Adrian and his trusty sidekick crossing the Americas - Summer-Fall 2015

Oh, haven't check this in a while. Are you still in the Pacific Northwest?
 
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Still in the bay area. Now stuck. Remember shop that screwed us over? Stopped to fill up on our way to Yosemite, exact same issue... Car runs 100% when going in, won't fire trying to go out. No fuel pressure. Luckily a fellow owner up here has a mechanic that's competent (Chief of Service at BMW London when the E31 launched.) He helped us get an oil change and filters done the other day, as well as new tires, so we got it towed the 100 miles back to him. Will know tomorrow what's up.
 
So that shop did a crappy job, on top of all that asshatery? Jeez...
 
I'm tired of hearing about bad things happening to good people.
 
So that shop did a crappy job, on top of all that asshatery? Jeez...

They usually do, it's deliberate. The idea is that you'll likely break down not far away and have to be towed back again... It's not just US ripoff joints doing this, I've heard of worse, such as the garage sending a tow truck to 'coincidentally' follow you out of town that my cousin in the UK told me about - nasty.
 
I'm wondering if the problem with the car is actually not caused by bad fuel pumps or pump wiring but vapor lock. Is all the heat shielding still in place on the fuel system, and were the fuel pressure regulators ever replaced?
 
Could it be the fuel? The BMW isn't used to E10 or the lower octane rating we seem to have here in the States. According to Adrian, our petrol is the equivalent of Bud Lite pisswater.
 
Could it be the fuel? The BMW isn't used to E10 or the lower octane rating we seem to have here in the States. According to Adrian, our petrol is the equivalent of Bud Lite pisswater.

Possibly, E10 *is* more volatile than E0 in general (unless special measures are taken when it's being blended) and it *is* known to cause vapor lock in marginal systems. That said, the E32's fuel system doesn't generally have problems like this with E10, so I wouldn't expect the E31 to have problems.

That said, this may be relevant - there's a guy who had his E31 spewing fuel all over the place due to the tank venting system being faulty - a faulty tank vent system can cause a kind of vapor lock.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...in-fuel-smell-amp-E31-fuel-ventilation-system

There's also some info on fuel/no start issues on that thread. If it isn't vapor lock, apparently the E31 has a nasty habit of not restarting after being shut off when it gets older.

Moral of the story...
If you find yourself stranded somewhere... With the car off,
--Grab a 3" piece of jumper wire and jumper the fuel pump fuse(s) to a nearby 30A fuse.
--You should hear the EBox fan spin up (The ETM will explain this phenomenon), but you should also hear fuel passing through the fuel pressure regulator
--A partner should also be able to hear the pump if he/she places their head on the right rear seat.
--Repeat for the second pump, then don't forget to put your jumper wire back in the glove box where it belongs. (It is also used to reset the oil service light, silly)
--If you don't hear it running, pop up the rear seat and move it out of the way (Wait, you actually have your rear seat screwed in!) Pull the fuel pump cover off and press on the connector while you turn the key to start.

If it starts, get it home and order the parts!

3x 61 130 007 441 Terminals
1x 61 131 378 410 Connector
 
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It's very rare for both fuel pumps to fail at the same time - apparently the only common thing shared with the fuel systems (which after checking does go to individual banks) is a ground connector. Which was bad. Pressed it back in and it fired right back up :p
 
I'm glad you finally got it sorted!
 
My offer to crowbar that dude's ballsack still stands, you know.
 
It's very rare for both fuel pumps to fail at the same time - apparently the only common thing shared with the fuel systems (which after checking does go to individual banks) is a ground connector. Which was bad. Pressed it back in and it fired right back up :p

glad that was it..
 
Probably worth mentioning we made it home :D


Stopped by Laguna Seca on the way.


Met a mint DeLorean on BTTF day


Visited the shop used in the first GTA V mission, turned out to be right by our hotel.


And off she went! Then we spent a day doing nothing in LA, enjoying some In-N-Out, Starbucks and a nice taxi to the airport for out 10 hour flight home, three hour airport wait in Oslo and two hour trainride. Slept for like... 18 hours.
 
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