| > Well winter has arrived again with sub-zero temperatures
> and the resulting problems.
> I'm having trouble with my BMW 318i during the cold mornings.
> It starts fine and runs fine for 5-10 mins then starts cutting
> out intermittently but not stalling.
> After 5 mins of this kangaroo impression it runs smoothly again.
I've had this problem on my U.S. spec '92 318is just once and
it never happened again. I usually run the car at 2.5-3k RPM
until the engine warms up. Never had any problems otherwise
even at < 10F.
Also, check with the dealer to see if there was an update for
your model. BTW, when was the last time you got an oil change?
Do you have the right grade for the winter?
Happy motoring.
- Mustie
--
Mustafizur Rahman E-Mail: [email protected]
DCE Development
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| I've never owned a car like yours, but a 1988 Vauxhall Carlton (aka Opel
Omega) I owned had a very similar problem. It was a 2.0 litre i with
Bosch Motronic Fuel Injection, which may be the same as on your car.
It would start ok always, then after about 2 minutes it would misfire &
lose power totally. It would tick over, but as soon as I pressed the
pedal, it would stop. Ten minutes later, all was ok again.
Does this seem familiar ?
I overcame the problem by allowing the electronics to warm up for
15 minutes before starting the car.
All I had to do was to leave the ignition switched on
to allow the 12 volts circuit to warm the computer. If I was in a
hurry, I'd put a hair-dryer on it before starting the engine.
The fault would only show itself after the
car had been parked overnight in a temperature of less than zero
degrees Celsius.
I tried heating various parts of the cars anatomy before discovering
this. It was only the cast-metal case which contained the electronics
which affected the fault. Here in England, the temperature only gets
that low for 3 months, so I never went to the outrageous expense of
getting an expert to troubleshoot it. For the sake of 15 minutes on
cold mornings I'd rather have the money & keep the car available.
Tony.
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| Thanks for the replies.
Sounds like an electronic problem and, like you say, they
can be very costly to diagnose.
Maybe I just need to clear out the garage to keep the
the car warmer over winter.
I'm surprised that Bosch components can't tolerate sub-zero
temperatures though.
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