Extremely rough idle

[Jschuess]

Mmkay, this is a wierd one for me. Not only do I feel helpless that I'm a newbie to cars in general, what little I do know helps me none in this situation.

I've got a 1981 320i. Just yesterday, it was working fine and has been for quite some time. As soon as I get in for a weeklong roadtrip this morning, it suddenly had trouble running. I think what we've figured out was that one cylinder wasn't firing. Anyway, after changing the spark plugs, plug wires, distributer and rotor, the darn thing barely stays alive. If the accelerator is left untouched, then it stalls. It used to idle at around 1k, but now the engine knocks around so much. I haven't a clue.

Much thanks for any suggestions.

JSchuess

 

[altreality]

Re: Extremely rough idle

Not familiar with your car.. but the usual thing to do is check the air fuel mixture, idle control valve and the breather hoses...

 

[cheez]

Re: Extremely rough idle

Hi Jschuess, might want to tune up your idle speed to see if that helps, like go to 1.5k instead of 1k. My experience is that older cars have this problem of fluctuating idle speeds which sometimes can cause the car to die when idle speeds drop too low. Hope that helps..

 

[gwumpkus]

Re: Extremely rough idle

i doubt the m20 engine can be tuned for idling speed... isnt it controlled by an idle regulating valve? if it is, that might be the prob... hmm..i'll go look up my manual and se if i can find anything helpful....

m

 

[centurion]

Re: Extremely rough idle

he already said one of the cylinders not firing. Change cables etc still same. Now have to dig in deep and find out what the hell is happening.

You getting a spark or not?