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Car broke down on the highway!

4K views 55 replies 18 participants last post by  cn90 
#1 ·
So as I'm driving home on the highway my car started trembling very bad and seconds later it would take gas any longer and I pulled over and it shut off. Now I can't get her started again. After numerous attempts to start it'll start still with a violent shutter and as soon as I give it gas it'll shut off on me.

Any ideas of what could've gone wrong? I am stuck here waiting for the tow truck which should be about 90 minutes.


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#4 ·
Engine temp was fine. Right in the middle. Not over heating at all. I am able to get the car started after a few tries but with a violent shutter but once I give it gas it shuts right off.

Got the first two truck to take me off the highway now waiting on another to take me home. Been on this for hours now and still stuck far from home. Smh.

Possible fuel pump?


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#5 ·
Yep.... Could be the fuel pump..... Easy to check that it is or at least you can eliminate it..... Under the hood on the top of the engine is the fuel rail for the fuel injectors . There is a Schafer valve on the end of the rail. Check the pressure ..... Needs to be greater then 45 pounds..... If you have under 20 psig you will get those symptoms.
 
#6 ·
Finally got the car back home! I was able to start her up but now the cluster is light up like a xmas tree! All the lights are on.

I am waiting on a friend to see if he could bring his code reader to see what the computer reads.
 
#7 ·
So I just read the codes and has the following
P0300
P0444
P1351
P1353

Cylinder 5 and 6, so i swapped out cylinder 1 and 2 to 5 and 6 and then the codes went all over the place with a misfire on cylinders 1, 2, 5, 6.
I deleted the codes and turned the car off for a couple of minutes and then started her back up.

All of a sudden the codes never came back up! The care started RIGHT UP and NO MISFIRES!

I am completely confused as to what could have went wrong? All i did was swap the coils and the problems continued and after clearing them one last time and turning the car off for a couple of minutes and now the problem is NON EXISTENT!

Advise please???:dunno:
 
#9 ·
Fuel pump problems can be intermittent sometimes. Jarring the car around (ie. loading it onto and off of a flatbed) is sometimes enough for it to get going again. Be aware that if it seized once it will happen again; and if your car is north of ~110,000 miles than the FP should probably be on your list anyway. If you live near the city PM me, I know a great shop.
 
#11 ·
I believe your CCV is faulty and the symptom will return sometime.

You have to look at all codes and try to get the big picture. Here's what I think: P0300 is "Combustion misfires several cylinders". This is in accordance with codes P1351 & P1353 (cylinders ! & 3 misfires) - but why? Because usually, the causes for the P0300 code should be:
  • Incorrect fuel pressure
  • Intake air leak
  • Fuel Injectors circuit poor electrical connection
  • Faulty spark plug
  • Clogged or faulty fuel injector
  • Fuel injectors harness is open or shorted
  • Faulty ignition coil
  • Insufficient cylinders compression etc, etc
But now here comes code P0444 - "Purge control valve/breather valve".
The breather valve or CCV and associated hoses fail in time - and you being a member of this forum, know this. The stuff is made out of plastic & rubber. If it breaks, now you have a leak - now you don't. I think it's only a matter of time when the tear opens up more, and you will have some steady codes.
I might totally wrong, and the "purge control valve" could be related to the regulator of the fuel filter in which case, you might have an old filter that starts clogging up and having the same symptoms enumerated for P0300. This will also return.
You know the history of your car, and maybe you can make a good assessment now, if you ever have changed any or both of these parts recently, I'm out to lunch.
 
