clicking noises under bonnet / starting

[munsterman]

Hi

I'm new to this forum and not very knowledgeable on BMW mechanics, but here goes...
I'm wondering if anyone can help with the following:

I have a e34 M50 1995. Just last weekend, I started it and drove 30 yards and stopped. I tried to start it again later and it was very choked sounding and it conked pretty quick. It wouldnt start again only with difficulty on a tow start.
This has only happened once previously about a year ago, so I presumed (or hoped!) it was something along the lines of the automatic choke hadnt cleared. (Also, my car generally runs at its best when hot and is a little sluggish when warming up)

However, today, I restarted it after lunch and it did its sputtering trick again and conked. This time, however, it had been fully warmed up previously. The strangest thing of all was when I turned the ignition on to the warning lights, I got continuous alternating clicking noises in 2 different places:

1) on top of the engine under the plastic cover
2) under the black plastic cover in front of the windscreen at the opposite side to the fuses (its a similar looking cover with wires coming out)

Any ideas?

[joshua43214]

No choke on fuel injected cars.

Kinda sounds like no fuel if I am reading you right. Any idea how old the fuel filter is? Low fuel supply or pressure can cause sluggish performance when cold.

You mentioned a tow start. Did they need to jump start your car? If your battery voltage is too low, the computors will not function properly and even though the car may crank, it may not start. And if the generator is not producing enough power, you can have many drivability issues.

can you provide a nice clear step by step description of the car starting,stalling, then not starting? keep in mind that "cranking" is when the engine turns over, and "starting" is when the engine fires up, so we dont get confused about terms.

Don't worry about the noises for now.

[Panda]

I agree with the previous post that the clicking noises probably aren't causing your problems.

I chased down a problem on mine last week and I too had some clicking noises.

One of the clicking sounds you mention maybe coming from the Idle Control Valve. I replaced the old one on mine although it didn't cure the problem.
It too made a loud clicking sound when the ignition was on. However, the new one still makes a noise but is no where near as loud. You can disconnect the plug from the back of the ICV quite easily and if the clicking stops that'll be your noise...... You would need to put a meter across the terminals of ICV to make sure.

If there is a clicking coming from the "under the black cover" do you mean the Air Flow Meter? There is nothing under the cover itself (I'm assuming it's just decorative) There is a curcuit board at the bottom of the unit and to my knowledge they shouldn't click at all, again the plug can be disconnected quite easily.

I was in the same position as you till a few weeks ago:

"....new to this forum and not very knowledgeable on BMW mechanics"

but have learnt pretty quickly ;)

Incidently the problem with mine was the crank sensor

Good Luck