1993 -318i surge at idle & misfire / cutout

[peterdix]

Daughter has a 318i that she has owned for over a year. has had a surge at idle for the whole year she has owned it last night on way home it began misfiring and then stalled on her. today has done repeatedly, rendering undriveable. any advice before going to tech shop??

[darkhorse737]

Originally Posted by peterdix

Daughter has a 318i that she has owned for over a year. has had a surge at idle for the whole year she has owned it last night on way home it began misfiring and then stalled on her. today has done repeatedly, rendering undriveable. any advice before going to tech shop??

you seem to have 2 separate issues. The idle prob i already addressed in the other forum(E30 page).

The misfiring and stall - when was last tune-up. what was done exactly?

Let us know...

[peterdix]

last tune about 20,000km ago. plugs, filters, have checked all hoses - everything seems clean and unfractured. will take another look when I get back from week away for work.
Do the coil packs give trouble. Car has done 200 + km, so is probably due for a haemorage of some kind.
thanks for response

[darkhorse737]

okay 200K... *hmmm.

if you are up to intelligent wrenching, let's start by looking at plugs.

what color? black(wet or dry), brown, ash gray, or white?

Black wet = poor compression, plugs dead, or coil pack dead.
Black dry - running rich(lack of air)
brown/ash gray = you be fine, the prob might be elsewhere
white = no gas going into cylinders

:-)

Let us know...

[peterdix]

Yep can do everything upto computor, certified to operate wrench in past life, 13 years in the trade. I was looking for a short cut but will go back to basics and get valves, timing, plugs belts etc done. Then check ohms on leads for uniformity and hope. A good coating of WD40 has taken the misfire away, so could be damp atmosphere, insulation breakdown related. Urgency gone so like a good dad I will check it out when it fails again. No really I will try and to it next weekend for my own sake of peaceofmind.
cheers
Pete
PS thanks for response