer! | UUC Motorwerks . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com |__________________________________________
