EMERGENCY

[BeemerMan]

AAARGH....my car was running fine. Got home, took a shower got ready and when i was about to leave, my car wouldnt start. The check lights are on fine, the radio works fine, but when i crank it nothing happens, it wont start. any advise would be appreciated.

[Dirty_Tool]

If it turns over but doesnt start then you may have lost spark or fuel supply. If you have some automotive knowledge then you may be able to find the prob. If not you may want to have it towed to a mechanic. Fuel pumps are fairly common failures maybe try to remove the rear seat and using a rubber mallet or the handle of a hammer rap on the fuel tank on the right rear side and see if the car will start. Sometimes this will temporarily rejuvenate a worn fuel pump. Keep in mind that if it does start this will not last so dont attempt to drive it w/o replacing the pump.
Good Luck

[Doogle325]

this is kinda one of thoes real stupid things to check......if its AUTO.....is the shift lever in park?????

[mole]

Is it trying to start at all?.. If not, sometimes that happens to me and it has something to do about locking the doors. So get out of the car, lock, then unlock. This usually works for me :/ probably some security feature.

[Kevin325i]

Charge your battery, did you leave your lights on?

Kevin

[Wurzig-Drei]

I had this happen to me once, and i found the problem to be that my battery rusted out of my car.

[///M Power]

Originally posted by Doogle325@Apr 24 2004, 07:57 PM
this is kinda one of thoes real stupid things to check......if its AUTO.....is the shift lever in park?????

yeah man lol one day i was like wtf my car aint starting and i realized it was in D haha good thing i always use e-brake.

It's probably ur abttery but since it wont do anything, its probably not in gear.

[BeemerMan]

Originally posted by Dirty_Tool@Apr 24 2004, 07:30 PM
If it turns over but doesnt start then you may have lost spark or fuel supply. If you have some automotive knowledge then you may be able to find the prob. If not you may want to have it towed to a mechanic. Fuel pumps are fairly common failures maybe try to remove the rear seat and using a rubber mallet or the handle of a hammer rap on the fuel tank on the right rear side and see if the car will start. Sometimes this will temporarily rejuvenate a worn fuel pump. Keep in mind that if it does start this will not last so dont attempt to drive it w/o replacing the pump.
Good Luck

Well thanks so much! whatever it is you described to do, I took my back seat out hammered what you told me, fiddled with some wires, and Wallah! My car starts. I was so pissed because I was running late for my friends wedding in Los Angeles, and this car starting crap happens! ghead but nonetheless, I thank you and all the other fellas for the quick response and help.


P.S. my car is manual and the battery was not drained at all.

[Scarface]

In some cases I think the heat has something to do with the problem, last summer I had this problem about 5-6 times....Luckily after the first couple times whenever possible I would park somewhere where I could roll some and then pop the clutch to start the car..I was told by several people it is a common problem on e36 cars and never really found out what the problem was...Hasn't done it to me yet this year. I do notice sometimes though when I go to start my car and it is hot, when the key is turned all the way it takes maybe 3-4 seconds before the car attempts to turn over...

[BeemerMan]

scarface, it was scorching hot yesterday, i believe it was about 96 degrees. Had my car parked out in the sun. maybe that was the case too. Geez, I hope this won't happen again.

[BeemerMan]

Shit! this is the 2nd time it wont start since the first time i posted this. with all your comments about what might the problem be, i'm kinda scared to take it to the auto shop, might charge me an arm & a leg. any other advise you guys can give would be appreciated before I take it in to the shop. Thanks guys!