1997 2.8 No Start

[b1mcp]

Hi

I joined the forum yesterday and said in my introduction post that I would be looking for help with a dead 1997 Z3 that belonged to a friend of a friend.

I think I’ve worked out the problem today, but I’m going to post here anyway for your amusement.

So background story is that the car in question has been stood for a while. It was a runner but then the battery went flat and he couldn’t open the boot to sort it out. It needed some other jobs doing also. I offered to have a look if he brought it to me.

The guy jump started from terminals under the bonnet and got it going. He turned it off, put another 5 litres of fuel in it from a can so he could drive to me. Restarted the car OK, then it stalled after a short time and would not restart. He got a recovery truck to bring it to me.

I’ve spent days on and off trying to diagnose it. Tested Compression, Fuel pump and Realy, Fuel pressure, Spark, Scope on Crank shaft sensor, Cam sensor, Injectors. Voltage drop tests for all connections. Diagnostics with ISTA that showed EWS was good. No fault codes stored for DME or anything else. I was stuck.

Today, I took a sample of fuel from the rail. It didn’t smell like petrol. Put some on a rag and put a match to it – nothing. I rang the owner and as soon as I asked the question he said OMG, I know what I’ve done.

He had a petrol can in the car that he had filled with 5 Ltr of water. He forgot what it was and put it in the tank!



Now we just need to work out how to recover from that!

 

[Pond]

Yeah water doesn't ignite very well, does it?
If it were me (not being the most sympathetic person); I would contact the owner and tell him to get his car off my property and don't darken my door ever again. But then that's just me!
Other options are available.

 

[ExMX5owner]

Hi

I joined the forum yesterday and said in my introduction post that I would be looking for help with a dead 1997 Z3 that belonged to a friend of a friend.

I think I’ve worked out the problem today, but I’m going to post here anyway for your amusement.

So background story is that the car in question has been stood for a while. It was a runner but then the battery went flat and he couldn’t open the boot to sort it out. It needed some other jobs doing also. I offered to have a look if he brought it to me.

The guy jump started from terminals under the bonnet and got it going. He turned it off, put another 5 litres of fuel in it from a can so he could drive to me. Restarted the car OK, then it stalled after a short time and would not restart. He got a recovery truck to bring it to me.

I’ve spent days on and off trying to diagnose it. Tested Compression, Fuel pump and Realy, Fuel pressure, Spark, Scope on Crank shaft sensor, Cam sensor, Injectors. Voltage drop tests for all connections. Diagnostics with ISTA that showed EWS was good. No fault codes stored for DME or anything else. I was stuck.

Today, I took a sample of fuel from the rail. It didn’t smell like petrol. Put some on a rag and put a match to it – nothing. I rang the owner and as soon as I asked the question he said OMG, I know what I’ve done.

He had a petrol can in the car that he had filled with 5 Ltr of water. He forgot what it was and put it in the tank!



Now we just need to work out how to recover from that!

I shouldn't laugh because I know from a friend of a friend that a petrol car doesn't run that well on diesel either... Drain the tank time...

Edit, Ill add to that with a little trick I used to employ when using outboards a lot, typically you end up with accumulating water over time, water in the gas tank sits at the bottom harmlessly until it reaches the pickup.. So I used to chuck in a dash of metho every now and again to dilute the water into the fuel. I dont know if this would work, but I would try it just for kicks, empty as much water out of the tank as you can, chuck in a half liter of metho and fill the tank with fuel, pump the rest of the water through in fits and and hopefully starts.. Again not sure if it would work, in theory it should... The blokes here might have other ideas, but I thought I would mention it.

 

[b1mcp]

" If it were me (not being the most sympathetic person); I would contact the owner and tell him to get his car off my property and don't darken my door ever again. "

It was a thought. Problem is I like fixing stuff (especially cars). It's my hobby!


" So I used to chuck in a dash of metho every now and again to dilute the water into the fuel. I dont know if this would work, but I would try it just for kicks, empty as much water out of the tank as you can, chuck in a half liter of metho"

Yes I thought about putting in some additives to "dry out" the water. Sorry, What is Metho? What's the full name?



Update: The owner got a guy out to my place today and he drained the tank. I bypassed the pump relay and we pumped stuff out of the pipes and rail at the shrader valve on the rail . Between us we got it running on it's own (even though it runs like a bag of poo). A new fuel filter is coming tomorrow hopefully and I'll get some additive to "dry out" the water that will inevitably remain at the bottom of the tank. Will update when is idling sweet again!

 

[ExMX5owner]

" If it were me (not being the most sympathetic person); I would contact the owner and tell him to get his car off my property and don't darken my door ever again. "

It was a thought. Problem is I like fixing stuff (especially cars). It's my hobby!


" So I used to chuck in a dash of metho every now and again to dilute the water into the fuel. I dont know if this would work, but I would try it just for kicks, empty as much water out of the tank as you can, chuck in a half liter of metho"

Yes I thought about putting in some additives to "dry out" the water. Sorry, What is Metho? What's the full name?



Update: The owner got a guy out to my place today and he drained the tank. I bypassed the pump relay and we pumped stuff out of the pipes and rail at the shrader valve on the rail . Between us we got it running on it's own (even though it runs like a bag of poo). A new fuel filter is coming tomorrow hopefully and I'll get some additive to "dry out" the water that will inevitably remain at the bottom of the tank. Will update when is idling sweet again!

Methylated spirits.. Not a good idea to drink it, but some do... ,

 

[KASPar]

Yes I thought about putting in some additives to "dry out" the water. Sorry, What is Metho? What's the full name?

ExMx5owner is in antipodia and uses the colloquialism of his adopted land where every word is shortened and an o put on the end another example is afternoon that is pronounced arbo.

If one was to emigrate to Canada the word would be Metha, as the colloquialism ads an a to every word hence the country is Ca na da. You could as attempted in my younger years drink Canada dry, I tried but that is an awful lot of booze.