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Mechanics please help CEL is on - Pulled the codes - Any ideas on what I need to fix?

14K views 38 replies 13 participants last post by  calE46 
#1 ·
Hey there:hi: ,

1999 323i miles 152,000

Here is the scenario, the CEL came on and sometimes disappears. When the car is first started and left in IDLE the rpm will drop from 800 to 600/500 and the engine will shake. My mechanic buddy and I investigated and it appears that a misfire happens. If you step on the gas the misfire disappears.

We did a compression check on all of the cylinders and they check out around 175 psi each. Check the plugs and they were not fouled, all white, NGK +4, changed around 3k miles ago.

We checked the Precat O2 sensors and they are both good, even bought new ones to see if they would make a difference and it was the same. The one thing we did notice is that in idle the first precat sensor does not change, stays around .7 unless you step on the gas and hold it around 2500 rpm, then it switches.

Finally we cleaned the injectors out direct from the fuel rail with pro injector cleaner, but nothing.

After investigating everything, we reset the codes and I drove the car around for a week. The CEL came back and here are the codes.

P0304B cylinder #4 misfire detected
P0306 cylinder #6 misfire detected
P0303 cylinder #3 misfire detected

P1477 MFR controlled Aux Emiss Cntrls
P1189 MFR ctrlled fuel and air metering
P1188 MFR ctrlled fuel
P0170 Bank 1 Fuel trim Malf
P0173 Bank 2 Fuel trim Malf


Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. I have access to a mechanic that is a childhood buddy of mine. He works on everything and recently fixed my foghorn crankcase vent valve and hoses. Anyways, before I bring it to the dealership is there anything else we can test to see it might be the cause? Maybe the MAF or the Cam sensors? Or maybe an ECU update issue? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again everyone.
 
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#3 ·
Well we just double checked all the vacuum lines, and their connected. One problem though, he doesnt have a smoke machine, so this will have to be on the list of diagnostics to be attempted if and when I bring the car to the dealership. Is there anything else I can check in the meantime, or look for? thanks again
 
#8 · (Edited)
the smoke method sure sounds good and I wish we had access to one. As for the coils. I tried swapping around coils to see if the unaffected cylinders would show up on the fault codes, and nothing happened. The same cylinders are misfiring. Plus coils are pretty darn expensive. Ive been thinking about possibly replacing them though just to see if that is the case, but wanted to gather as much info as I could first. Any other suggestions anyone??!!:thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
Okay, well I just got the car back from the independent, and they did a smoke test to see if there were any visible vacuum leaks and the results were - nadda. They said they didnt find any leaks and that there are a number of other things that could be the culprit, but it would take more time and money to diagnose. They charged me $180 for the test and I picked the car up after they asked me if I wanted to move forward with a test and replace as they go diagnoses. I would rather do that part myself. So I am back to the drawing board. Any other ideas mechanics out there?? Please help! thanks:cry:
 
#21 ·
hahaha - if I was not so involved with the passion for fixing this headache, I probably would sell it, but for now I enjoy learning the mechanics involved with the car.

Ill keep you posted if and when I ever find the problem. I recently replaced the crank case control valve and hoses, man was that a B*&%*. I had to undo the manifold and hang it via bungy cords from the hood. Going into it was a mess and scary with all the plugs and hoses and wiring. Putting it back together wasnt too bad though. Plus the valve was **** and full of broken diaphram pieces.

Anyways if anyone has any advice, please do share.. I will be cleaning the MAF today and hoping for the best. How do you test the MAF to see if it is working properly? Is there something I can look at measurement wise on the computer or maybe voltage that I can test? Thanks again everyone
 
#22 ·
Did this just occur after replacment of the vent vavle? or was this why the valve was replaced?

To test the Maf use a volumetric efficiency read you grams per sec flow from a scan tool you should be 85-90% efficient when you do your calculation if you are not your maf is reading wrong. Here is a link to a free calcualtor
http://www.smp-training.com/Pages/ptsframeset.html
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#26 ·
Seth - Well I changed out the MAF with a brand new one and still the same thing. The original MAF is still within spec and good. So back to the store with the new one. Any other ideas? I am running thin on DIY's left to try and troubleshoot. Could it be the evap canister or fuel pump or anything related to that area. I do hear a hissing sound from the back area near the evap canister location when the car is running. Plus all of this did start to occur after the dealership fixed my subframe for free. Any other ideas at all? Thanks again for your time and advice
 
#28 ·
My car is now having cold start issues, where it will start but not stay on or idle. If I leave the car alone for about 15 minutes after trying to start it a few times, it will start up and stay idle. Could this be a fuel pump or evap issue? All of this started after the Dealership fixed my subframe and removed/reinstalled the evap/fuel lines from under the back of the car. I even noticed that they wiped the black coating off of one of the hoses from the rear of the car to the mid section, exposing the blue color of the original plastic. Why they did this, I dont know. Could this be the culprit? Is there suppose to be a hissing sound coming from the rear passenger side of the car when the car is on? Thanks again for the information.

**Please help Mechanics***
 
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