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So my car is stalling out tonight... BAD

4K views 26 replies 7 participants last post by  threetwentyfizzle 
#1 ·
So tonight my car has been on the fritz pretty bad. Just out of nowhere my car started to and has continued to stall out pretty badly on my way home. Any load on my motor from putting my car into gear (mt) results in my car bogging down and stalling. Had to literally burn my clutch any time I want to start from a dead stop and had to downshift like crazy when slowing down to avoid killing the motor. Of course, it usually did stall once rpms fell to 500. :banghead:

So you guys know, I have swapped a rebuilt motor in my car over the summer, and since the swap, have been trying to fix a bouncing idle so thus replaced/cleaned all the usual culprits i.e. vacuum lines, icv, tb, cleaned my maf, replaced my DISA O ring, lower/upper intake boots, entire ccv system... You name it. Vanos seals are on my to do list as my car has been lacking low end power since the motor swap.

I am running a CAI and headers and already have a SES light on from not wiring my O2 sim in yet so I'm sure whatever issues I have now are throwing codes I just haven't had the opportunity to pull codes tonight.

I have a strong feeling the bouncing idle is developing into this stalling issue and was wondering if there's something I may have overlooked when replacing all these items? Anyone else experience similar problems? I made a quick video ill try to upload or post a link here shortly. Thx for the input everyone

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#19 · (Edited)
Sorry to hear that, because that leaves about 300 other possibilities, and anything else anyone writes is just going to be guessing, without more info. I only mentioned those because you did not list them. Good luck with it though. Maybe more specifics will narrow it down.

Edit: Well, I missed this before I posted, so that sounds like a valid issue. :)
Another update,
Ran faults and looks like there is a fault for the exhaust cam position sensor. Will see if replacing the sensor will yield some positive results. I will update Monday. Thanks to all who shared and contributed to this thread.

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#4 ·
Suggest you get the codes read and read the first link below in my signature.
 
#5 ·
jfoj, you're on duty early this morning!

OP, the bouncing idle you had been having sounds like it could be icv, of course, and that would cause your stalling. Did cleaning the icv have any effect?

Have you checked the vac lines behind the intake manifold? I know you said you replaced all hoses, but wonder about those?

Anyway, I really do think you need to get codes read. If it's none of the usual suspects, then I'd think codes might point to some sensor or the like.

Have you done any 'non-stock' things to your car you didn't mention? After your engine swap, was your car running good, or did the bouncing idle happen right away?
 
#10 ·
Jfoj,
Have read thru your Sig religiously, it is my bible lol. I have done just about everything mentioned except cam position sensors knock sensors and all that.
I really do need to pull codes I am going to do that today at work hopefully.

Dmax,
Yup, I have replaced every vacuum hose at the time of the swap. The "f" connector on the intake boot that runs to the fuel filter and ccv I believe, and other various vacuum hoses I think there were about 7 or so I replaced. And I cleaned my icv about 2 months ago in hopes to fix that bouncing idle which was prevalent from the moment I swapped the rebuilt motor.

The bouncing idle has improved in the last month or so but my thought is because the weather is getting cooler. My vanos has been a main concern for me this whole time as well so I'm wondering if that could be part of the cause. I tried unplugging the maf last night and there was no difference it was stalling after I did that too whenever I gave it gas.

Oh, and non-stock mods, just the intake and headers and I'm sure the intake could be causing part of the problem.


Will try to upload a video so you guys can see what's going on. Thanks for the replys guys I appreciate the help!

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#6 ·
i would unplug your maf to see if that helps. also, even if you recently changed your plugs, I can't stress enough to check them again. and check more than one. my plugs although I checked them while doing valve cover gasket were covered in oil, or at least 1-2 or them. when I "checked" them, I only checked on and it looked good, so I assumed they were all good.
 
#11 ·
Last night I did my valve cover gasket and cleaned both solenoids and the valves inside them for the vanos. Idles like a dream now and has TONS more power. Also earlier this week I replaced intake side cam sensor. Probably need to do the exhaust side. But my car wouldn't run unless the MAF was unplugged. So cleaning the vanos solenoids has made a dramatic difference!

PS get a shower valve socket set for that bottom solenoid.
Interesting, I'm going to look into this, possible culprit right here. :thumbup:


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#9 ·
Last night I did my valve cover gasket and cleaned both solenoids and the valves inside them for the vanos. Idles like a dream now and has TONS more power. Also earlier this week I replaced intake side cam sensor. Probably need to do the exhaust side. But my car wouldn't run unless the MAF was unplugged. So cleaning the vanos solenoids has made a dramatic difference!

PS get a shower valve socket set for that bottom solenoid.
 
#14 ·
I have a cold air intake on mine. The filter sits right by the left fog light on my m3 front bumper. At first I thought my CEL was caused by it too. After fixing some minor issues, the light has been off for a while.
 
#17 ·
Unclear if all of those codes are current on your car??

Suggest you log date, mileage and codes, clear then see what comes back.

Exhaust CPS has less impact on performance that intake as far as misfires & stalling.

CPS are problems, but you have a lot of codes and I would bet the lean codes are more of problem.
 
#18 ·
Lol yea unfortunately all those codes were from my car. However... I know why most of the other codes are being thrown. Maf code because I unplugged the maf last night trying to diagnose, catalytic defficiency codes from the headers (no O2 sim yet) and oil level sensor is bad so codes for that.

Anyway, I did reset adaptations and drove for a bit and checked faults again and the cam position sensor was thrown again.

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#20 ·
I dont think you get a cel for thermal oil sensor being bad. At least my car didn't and i know it's bad. Pa soft did indicate it.
 
#21 ·
Reading my first post, I totally botched that one. Sounded like I'm in my first year of esl. What i meant was when I was doing my vcg, i only checked 1 spark plug it looked decent, no oil on it so I had assumed the rest should be fine. Now whether or not the rest were good I don't know, but later on when I decided to change them, having lived with stalling during hard braking and cornering for several months, that fixed my problem. Only 2 of them was covered in oil. Oddly if i resetted my adaptations, the car ran fine and didn't stall till later on in the day. It also helped for some time when I began to stall or I was idling and the rpm constantly surged up and down to have my ac on. Eventually nothing helped and i was almost ready to give up. In the 2 years I've owned this, the cel has only been off for a cumulative of maybe 3 months. Lol. I still love my baby.
 
#22 ·
Update: replaced the exhaust cam position sensor with the updated design. Saw improvement that day, but now my car is back to stalling again.. it seems to be ok on a cold start up but if I go to a store or something and restart the car, the stalling starts to occur. Acceleration is piss again and seems like the car can't hold an idle coming out of gear, and I have to burn out to accelerate from a dead stop trying to prevent the car from stalling out :banghead:

The car is holding a steady non fluctuating idle at a standstill tho. So not sure what's going on.

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#23 ·
Codes cleared? Any new ones?
 
#26 ·
While your doing the vanos seals check those actuators and valves. Clean them with carb cleaner. If those actuators don't allow the vanos to work correctly it's not gonna matter about sensors and seals. Mine still has a slight bounce now and then which could be seals but the idling was improved 99%. And if you get that socket set its literally like a 15 min job.

You just unscrew both of them and take the valves out with your fingers. They will be left inside of the ports where you unscrew the actuators. Then clean them all up. Make sure everything moves freely and screw them back on. Give her a try
 
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