no spark from cyl 1 - BMW Forum

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 08:44 AM

318is 99 e36 m44 engine . has no spark from the cylinder closest to front end think its no.1 have the eratic idle problem , cutting out and misfire but sometimes clears at high revs then when i stop its back again . pleaseee help

Jack Dabsy · 11-20-2011, 08:54 AM

Yes it is No1... If it uses individual coil-packs then try swapping No1 with No4, this will help decide if the coil-pack needs replacing !!!

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 09:04 AM

thanks i will have a go at that asap . also found some oil in the spark plug well ... duno what the deal with that is but i cleaned it out 2 weeks ago and still bone dry so i think its an over spill :P

Jack Dabsy · 11-20-2011, 09:41 AM

Yeah, probably spillage mate... Get back to us with results buddy...

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 10:10 AM

right been out to swap leads and yeah looks like its the lead itself that isny sparking . could there be a reason as to what is causing the coil not to sent a spark or is it just the lead thats goosed ? :P

Jack Dabsy · 11-20-2011, 10:24 AM

It will most probably be the lead but, if you have a dizzy then it may be "tracking" near No1 inside the dizzy- If this is the case then I would replace the dizzy-cap, leads and internal dizzy rotor-arm...

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 10:33 AM

nah it has the 4 coils as u described before so that rules out the dizzy problems . will try and find a new lead but its costing way more than i thought .

Jack Dabsy · 11-20-2011, 11:06 AM

I hear you, its the lead to that coil eh?
You could try "jumping" the lead with some 30 amp wire !?

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 03:11 PM

yeah man

was out trying to wiggle the cable around whilst running ! didny wanna fry myself so gave up with that lol . do you know of any parts suppliers so i can grab a cheat set of leads bud ? thanks for all your help (y) whats jumping mean sorry ?

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-20-2011, 03:25 PM

i dont know if this makes a difference or not but my car is dual fuel running petrol/lpg autogas ??

Jack Dabsy · 11-21-2011, 02:24 PM

Shouldn't make any differences mate, the mixture still needs to be fired !
"Tracking" this is when the ceramic cap develops a minute crack... Tell-tail sign is a thin dirty line on the inside the cap wall !!

318is m44 e36 (99) · 11-22-2011, 12:12 PM

ahh rite i see :P well today i drove the car to work and about a mile in its dropped to 2 cylinders although driving home back upto 4 then 3 as i got home

gna have to bite the bullet with this one and send it into the stealership ! unless i can find a coil pack and leads cheap

thanks again for ur help

hodgepodge · 11-24-2011, 10:49 PM

Hey there,

In the US, I was troubleshooting a similar problem with my '99 328i. To my surprise, I found some really cheap coil packs on Amazon.com. $21 instead of $60. You might also want to start out at Pelicanparts.com and see if you can get the correct part number, then google around with the number to find it cheaper. I see coil sets there for the 318i for $125, but not individual coils. I'm afraid I don't know if US numbers are different.

The oil in the in spark plug tube is probably due to a bad valve-cover gasket. These cars have one gasket for the outside of the cover and several smaller gaskets to go around sparkplug holes in pairs. I experienced exactly the same thing with mine. The oil is not a major problem and usually does not accumulate quickly. Just try to sop it up before you pull the plug. How many miles on the car and have you ever changed the plugs? Changing them is easy and it is easy to rule out the plugs if they are new. Pulling the plugs will also tell you something if number one is wet or very dark. Wet means electrical. Very dark usually means fuel too rich.

Before you go to the stealer, stop by an auto parts store and ask them to check your OBD codes. I suspect you may have a bad vacuum hose, a dirty mass airflow sensor or...maybe a bad o2 sensor. All of these things will cause the fuel mixture to go crazy. If you run dual fuel, does it act up more on one fuel than the other?
It's just about the right time for vacuum hoses on a '99 to start crumbling...

If all you get from the OBD codes is a "misfire detected", then the issue is fuel or electrical, possibly the coil or the spark plug itself if they are really old. If you get any secondary air, 02 sensor range errors or other codes, it could be hoses or the MAS. And if you get "misfire detected" from multiple cylinders, it is probably NOT just a coil or spark plug. Remember, the generic codes don't always match BMW codes exactly. Before you spend any big-bucks on parts based on a generic code, double check to make sure the code is correct. There are a few web sites that give you the codes for BMW. Find somebody with a Peake BMW code scanner if you can. Those codes ar e dead-on correct. Your car has a round BMW scanning port in the right side under the hood AND a standard ODB-II port under the drivers-side dash. Go get a scan. It could tell you a lot!

Hope this helps.