Hello All,

new to the forum and would be gratefull for a little 440i advice.

First and second gears on the gearbox are tough to to get into. Does the gearbox need oil. Where do you add/drain oil. Or is it something else.

Engine cuts out whilst driving, but can be restarted after a few minutes, or sometimes just has a loss of power when accelerating, backing of on the gas and accelerarting slowly in a lower gear helps to resolve the problem. Is this the fuel filter are the injectors clogged.

The SRS light on the dashboard is permenently lit. Is this the periodic maintenance warning. How can it be extinguished.

The timing belt (probably) squeals is this a warning of immenant failure. Can the timimg belt or tensioning wheel be changed easily, or is this a garage thing.

Any help or clues much appreciated

Jonathan

Hi The gear problems may well be the gear linkage on the underside of the car (directly under the gear lever) needing a good dose of grease. Try this before condemming the box itself.
Have fun! Steve

Are you talking about a timing belt or about a fan/alternator/water pump belt? If it has "teeth" then we probably have a timing belt. It is a bit tougher but not impossible to change if you have the tools. I can do my 850 in about 30-45 minutes (but then again I've had practice).

If you have a fan/alternator/water pump belt that is pretty flat (no teeth) then you can get a squeal if they are not tensioned correctly. Might be more pronounced when wet. A garage can do it of course for $. A wrench on the right bolt will usually tension it up. Look at the manual for the specs on how tight to get the belt. These can usually be changed pretty easily. Just a few tools, one or more friends to offer their advice, and a couple of knuckles.

The SRS light means something is wrong with the air bag. I haven't fixed any of these yet but, with the explosive power of them, I would say this is not a home fix item. Call a reputable shop or dealer for their help.

Quick tip, if you do re-tension a belt, be sure you slacken off the mounting bolts on the alternator first, or you'll snap the re-tensioning bolt. Also give the re-tensioning bolt a good few soakings with some penetrating fluid before getting a wrench on there.

Fuel filters are one of the cheapest and simplest things to change, cost around £1.50 not much more. Worth changing if you're not sure when it was last done.

Also worth checking condition of coil, dist' cap, lead between coil and dist' cap and rotor. These will cause engine to cut out, rather than misfire.

Does engine cut out under similar conditions, ie; engine cold / hot, raining etc, or does it just cut out at random?

Let us know, might be able to point you in the right direction.

Stu.

Thanks for your advice

I'll check the gear linkage and let you know,

Do you know where the fuel filter is on a 440, and if it can be changed with a full tank

As far as the engine cutting out it does this in all conditions and feels a lot like its running out of gas except if you floor it, it gets worse and if you ease of on teh accelerator it can improve, sometimes it will<be like this for twenty thirty seconds then cut out and will not restart for perhaps 10-15 mins.

I'll change the fuel filter today and let you know

I'm also looking for the conbination hazard light switch and indicator relay that slots in the dashboard. Does anyone no a cheap place to get one.

Progress

The gearbox turned out to be simple, missing jam nut on the clutch adjustment allowed it to go so far out of adjustment that the clutch would not dissengage.

Still cant find fuel filter, is there one?

hope this helps fuel filter large round tube pipes in one side out the other beside the petrol tank inbelow the car

as for the srs light you do this at your own risk and i see no one has helped you with this but if you unscrew the middle console and lift it up you will find the airbag impact sensor if you take the wires off it will put your light off and it will not work in a crash so you do this at your own risk i don't like paying garage prices so i know all the little faults these give

don't be rushing out to but a fuel filter i had a 1.8 si doing everything you said dieing out no power waiting till she wanted to go i often thought about a match hi
what i did was the petrol piper feeding the carb gets all filled up with dirt and the little vacum pump to i cut the pipe below the car and joined on a new lengh to the carb car still going today

i payed 3 bills at different garages no names mentioned but i spent the price of the car and sorted it out my self in a couple of hours and it was two different vovlo garages i was at now i fix all my own faults
hope this helps petrol filters for these about 15.00 quid if i remember wright but any i changed i never did notice any difference before and after the dirt still gets by them thanks rickie

Before replacing the fuel filter you will need to depressurise the fuel system. Remove the fuel pump fuse (or relay). Start the car & let it run until it stalls. Turn the engine over on the starter twice, for at least 5 seconds each time. Pressure in the system should now be reduced.

First making sure that you know the radio code, disconnect the battery earth terminal. Jack-up the rear of the car & use axle stands to support it - you need to get under the car.

The fuel filter is located next to the fuel tank. If you have a flexible brake hose clamp, use it carefully on the fuel line between the fuel tank & the filter, to reduce leakage. Don't overdo it & damage the fuel line.

The filter should be clamped into place. Remove the clamp & take a look at the filter to see which way the fuel flow arrows point. From memory the hoses are a push fit, but you'll have to use a screwdriver or similar to push in the plastic "locks" that hold them in place, before pulling them off. Make sure when fitting the new filter that the flow arrows point in the right direction.

If you have the single point injection unit, remove the air filter housing & spray plenty of carb cleaner into the throttle body. Check the condition of the wiring & connection to the air temperature sensor at the top of the single point injector unit. Add some injector cleaner to the fuel tank. If the plugs haven't been changed recently, it's worth renewing them.

Remove the distributor cap, check it and the rotor for condition (especially minute cracking in the cap and the condition of the carbon contact brush at the centre of the cap), if all OK clean up with a clean rag with a little WD40 on it, dry it with kitchen roll & refit. Check condition & security of the HT leads. If more than 2 years old or looking dirty, replace the air filter.

If problem persists after that, get back to us & we can take it to the next level.

Indicator relays are pretty standard - take the old unit into most spares shops & they should have one behind the counter.

Let us know how you get on.

BB
:57:

Thanks for the help chaps. And the tip on depressurisation. I,m tending to think the problem is more sensor related as I have been able to reduce the problem systematically.

If I start the engine and let it idle for some time, 10-15 mins, and then restart it the problem manifests itself within a few seconds of the engine running. That is it stutters and stalls. After stalling the engine can not be restarted for perhaps a half hour, presumambly until it cools down.

If the car is driven then generally its OK and only very infrequently will it stall and if it does then it is necessary to wait for a while before the engine will re-start. If after driving a while the car idles for a few minutes, e.g. when you wait to pick someone up etc, then the situation will be as above and the car stalls.

Will take a look at the items you suggested and the air temp sensor wiring. The engine is the 2.0 injection but I dont know if it is single point injection.

Checked the fuel pump connections which seem OK

Thanks again, any more advice would be greatly appreciated

JT

The 2.0 has multipoint fuel injection, only the common B18U had single point.

Bearing in mind the latest symptoms. suspect the coolant temperature sensor. Inlet air temperature sensor is another candidate.

BB
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