Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

[Slater]

Hi Bros,

Notice that my engine takes slightly longer than usual to start. Days when it is cold or when the car just had a wash, the engine does a long crank before eventually firing up.

It sounds as though the engine of the car died, but eventually manage to fire up.

Has any of you have this issue and know what the problem is?

Appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,

 

[gadaffi]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

that sound like the battery problem.

 

[totoseow]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

or old spark plugs....

 

[panzer]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

High chance battery......

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

I will be honest here. My driving is far from spirited. Hardly does RPM go above 2500. Was told that there might be carbon build up resulting in misfiring.

Was told to drive in manual mode and travel the distance at 4th gear with RPM round about 3500 to 4500.

Any comments?

 

[jonoUK]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

There numerous reasons for a long crank but would agree that this sounds like battery or a bad ground connection
Testing the battery voltage gives a good indication if this is faulty
Another problem is the ground connection from the starter / engine to chassis (not sure about E90's but E36 this was a common issue) if this is poor then the starter doesn't get the required current and cannot produce the power to crank the engine.
worn starter
Old plugs / damaged coils
Poor compression (should not be an issue with a new car), worn rings / valves
MAF / Vacuum problems / Fuel delivery problems
If you are driving at low revs with plenty of stops / short journey times then carbon build up can be a problem. There are fuel additives that can be used but I have never tried them myself so can't comment. a good blast up to KL or Melaka at high revs should help clear this out. A quick test is to whip out the plugs - if they are black and sooty you have an issue with carbon build up, if they are black then I would recommend a compression test as u could have carbon deposits stopping the valves seating correctly and high rev driving will damage them and possibly the seats in the cylinder head. I had a compression test done at BVO recently it only costs a few dollars

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

cheers Jono.

Have made an appt with PML to check carbon build up. Am suspecting that might be the reason. Over the weekend tried reving my car on 1st 2nd and 3rd gears at 5000rpm. left the car at M4 and cruised at 90km/h at > 4000 rpm's. Not sure if that is sufficient to clear out the carbon deposits.

 

[jonoUK]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

I think battery or ground connection sounds to be the most likely problem not carbon build up
The RPM's are not the most important factor for clearing deposits out of the engine out but the distance driven without constant stop / start, a cruise round the expressways here for 100Km to 150Km should do the trick but boring. Much better to take the family over the causeway shopping to melaka or KL.

 

[jonoUK]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Only problem with this is your car might get nicked!

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

why do you now suspect battery connection?

its strange that it happens almost everytime I start the car and back it out the drive way for a wash. Start and stop takes only about a minute. Washing takes 3 and a half hours. During which when I try to start the car to drive it back into driveway it gives this problem.

 

[zag]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

why do you now suspect battery connection?

its strange that it happens almost everytime I start the car and back it out the drive way for a wash. Start and stop takes only about a minute. Washing takes 3 and a half hours. During which when I try to start the car to drive it back into driveway it gives this problem.

just a quick check on battery charge retention level should eliminate the doubts.
not sure if there is any reference you made to how new is your car, above 3 years the battery can be a bit cranky sometimes.
washing car should not be cooling down so fast unless you hose down the engine bay as well? have you tried cranking the engine frequently say every 10 mins to see if the sequence is draining the battery faster than desired?

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

car is only 6 months old. In any case, will check the battery level just to be sure.

thanks

 

[cee1071]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Me used to have this issue.Went to PML & found one of my fuel injector is leaking.After that monitered it & its fine therafter.Gd luck.

 

[brendan_lee]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Hi Slater,

How is your problem now? any updates? Problem solved.

Im driving a E90, 323. and am experiencing the exact same problem as yours. It sounds as if the car cannot start and takes a long crank but it will start eventually. I have just sent my car to PML to check and they say it is the Fuel Regulator that is not working. Quoted me 800 to change that part.

The car is still there and i am waiting to see if they can get it repaired. Am ready for disappointment and will give them a good one if they cannot solve the problem.

Do let me know if you have a solution yet.

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

hi brendan,

yeah was fixed long time ago. for some reason my batt was spoilt. rare case, or so i was told.

if i left the doors open for long period of time, the car tries very hard to start, coz the battery is drained from the lights and sensors working periodically.

they have since changed the batt and the car fires up instanly. yours seems to be a diff issue to mine.

i suggest if ur car anint that far from warranty expiring just try and make some noise for them to bring the price down a little. 800 aint that bad to be honest. ask them also what was the cause of this and maybe have peventive measures in place to avoid this happening again

 

[brendan_lee]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Yup...

Thanks bro... Waiting to get back the car and see if the problem solved.

Will keep the forum updated

 

[Slater]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Yup...

Thanks bro... Waiting to get back the car and see if the problem solved.

Will keep the forum updated

ok, so u went ahead with the 800 bucks liao la?

 

[brendan_lee]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

went ahead... now waiting for them to return my car to me

 

[brendan_lee]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Just to update.

PML changed the Fuel regulator and the problem is solved. Apparently, they told me that the long crank is due the the fuel not being pumpled effectively to ignite the engine.

For now, things are good and i hope it stays this way.

Cheers

 

[Monfreeze Archangel]

Re: Help!!! Long crank before engine fires up

Hi,

I just came across this problem, a very long crack before the car starts. but at times, starts perfectly with i push of the button. Going nuts....was told that it is the Cam-Shaft Sensor...has anyone replace this part?
Driving an e90 320 PreFL 2006.

Thanks.