Over cranking

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Southernboy
Joined: Thu 07 Oct, 2010 12:39
Posts: 6436

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Johannesburg

Over cranking

Post by Southernboy »

Some potentially useful information regarding cranking the motor.
Recently I went to a neighbouring town. About 2 blocks from my destination, I pulled into a gas station and switched off, gave the attendant the key to open the cap and fill up the tank. He returned the key to me, I paid and turned the key to start the motor... nothing... Tried again and again and still nothing. That motor wasn't going to start.
Finally gave up, called a tow service and had it taken to my mechanic's workshop.
His first thought was fuel pump, but it wasn't fuel. Anyhow he connected up the scanning tool and other than a central locking fault -the boot was open when he scanned - the only other fault was D1 DME ANti-tampering Protection EWS.
He suggested there may have been a potential car thief that had used an electronic scanning device to get the key code at the gas station where I had stopped. Anyhow, £80 later, I had both my keys (spare) fitted with new chips and re-coded to the EWS unit ( It's a white box fitted to the right and under the trim adjacent to the steering column - It clearly shows D3 EWS printed on it.
So, back to the w/shop and re-fit the EWS module, and crank the motor - still nothing... check the fault codes and same code D1 etc etc comes up.
My mech calls up a buddy at BMW and asks him about the problem,, He tell my mech, that the motor will not start until the "over cranking" shutdown in the DME has been cleared..
In other words, if you over crank the motor, it shuts itself down as an anti-theft protection system. It doesn't appear as a fault code, so if you're not aware of this cause, you won't know where to correct the issue.
Further, on his Autel scanning tool under E36 Z3 it doesn't provide the function for clearing the over cranking issue, but under E46 M52 TU it does... The E46 was also fitted with this same motor and electronics.
Once the scanning tool had been opened to the required "Service" page and item, it was a simple instruction of switch off ignition for 25 seconds, and then start up the motor, which is exactly what the result was.
So the lesson here is this. If it won't start after 1 or 2 cranks - don't try again and again. Get a code reader, find the fault and work from there. And if you end up in the same place I was - remember the over cranking issue which must be cleared...
Just as a bit of encouragement not to over crank - the common fault code readers off eBay do not have the facilities to clear the over cranking problem. You'll be in for a tow to the dealers and their costs....
"Normal is overrated"
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