DROVE 1 HOUR TO PLEASANT HILL, THINK THE FUN OF THE S38 BEAST TO DRIVE AROUND THERE.
ANYWAY, DROVE MY E36 318i THERE, ALL GOOOD, GOT TO 310KMILES WHICH IS HALF A FRIGGING MILLON MILES, BUT IT FEELS LIKE THE 318i WANTS A NEW 5 SPEED TRANSMISSION, IT IS STILL ORIGINAL. WELL, NOT NEW, ANOTHER LOWER MILEAGE TRANSMISSION. HELP.
IF YOU THINK MY CAPS LOCKS ARE LOCKED, SEE THE i in 318i. THEY ARE NOT, THIS IS JUST FOR CONTEXT. FIRST OFF, ALAN IS A GOOD
LISTENER, THERE WAS A BRAND NEW OPTIMA, WHICH IS WHAT I SUGGESTED FROM MY EXPERIENCE. SOME DONT LIKE OPTIMAS, BUT THE
RED MATCHES ALAN'S S38 COLOR SO THATS THAT, AND IN PH ONE DOES WHAT ONE WANTS.
SECOND FIRST OFF, ALAN INSTALLED THE NEW SMALLER STARTER THAT SOMEBODY SUGGESTED, ALL THERE.
LOTS OF GOOD WORK WENT INTO THE CAR, IT IS TIME TO GET IT TO MOVE. EVEN IF THE LAST 1% IS HARD.
TWO TASKS: GET THE STARTER TO CRANK, GET THE LINK ECU TO WORK. FORTUNATELY THE FIRST WAS NOT DONE YET SO I CAN AVOID THE SECOND WHICH IS ABOVE MY HEAD AND NOT LOSE FACE.
Starter saga: Followed the +12 from the trunk battery to a post in the firewall, to the starter +12V. Checked both voltage and continuity, it is there but the reading was not consistent and sometimes it wasn't. I think either the +12 or the ground are not solid. Even if they are I compare the thickness of my E39 M5 battery lines from the trunk and they are much more beefy (see third picture). Yes, it is a V8, but still. We did not have jumper cables to take the battery directly to the alternator.
The solenoid wire never gets +12V, and that is why the car never cranks with the ignition key. Alan followed the wire and it turns that it goes to a relay and not directly to the ignition key. Was a relay ever used? The wiring diagram has no such relay. It is a 74, maybe then? Help.
Alan plans to bypass the relay, so that will fix that.
Alan shorted the +12V at the starter to the solenoid post, then it briefly cranks but runs out of juice. I measured the voltage at the battery when he did that and it drops from 12.6V to 11V, so the battery needs to be recharged for sure. I never got to measure the voltage drop during the crank due to the wiring, but I suspect that may be a factor later on.
Alan reports being able to rotate the engine manually with a wrench applied to the alternator. That to me settles the issue of compression, a starter has more torque than most humans using a wrench, so I do not worry.
The suggested plan would be:
-charge the battery
-move the battery near the front and jumper cable both 12V and ground to the starter and engine block to see it it cranks non-stop while shorting the solenoid post to 12V.
-If that works, bypass the relay, move the 12V to just the starter but not the solenoid, see if it cranks using the ignition key.
-Move the battery to the trunk, see if it cranks non-stop, if it does not, rework the wiring for 12V and ground.
FRIGGING AUTO SPELLER CHANGES CRANK TO CRACK EVERY TIME AND I HAVE TO REWRITE IT ALL OVER< HATE STEVE JOBS AND HIS
PRODUCT AND THIS UPPER CASE SHIT. IT CHANGES RELAY INTO REALLY. REALLY STEVE?
.