#12 · (Edited)
woo woo woooha slow down... dont start changeing things around... your only going to complicate they situation

sounds like your car lost its primary single... (crank/cam/maf)

it thur the misfire codes.. cause it was unable to pin point where the rotation was

you dont just get random misfires like that all of a sudden... mis fires are stedy and build slow... till one day when its raining out your all sorts of jacked up sounding like a diesel trying to go up a hill

Slow down there... and look at your cam crank and maf senors, If its becomes a random thing then ill brake out the Bentley

also what dory said.... its a good idea to check there as well... a massive intake leak would have done that as well
 
#13 ·
You have lots of recommendations here.... All good. Eliminate possibilities in a very deliberate way. When my sons fuel pump failed , it was exactly like your symptoms and we got lots of codes like you got. We thought it was the CCV .... Changed it.... Thought it was a vacuum leak.... Put in new hoses..... Thought it was plugs... Changed them..... Finally did a 5 minute check on fuel pump pressure after changing the fuel filter .... Bingo..... Got 15psig.... Changed pump and all well for the last month.

Bottom line..... Take it slow and do some testing and looking before tearing into all these symptoms.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the replies so far guys.

From reading up around here is how u decided to start swapping around coils to see what happens with the codes. I checked the fuel rail and it was still pumping out gas leading me to believe that the pump is good and not faulty. Then from swapping the coils and the codes shifting me me believe that it's not the coils. It throwing ALL the codes after confused me. But after letting the car sit for a little while night have reset something again. After all that I started the car and seems fine for now. I got up this morning and started her back up and STILL no codes and no misfire and regular start up.

Trust me I know something is either wrong or going bad because there is no way this car could go from being bad to working perfectly fine with no fixing. I understand that part and that's why I am trying to get as much input as possible so I could try and pinpoint possible problems before jumping ship and changing out parts.

I have had the problem in the past of a cylinder 3 misfire coming up periodically which lead me to buy a new cool and change it. The problem went away for a little and then showed back up occasionally as it always has. It'll be a little misfire and after me starting and shutting it off for a few times it would go away. Never was the problem as serious as it was yesterday. The main difference being the fact that when I tried giving it gas regardless of the shutter it would just simply DIE and shut off. This lead me to believe that it was a little more complicated then JUST the misfire in any given coil

I think I should change the plugs on all cylinders and possibly the fuel filter (as that I have never changed) and see what happens from there. If you guys know of ANYTHING else that is a very cheap part and possible cause to this problem please let me know and ill try it.

Btw my car has about 95k and I've had it since 60k second owner. Mostly everything that's been done is me that's done it.

Thanks again guys for these replies and any mor insight will be appreciated.


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#15 ·
The minute I started reading this thread, I thought 'fuel filter.'. I change my plugs every 60K. More often is not necessary and your symptoms are not failing plug symptoms-they are no fuel symptoms.

Change the fuel filter & see how the car runs with a new one.:)
 
#16 ·
Well, check for vac leaks from the CCV (CCV test).
Also, check the big intake rubber boot at the "Y". Pull & check the DISA valve. Clean both ICV & TB. All these, because if you want to thoroughly check for vac leaks, you want to check these parts anyways. And you are there if the CCV needs change.
Another thing I would check is the integrity of the rubber boots of the coils.
Also, if you have a returning misfire to a specific location (you said cyl #3), There could be 2 things (keep in mind I'm no mechanic):
  • maybe low compression in cylinder #3 (compression test needed)
  • faulty sparkplug (intermittent) due to:
    • coil connector faulty (#3)?
    • clogged injector (#3)?
 
#18 ·
To add to the above--purchase a code reader--next time this happens you can read the codes--write them down and the erase them. If you had a code reader with you when this happened , you could have started the car again after erasing the codes. Thge OBC shuts down cylinders ,,you can operate the car with that going on..I carry mine with me for such as this.
 
#19 ·
So i came home today and started her right up!!! No issues at all but turned it off right away and changed the spark plugs. They all looked BAD! Put the new plugs in and it started right up! I was just about to start to change the fuel filter and when i went to give it gas it shut off. I tried started her back up and it took me like 3 tries and then started up. STILL NO check engine light. now the car is idling fine again. I took it around the block and drives perfectly fine with no stutter and no light.

I am definitely not driving it to work as i work about 15 miles away. Last thing i need is for it to die again on my way to or back from work. I am still not confident that it is fine.

