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Gas not getting to the spark plugs

Tiny
PSTARKEY921
  • MEMBER
  • 1989 BMW 325I
My timing belt had snapped, breaking one of the rocker arms. We replaced it, put on a new head gasket and thermal shields. Timed the belts, reassembled the water pump, carburetor, radiator, air filter, and hooked all the lines up and tried to start the car. It turns over, but it wont fire. The injectors are ticking. We replaced the fuel relay, check the fuel pressure (44PSI)but there is still no gas getting to the spark plugs. We cleaned the carburetor, still didn't work. We took the tube off the carburetor and sprayed the start spray in there and it still didn't start. We have now taken the manifold off? The silver thing that looks like bent metal tubes, we tried to see if we could smell any gas from where the injectors supply to the spark plugs and I could not. We will be checking the rectangular tube that supplies the fuel to the injectors to see if there is blockage tomorrow, but does anyone know what else it could be? My husband is getting a little flustered. Everyone keeps telling him he did the repair correctly. Does the 89 have an anti theft mechanism that may be stopping us from starting the car? Oh, It has been off the road for 4 months now, so could the fuel be bad? Please help!
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 4:44 AM

8 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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If you have the right fuel pressure to the fuel rail, the injectors can't be working. Will the car start with starting fluid? Have you checked to confirm that the injectors are getting power?
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 4:50 AM
Tiny
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The injectors are new - about 8 months old. We used the stethoscope to listen to the injectors and they are clicking. So that would imply they are working, but fuel is getting to it. The car did not start with the starting fluid sprayed straight into the carburetor. There is suction when we turn the car on from the carburetor - so the fluid did go in.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 5:00 AM
Tiny
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I meant to say fuel is not getting to them.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 5:01 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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If it didn't fire with starting fluid, it sounds like there is no spark.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 5:12 AM
Tiny
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We checked each plug and have verified that each sparks correctly by removing them and touching them to the car - and there is a strong spark - brand new plugs.

Could there be an electrical fault?

Would the injectors still click when there is an electrical fault? We did check it with the stethoscope.

If the injectors can not click without the proper electrical flow, could there be a blockage in fuel bar? There is 44psi at the regulator.

Our problem is there is no fuel getting to the injectors or the spark plugs to get the car to fire.

Thanks again.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 12:21 PM
Tiny
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One more question - important to my hubby - would the injectors have the clicking sound with the car is cranking if the relay or the electricity was incorrect. We did replace the relay we got from the BMW dealership yesterday.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 12:24 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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Yes, they will click when cranking. I have to be honest, you have me confused too. If there is pressure in the rail, the injectors plug right into it, so there shouldn't be a blockage. If you hear the injectors operating, you should be getting fuel. The only thing I can think of is to remove the injectors to make sure nothing is plugging them.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 10:09 PM
Tiny
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UPDATE - ok, we took the fuel bar off and it is getting fuel to the injectors. We took the injectors out and cleaned them, tested the ohm on each injector and they are within the readings - 17.2 - 17.4 for each. We checked the other bar to see if any wires were burnt or unconnected. Everything looks good. We think it could be electrical since the fuel is getting to where it should be getting. Still we are puzzled why the car did not start with the starting fluid. We are going to check all the electrical connections back to the fuse box to see if we can find the issue. Does anyone else have any suggestions? We also checked and cleaned the manifold. All is functioning there.
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Sunday, September 4th, 2011 AT 10:13 PM

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