No One Seems To Know!!!!!

[stix125]

Hey peeps need some help again!! i have asked several people but still no answers..... well here goes when startin the car and then turning the steering it becomes stiff ,whilst driving it drives like its missing feeling like it will stall at any moment and can bearly manage 25mph, i drove it for approx 15 mins before struggling back home on turning of the car thick white smoke emits from the exhaust this lasted for about ten mins, there is enough p/steering fluid there is no play in the steering wheel, sorry almost forgot when i looked closer near the exhaust you can here crackling noises.. ( similar to when when bbq coals crack if that makes sense!!) the steering also stiffiens when at idle and the engine revs drop too.

dont know if its the head gasket, (hope not anyway) could be the cat... there was also an "egg smell" coming into the car, there is plenty of pressure from the exhausts when covered up and releasaed... any ideas ...:( its a e34 530 i 98000 with full history on an auto yr 95 im sure there are some hard core "pundits" here who can help.

[diamond777]

the egg smell is most likely your catalytic converter.the white smoke is most likely head gasket.the power steering sounds like it is messed up too. sorry to not give you much good news. i do hope the car is nice enough that it is worth fixing.???:(

[pundit]

...im sure there are some hard core "pundits" here...
Don't do much porn these days.... gotta watch the back you know! :D

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

a PVC plate or some doo dad on the intake maniflod that causes symptoms something like this?

running poor

loss of power

smoke (oil burning)

The power steering trouble may just be a symptom of the loss of power.

[Paul in NZ]

you mean it smokes AFTER turning the car off?

[azale]

What have you done to implement/test the suggestions of others?


turning the steering it becomes stiff ,whilst driving it drives like its missing feeling like it will stall at any moment . . . the steering also stiffiens when at idle and the engine revs drop too
It's possible that your power steering pump is going bad (unless the revs are dropping first, and then it is hard to steer). A good way to test this would be to remove the belt and try to spin the power steering pump. Or you can remove the belt and start the car. If it runs fine, get a new PS pump.

However, I think the biggest issue is the "thick white smoke." If it isn't antifreeze turning into steam in your engine as a result of a bad headgasket, I don't know what it is. I guess it's possible that something is in your gas tank . . . any chance of that?

[fujioko]

Of course the folks here got the white smoke figured out.. head gasket. How about this scenario…Blown head gasket.. possibly from overheating because of a coolant leak. The antifreeze is getting on the belts and causing the power steering pump to slip. The rough running and lack of speed is consistent with a blown head gasket. Has anyone opened the hood on the car.. ‘ya know the big metal door that covers the engine....

[pete67]

Hey peeps need some help again!! i have asked several people but still no answers..... well here goes when startin the car and then turning the steering it becomes stiff ,whilst driving it drives like its missing feeling like it will stall at any moment and can bearly manage 25mph, i drove it for approx 15 mins before struggling back home on turning of the car thick white smoke emits from the exhaust this lasted for about ten mins, there is enough p/steering fluid there is no play in the steering wheel, sorry almost forgot when i looked closer near the exhaust you can here crackling noises.. ( similar to when when bbq coals crack if that makes sense!!) the steering also stiffiens when at idle and the engine revs drop too.

dont know if its the head gasket, (hope not anyway) could be the cat... there was also an "egg smell" coming into the car, there is plenty of pressure from the exhausts when covered up and releasaed... any ideas ...:( its a e34 530 i 98000 with full history on an auto yr 95 im sure there are some hard core "pundits" here who can help.


The "egg smell" is from the cat's (they usually rattle at idle), they'll have to be replaced. The PCV's are notorious on the V8's. When the the engine runs bad like that take the oil cap off. If it's very hard to pull it off the valve cover( high vacuum in the crankcase) then your problem is the PCV. You also get alot of smoke when the PCV is acting up (that's because you get the crankcase gases sucked into the intake and burned).Hope this helps.

[stix125]

hey paul yes i smokes after the engine has been switched off for about ten mins, when i re-start the car no smoke ?