There is definitely something still wrong with it. I need to troubleshoot it further.

Additional ideas?:dunno:
 
#20 ·
Ok.... In an earlier post I asked what the fuel pump pressure was.... You said you tested it and it squired gas .

At 15 psig it will squirt gas but still not be adequate. Use a tire gage if you do not have a proper gage to give you a reading. You need 45 pounds minimum.

I still think it is a fuel pump issue.
 
#21 ·
Ok.... In an earlier post I asked what the fuel pump pressure was.... You said you tested it and it squired gas .

At 15 psig it will squirt gas but still not be adequate. Use a tire gage if you do not have a proper gage to give you a reading. You need 45 pounds minimum.

I still think it is a fuel pump issue.
I am not sure exactly how to check the pressure as you are suggesting. Let me try and do some research on that and try and see how its done. I definitely dont have the tool for that but I do have a tire pressure gauge.
 
#22 ·
Yet another symptom

So i havent been able to test the fuel pressure just yet but i am going to try and tackle this car this weekend.

So this morning on my way to work i encountered another problem. Right before i jumped on the bridge the car started shaking again and then the check engine light came on reading the following codes
P13444
P1351
P1353

I cleared the codes with the code reader that i now have handy under the front seat and the car started right up normally! No issues at all. I was able to make it to work and then the same thing happened once i got to work and i erased the codes and again back to normal.

I find this very weird! Maybe some insight will help me understand this better???

Another thing that i noticed is that both times that this has happened while i was on the road is while its raining. This cant be a coincidence. What do you guys think? I have been driving the car fine for the past 3-4 days since it has not been raining. Today its raining and look at what happened again.
 
#23 ·
Almost looks like the coil #2 is biting the dust, but you said it happens when it's rainy?
Try to move coil #2 in a different location, see if you get a different code (should move from P1344 to 1346, 1348,1350, etc). Also, check and inspect all your grounds. make sure they're not loose. Check the integrity of the wire harness that feeds the coils.
 
#24 ·
I did that the first time and the codes all shifted but then it through a code for ALL the coils. Its all out of whack but its all to do with the cylinder misfires.

About it happening when its raining, is what happened this week. Monday when it broke down the first time it happened to be raining and today it is raining again. I doubt that is a coincidence, maybe it has something to do with it? Maybe water is hitting something which is making it act up? IDK Just a thought to be honest. I am trying to see if maybe someone has experienced a similar problem.
 
#27 ·
  1. Smoke test (Intake boot leak, Vacuum line leak, Intake Manifold Gasket)
  2. CCV
  3. MAF
  4. O2 sensor
  5. Spark Plug
  6. Spark Plug Boot
  7. Coil (swap coil to test)
  8. Camshaft position sensor
  9. Crank position sensor
  10. Fuel Pump
  11. Idle Control Valve (ICV)
  12. Oil in spark plug sockets from leaking VCG
 
#28 · (Edited)
Check part 15 and 17, these are plugs and must be there
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DT63&mospid=47587&btnr=11_2879&hg=11&fg=40

I did not have 15 on my 529 e39 but 17 was cracked i 4 places causing all kinds of codes, and discovering high fuel consumtion it was ovious when i read my short trim fuel values.
took a can of ether and sprayed no difference but got the part less then 2 dollars at bmw.
My values went down right away.

But you said you had problems with your dash iluminating everything, i suggest checking the positive jumper wire the one from the engine i goes along the side somewhere in the fender to a distrubution block to divide it up to the battery i the trunk.
I know one issue from the past the connection was bad and was causing all kinds of electrical problems and codes

When doing further troubleshooting always have 20 liters of gas (half tank to be sure).

Beacuse you have two fuel pumps one main and one in the tank that pumps fuel from one half of the tank to the other, when that failes an you come down to 20 liters the car will start jerking and stalling.
I thin its calle swirl pump or swirl jet pump something like that.
 
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