Muntik na tumirik kotse ko...

[swordsman]

My car died on me yesterday, with erratic idling, at nanginginig. Nagsimula sya nung stop & go traffic on an incline from Boni going into EDSA. Looks like what triggered it ay yong strain sa engine sa incline. Restarted it, nanginginig at medyo mahina hatak pero nakayanan pa rin makaakyat ng EDSA, alalay lang sa gas pedal...and after a few meters ay namatay ulit makina, buti na lang tapat na ko ng Caltex...at this point na namatay sya, biglang bumigat ang steering wheel response at ayaw na gumana ng preno, i have to use the handbrake to stop. I repeated this 'restart the car, travel a few meters, car dies again(no brake, heavy steeering)' thing..until makarating ako ng garahe, good thing i live nearby where this happened. Pagka-park ko, i tried the restart & then turn off' cycle at pagka-start ko, parang nabubulunan at naghihingalo yong engine and at the same time ay nanginginig with medyo black smoke na lumalabas sa tambutso. I'm sure mamamatay ulit yong makina pag hinayaan ko. Although, pag namatay, na-i-start naman sya.

This has been a weekend/coding car for the past 3 months or so. And once or twice a week lang talaga na-start ang makina. And last week i started noticing na medyo mahaba na konti yong gap bago sya mag-start sa umaga. Feeling ko malapit na bumigay battery nya, which is already 3 years old.

The car is an E36(1998) BMW 316i. Tanong ko lang is, may effect ba ang malapit na ma-drain na battery sa electrical system ng car(while running), such that magkakaroon ng ganun symptoms sa na-experience ko? Or could it be other things? Di naman ako dumaan sa baha, or any other unusual things na nagyari sa kotse lately. Di naman nag-iilaw ang engine light or any other indicator lights sa dash.

Planning to take the car sa shop this weekend, but hoping for some inputs from fellow tsikoteers...Thanks!

[BlueBimmer]

im not familiar with the 4 cylinder E36 engines, but the problem could be your fuel pump, alternator or a clogged fuel filter. how many kms na takbo nyan?

[swordsman]

im not familiar with the 4 cylinder E36 engines, but the problem could be your fuel pump, alternator or a clogged fuel filter. how many kms na takbo nyan?

around 72,000 KMS na...i still have around 4 green service lights left.

[BlueBimmer]

around 72,000 KMS na...i still have around 4 green service lights left.

4 green service lights is for the oil change, walang effect yan sa fuel system. i recommend you change the fuel filter first, if problem persists, check the fuel pump.

i currently have 51k kms on mine, i already changed the fuel filter for preventive measures.

[swordsman]

4 green service lights is for the oil change, walang effect yan sa fuel system. i recommend you change the fuel filter first, if problem persists, check the fuel pump.

i currently have 51k kms on mine, i already changed the fuel filter for preventive measures.

ganun pala yon. di kasi ako marunong mangkalikot ng sasakyan, so kung di kayanin ng powers ko magpalit ng fuel filter, i'll probably bring it to autovec this weekend para sila na mag-check ng fuel system. sana umabot ako dun pag pinaandar ko...otherwise, papa-tow ko pa

[chris_d]

Based on what you described, it is probably not a problem with the battery, more likely with fuel delivery.

[theveed]

I agree, mukang fuel system.

[theveed]

Papalitan mo lang fuel filter muna as BB said, mga once a year or so palit dito sa pinas nyan...

Actually pwede mo din pacheck yung fuel pressure mo sa lines para marule out mo kung may tama fuel pump o wala.

[mazdamazda]

dirty throttle body... happened to our rav4 & 323 already.

[swordsman]

the damn car started fine earlier this evening when i got home from work. started it, wala na yong panginginig nya at panghihingalo at black smoke. stepped on the gas a few times while idling, seems fine. took it out, inikot ko around our block and it feels and sounds normal ulit. di na ko bumalik at ni-test dun sa incline sa may boni, baka mamatay na naman.
so mukha nga bang fuel system guys? magkano naman kaya yong fuel pump & fuel filter ng bmw in case either of them ang kelangan ng palitan? in case eto nga problem, matrabaho ba 'tong ayusin, as in matagal ba sa shop ang kotse or pwede namang hintayin?

kung kelan ko pa naman kelangan yong car, saka sya nagkaproblema ng ganito.

[BlueBimmer]

fuel filter can be replaced in just under an hour. fuel pump mas matrabaho na. pagawa mo nalang sa shop kung pump.

[ian_rex]

oo sir, most probably fuel system. a few months ago, i hthought something bad happened to my faithful old Civic. initially i panicked 'cause the throttle seem to be unruly. gusto laging mabilis! :D anyways, i referred to the service manual, and thought that the ecu have gone bad (which is i felt bad since i thought if the ecu is busted, then i should have gotten a ecu upgrade). the culprit: bad throttle body.

i have it cleaned with Honda. Voila, it runs as smooth as ever.

still i felt bad about that ecu upgrade. i thought i would a new one. :D

[swordsman]

*Bluebimmer: thanks! sana nga fuel filter lang. will know tomorrow when i bring it to autovec.

*chris_d, mazdamazda, theveed: thanks for your inputs as well

*ian_rex: thanks! pwede naman mag-upgrade ECU kahit di pa sira di ba? idahilan mo na lang na 'preventive measure' sa department of budget, kung meron man...hehehe

[theveed]

Hmm the fact that it occurs often pag nakaincline ka makes me think na fuel filter talaga, baka blocked na yung filter and kung nakaangle yung car di na nakakadaan yung fuel sa ibang areas ng filter.

I'd change this asap before it creates more havoc my friend.

[swordsman]

thanks! will have the filter changed tomorrow. then observe ko na lang for a while.

[swordsman]

Update lang guys. I was able to have my fuel filter changed last Saturday. Sabi nung mechanic, medyo barado na nga raw. After changing, i observed the car and mukhang ok naman sya so far. I braved the same incline yesterday in Boni(at least pag Sunday konti lang umaakyat). So far, di na naman ako namatayan ng engine. Will observe the car for the next few days. Hopefully, yon na nga ang problema and not the fuel pump.

Thanks again to everyone!

[swordsman]

Update lang guys. I was able to have my fuel filter changed last Saturday. Sabi nung mechanic, medyo barado na nga raw. After changing, i observed the car and mukhang ok naman sya so far. I braved the same incline yesterday in Boni(at least pag Sunday konti lang umaakyat). So far, di na naman ako namatayan ng engine. Will observe the car for the next few days. Hopefully, yon na nga ang problema and not the fuel pump.

Thanks again to everyone!

No recurring problem so far. I think it really is the fuel filter.

[huggybear]

Sa sentra namin ganyan din dati, biglang mamamatay engine, tapos hirap mag start. Pag-umandar na dapat di bababa sa 1000rpm or else patay ulit. Pinalitan ung fuel filter ganun pa din. Un pala sira na distributor