Howling '89 325

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

MechEMike - 21 Jul 2006 21:39 GMT

I have a problem with my 1989 BMW 325i. Lately I will be driving down
the freeway (rarely but does happen on surface streets) and the car
will suddenly lose all power. There is no indication that it is about
to happen but when it does the is a howling sound coming from the
exhuast. If I pull over it will still be idling and I can slighly rev
it if I press on the gas. This increases the howling sound. If I don't
pull over and I press on the gas, the car doesn't rev and continures to
slow down (with other cars passing me on right and left). While on the
freeway, I have to put it in nuetral (it is an automatic), turn it off
and then re-start it, put it back in drive, and continue on. Restarting
it seems to cure the problem. If I have been driving for a while and it
happens, it is much more likely to do it a second and third time. This
isn't very safe. I took it to a repair shop and they couldn't replicate
the problem and said it was probably a transmission problem. I didn't
think it was but I took it to a transmission shop anyway and they said
the tranny was in perfect condition. I am not sure if it is an
electrical problem or something mechanical in the fuel system. The
other day, it did it after went over a major bump. But it happens on
smooth road as well. The howling sound is unlike anything I have heard
from a car. Sounds like a dog howling coming from the exhuast. Last
night I replaced the fuel pump and then it did it again this morning. I
also added some fuel system cleaner but I doubt it will solve the
problem. I was thinking maybe it could be the fuel pressure regulator
since it will still idel but won't rev. Although I don't know why it
would be howling. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!! I don't want to get ride of
this car because when it isn't doing this it runs beautifully and get
up to 27 mpg even with 186k miles. Any suggestions would be extremely
helpful.

Reply to this Message

John Burns - 22 Jul 2006 12:15 GMT

> I have a problem with my 1989 BMW 325i. Lately I will be driving down
> the freeway (rarely but does happen on surface streets) and the car
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> up to 27 mpg even with 186k miles. Any suggestions would be extremely
> helpful.

I think you have two problems. I'd replace the fuel pump relay and
Motronic relay to solve the driveability problems. They live under the
long black strip of plastic in front of the windscreen.

As for the howling it's either a bad fan belt or a badly tensioned
timing belt (NOT good).

Signature

Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: john@unixnerd.demon.co.uk, John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html
www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price

Reply to this Message

Jack - 22 Jul 2006 13:49 GMT

I had a problem on my '84 318i where the engine would lose all power
accompanied by what I called a squawking howl sound coming from the exaust
manifold side of the engine compartment. It only occured after the engine
had been completely warmed up and would be temporarily fixed by turning the
engine off and restarting it, so your problem sounds somewhat similar. When
the problem first arose it would only happen at fairly high engine rpms but
as it got worse the rpm threshold got lower and lower until the car was
completely unusable. I finally found it when it got so bad that it would do
it when the car was idling. It turned out that the bushings in the
distributor were worn so bad that when the oil got thin from being
completely warmed up that the distributor shaft would 'whirl' in the
clearance and that the resulting vibration would cause the ignition
electronics to malfunction. Whirl means that the shaft was trying to roll
around inside the oversized bore instead of just rotating within it, sort of
like a marble rolling around inside of a bowl. My 318i had 256k miles on it
when this happened so I figured it was not unexpected for the distributor
bushings to be worn out, but I had taken it to a BMW dealer and an
independent with the problem and they couldn't find it either; probably
because they seldom work on anything with over 100k on it.
Anyway, I hope this helps you.

>I have a problem with my 1989 BMW 325i. Lately I will be driving down
> the freeway (rarely but does happen on surface streets) and the car
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> up to 27 mpg even with 186k miles. Any suggestions would be extremely
> helpful.

Reply to this Message

Tbird-Steve - 23 Jul 2006 10:51 GMT

If it happens after a bump that would suggest it is electrical, like a loose
wire or connexion somewhere. Maybe check connexions for the fuel injection
and anything to do with the engine management systems/sensors. Maybe you or
someone didn't plug a connector back in properly after doing something on
the car? Might also be a short somewhere, recurring when you go around a
bend in a certain way (or hit a bump).
I once had a car that would die whenever the keys on my giant key-ring
touched a metal fitting on the dash while driving. It would short out a
fuse due to a dual fuel system being wired up wrong. I had similar problems
to yours on another car and it was a wire to the coil shorting out on a
manifold.
I think E30's also have a couple of speed sensors around the top of the
bell-housing that have something to do with ignition timing. Sometimes
there are sensors in the diff too, but I think only for the speedo?

Best of luck,

Steve

>I have a problem with my 1989 BMW 325i. Lately I will be driving down
> the freeway (rarely but does happen on surface streets) and the car
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> up to 27 mpg even with 186k miles. Any suggestions would be extremely
> helpful.

Reply to this Message