E36 318 hard start problems

[servechilled]

Hi,

I just registered to bimmerfest after a long struggle with my 318I

Here's the problem. The car starts fine in the morning when it has cooled down overnight. As soon as I drive it and want to restart it after a few minutes and sometimes after a few hours it starts only after turning the engine a whole couple of times. I also have to pump the fuel pedal a couple times to start it, this I don't have to do in the morning.

Being able to start it easy in the morning tells me it's not the fuel pump. I have a strange feeling it might be a relay. Any idea where I could find a relay diagram for an M42/M43 motor. Maybe it's not a relay, any help will be appreciated. I am really desperate.

I have had this problem for about a year now and cannot sort it out. Just now i will have to replace my starter from all the excessive cranking.

thanks

[fizzle]

maybe realoem.com has it

[Mary99]

Stepping on the accelerator hard shuts off the gas. If that's what you have to do then not having enough petrol in the motor is not the problem; it's the opposite, too much fuel. I would check for leaky injectors, spark plugs, or the coil pack.

I wouldn't suspect relays though since relays are simple magnetic devices which are either energized or off. If they are faulty, they generally don't energize at all or vice versa, the solenoid is shorted and it's stuck open.

Leaky injectors are probable as when left overnight, the fuel has time to evaporate whereas just shutting the car off leaves the car in a flooded state.

Spark is a no brainer, no spark no kaboom, no motion. There are DIY's to check for spark all over the net so check out the procedure. It doesn't have to be specific for your car, just understand the general premise and adapt it to your application.

As far as testing coil packs are concerned, there are, again, many DIYs that goes through the whole procedure.

good luck