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no start car?

glenn1

glenn1

Lifer
Driving my wife's car, 1995 BMW 318i. Drove it to work today without incident, and began to drive it home. Stopped at a store to pick up a couple items, and when returning to the car the engine doesn't seem to be turning over, not even a clicking noise as I turn the key into the start position. The idiot lights turn on, and it's not a problem with a dead battery as jumping the car didn't work. Have no issues with the starter previously or any other component. Any ideas?
 
Possibly a neutral safety switch. As said above, try and start it in neutral. If so, the switch is bad.
 
Battery cable / corroded terminal would be the first thing to check, followed by fuses and relays (swap a same-size / type fuse or relay for a known good one, such as swapping the headlamps fuse for the starter fuse if they're the same), followed by dead starter or neutral safety switch.

I've seen several starters go that will crank and crank but not catch (bendix stuck / not engaging to meet the flywheel / flexplate). However, several years ago the starter on my Mustang went and the bendix was stuck engaged to the flywheel, preventing me from even turning the motor over by hand (I thought the motor froze). It made a clicking noise every time I tried to turn it over.
 
Vic Vega said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by cprince View Post
That, and check fuses, check/clean battery posts. The worst case scenarios would be the engine froze up.
Easy there...
Click to expand...

Hey, it happened to my buddy's truck a while back. He was low on oil and pulled over b/c the engine wouldn't rev. Well, after he shut it off, he could not start it again.

I hope it's not the starter because they are a HUGE pain to replace on the E30 and E36 series. But hopefully these links will help:

Starter Diagnostic:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/Borrowed/mult_starter_diag.htm

Starter Replacement:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/101-Projects-84-Starter/101-Projects-84-Starter.htm

Quote: "...Not so with the 3 Series. The only way to replace the starter is to remove the intake manifold (Project 12) or remove the transmission (Project 43)."
 
cprince said:
Hey, it happened to my buddy's truck a while back. He was low on oil and pulled over b/c the engine wouldn't rev. Well, after he shut it off, he could not start it again.
Click to expand...

LOL, well don't you think the low oil and engine siezing in your buddies truck are related? The OP doesn't mention oil loss or low oil, so a siezed engine is pretty much out of the picture.
 
If it's anything like the e46 (which I'm assuming it is) then it might just be a faulty key. Either try another one or hit the key a couple of times and try again.
 
When my '96 Nissan 200sx had the same symptoms (sometimes it would start, sometimes it wouldn't even click), I had to have the starter replaced.

Of course, you'll want to check the cheaper things first as others have suggested such as the battery cable, fuses, etc before you go and spend the money on a starter, but I really doubt that it's any of those things. I'm fairly certain that the check engine light would not come on for a bad connection to the battery (not really possible if the vehicle isn't getting any power, now is it?) or for blown fuses. If the check engine light is on, it's almost definitely a faulty component (which would most likely be the starter).

If it isn't a blown fuse, your best bet would be to have a mechanic check the code for your check engine light. That will more than likely reveal the problem without any extra fucking around.
 
Last edited:
simonizor said:
When my '96 Nissan 200sx had the same symptoms (sometimes it would start, sometimes it wouldn't even click), I had to have the starter replaced.

Of course, you'll want to check the cheaper things first as others have suggested such as the battery cable, fuses, etc before you go and spend the money on a starter, but I really doubt that it's any of those things. I'm fairly certain that the check engine light would not come on for a bad connection to the battery (not really possible if the vehicle isn't getting any power, now is it?) or for blown fuses. If the check engine light is on, it's almost definitely a faulty component (which would most likely be the starter).

If it isn't a blown fuse, your best bet would be to have a mechanic check the code for your check engine light. That will more than likely reveal the problem without any extra fucking around.
Click to expand...

I've never seen a bad starter throw a CEL. Granted, the only vehicle I've replaced a starter on was my '86 MR2, but a '95 BMW isn't OBDII either. Now I have had at least two vehicles not start due to loose battery cables - one was on the positive terminal, and the other was on the starter side.

Yes, it is possible for the vehicle to get power but not have a good enough connection to turn the starter. That requires a LOT more power than it does to run everything else. If you have a weak / loose connection, you will probably still have interior lights/etc but may not be able to pull enough power through the crappy connection to turn the motor over.
 
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