[stix125]

hi thx for the suggestion this has been test the haed has been pressure tested ..all fine incl compression. the water pressure has also been test agian all fine, the ps belt has been removed and the pump test also ok

[stix125]

good use of sarcasam there ... well done thought members on this forum are educated enough to help a fellow bimmer user out ?? guess not

thanx anyways ..... not

[stix125]

hi thank good someone with some usefull info, the cat doesnt rattle at all and infact has also been tested, im not such a techy guy pcv??

[mattyb]

hi thank good someone with some usefull info, the cat doesnt rattle at all and infact has also been tested, im not such a techy guy pcv??
hi stix,

1. dont stress.

2. folks here love to help out. it is why this place excists.

3. I noticed that this enite problem u have has only been put up today, apart from the power steering thing a few days ago. replies take time! we are all in different time zones and when u have multiple issues its not easy finding the right person straight away. People are also busy working and dont live on this site 24 hours a day. The people who can help u are maybe looking right now but due to the sarcasm of others they mighht think well fk u!

Your indie wants $108.00 reddies to look at it. These great and knowledgable people on this site are here for free! so please dont take the piss, even if u have not meant to it comes across that way.

4. Anybodys kind of friggin sarcasm is never welcome here, its the worst way to make friends and get a result.

5. I wish I could help you, but alas i too call on the endless wisdom of others free of cahrge to help me I need it and have always received it with thanks.

6. Do you have a copy of the bentley?

7. There is a thing called BUMP- bump up my post. if for some reason your matter has not been attended to and it is urgent you can always bump up your thread to be recognised as urgent.

8. I would be thinking to send a very polite ( and i meam very ****ing polite) PM to Shogun to ask his thoughts on the issues.

9. best of luck to u i hope u get it sorted

[joshua43214]

The head gaskets on the V8 don't commonly blow, so I would move that down the suspect list a bit.

Get the cats looked at first, they will make a rotten egg smell when they fail and cause many running problems.

If you are burning coolant, get this addressed right away so you don't ruin the new cats, be prepared to budget in O2 sensors as well.

Like someone already stated, your PS problem may be only related to poor performance caused by the cats being cloged up.

BTW, cats do not normaly clog up for no reason, they normaly fail due to some other problem such as running too rich, burning oil or coolant. So you will eed to find the root problem.

[pete67]

hi thank good someone with some usefull info, the cat doesnt rattle at all and infact has also been tested, im not such a techy guy pcv??

PCV - Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve is an emissions control device that routes unburned crankcase blowby gases back into the intake manifold where they can be reburned. It's also called "Intake Manifold Cover" and it's bolted to the back of the intake manifold. Very common problem on the V8 engines. It's very difficult to diagnose a problem like yours without seeing and driving the car.

[Mendozart]

I noticed no one has mentioned Nikasil. Stix125, in case you didn't know there was a problem with the V8's and the nikasil blocks. They were replaced with an Alusil block. You might want to look into this matter.

[Paul in NZ]

also stix there is a rather special e 34 event on this weekend..a lot of folk may not check in again till next week.
You say the car smokes after the engine is turned off..does this soke come from the tailpipe/exhaust pipe?
Have a look your self around the front of the engine.Use a torch/flashlight and really peer in there.and see if you can look from umderneath too.These cars can be quite low so you may need to park it with two wheels on the road and two wheels up on the kerb so you can get under it.DO NOT jack up the car with your normal jack and get under it.You are looking for oil leakscoolant leaks around the front of the engine,on the belts/pulleys or a leaking PS system.Dont run the engine while your looking unless you keep clothing and hands well away from fan pulleys belts/ps system

[ThoreauHD]

Mendozart brings up a good point. Wish you had some kind of location/description in your profile.

[fujioko]

Dude, I’m not trying to start a feud. I think my scenario was accurate and explained one of the many possibilities. My sarcasm.. well it made me laugh, however it was evidently not funny to you. If it helps, I apologize.

[ThoreauHD]

I thought it was funny... but maybe I'm an ass. Yep, I'm sure of it. I'm an ass.

[stix125]

guys thankyou for some of the very good advise given, and sorry for coming over ignorant and appologise if anyone took affence, my car is back on the road thedamage was 400 sterling, the headgasket was fine the p-steering was fine the coolant was fine it was the vacume and cyclone units and the gaskets from the manifold to the cats, been happy sailing since:D