E46 Starter Replacement

kevnj · Post by **kevnj** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:17 pm

Hello Everyone,

Looks like the starter on my 2003 6 speed manual ZHP sedan has given up. Only 103K miles, kind of surprised it gave up already.

Have never changed a starter before in a E46. Any words of wisdom or special tools necessary? Picking up an Alternator from Guten parts tonight and will attempt to install it this evening.

Thanks,

-Kev

edw1 · Post by **edw1** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 2:15 pm

The alignment pin can be a PITA.

kevnj · Post by **kevnj** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:38 pm

Good news is that I misdiagnosed the starter not cranking. Bad news is the car still doesn't start. Sounds like it will almost turn over. There's a procedure where you put the gas pedal to the floor and then try to start the car. The car started for a brief second and died.

Guess I need to trouble shoot that I'm getting enough fuel pressure and then check the crank and cam sensors to ensure spark is happening at the right interval.

I have also read that the cylinders can be washed clean of oil by fuel due to a no start condition causing the compression to be lowered enough that the car won't start without adding a small amount of oil to each of the cylinders via the spark plug holes. The lack of oil causes the rings to not seal against the cylinder walls.

I have my work cut out figuring this out.

BJerolimic · Post by **BJerolimic** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:42 pm

Throwing any codes? Do you have a peake? It not where is the car at? If crank sensor is done it may not start I believe

kevnj · Post by **kevnj** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:49 pm

BJerolimic wrote:Throwing any codes? Do you have a peake? It not where is the car at? If crank sensor is done it may not start I believe

No check engine and I don't have a peake. Going to open the Bentley up to see if there's any diagnostic options I can use from the display in the cluster.

The car is located in Franklin Park, NJ 08823.

victory1auto · Post by **victory1auto** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:47 am

A very common cause of crank-no-start on a previously well running motor is:

The motor is run for a very brief period after a cold start.

Upon a restart attempt, the plugs are fouled but the injectors keep fueling the motor during protracted cranking.

The fuel washes all the lube from the pistons and rings, lowering compression, so now there are two problems: low compression and fouled plugs.

The fix is fresh or cleaned plugs, cylinders dried out, and a bit of light oil or WD-40 in the cylinders.

In one extreme case, I had to actually dry the cylinders out with low-pressure air introduced via the spark-plug holes.

Also note that a bad crank sensor can cause a no-start without setting a trouble code.

HTH

kevnj · Post by **kevnj** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:01 pm

UPDATE:

Took the car to Mr M Car and after replacing the plugs I fouled from trying to start the car it ran perfectly. He hooked it up to the GT1 diagnostic tool and said all sensors were perfectly in spec!

Not sure what the cause was but all is good.

Thanks all for your responses and suggestions.

kbsilver · Post by **kbsilver** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:08 am

victory1auto wrote:A very common cause of crank-no-start on a previously well running motor is:

The motor is run for a very brief period after a cold start.

Upon a restart attempt, the plugs are fouled but the injectors keep fueling the motor during protracted cranking.

The fuel washes all the lube from the pistons and rings, lowering compression, so now there are two problems: low compression and fouled plugs.

The fix is fresh or cleaned plugs, cylinders dried out, and a bit of light oil or WD-40 in the cylinders.

In one extreme case, I had to actually dry the cylinders out with low-pressure air introduced via the spark-plug holes.

Also note that a bad crank sensor can cause a no-start without setting a trouble code.

HTH

I've experienced the no start after a very short run several times. Holding the pedal to the floor while cranking always worked for me. Once I figured out the cause I now prevent this from happeneing by never running the car for less than 2 minutes when the engine is cold.

victory1auto · Post by **victory1auto** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:00 am

Keith,

Kev mentioned that cranking with the throttle open [clear-flood mode], did not work for him. Hence my suggestions.

I certainly agree that it should be tried. As you point out, sometimes it will do the trick.

RAYADAM · Post by **RAYADAM** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:01 am

Another relatively safe way to clear out cylinder of raw fuel is to pull the fuel pump fuse (or relay,whatever is easier) . this will help dry out the cylinders faster. lot of times the car will actually try to start becuase the fuel mixture hits it prime and then clear out. I would then reinstall the fuse and hold accelerator about half way so the engine doesn't rev up violently.

Funny about this is that , one of my technicians used to work for mazda and the RX8 had a big issue with rotaries becoming flooded by not running the engines long enough. the procedure I mentioned above is what Mazda wanted the service techs to do with the wankle engines

I think it works well . As a former RX8 owner , I ran into this problem a couple of times