2003 L322 erratic idling issues

Today I decided to continue on and take all the plugs out and I started on the passenger side. The plug holes were all full of oil. I mean full!! 60mm up the coils.

Checked the other side, only the most rear one had a dribble in it, bit nothing really.

So it appears that I have a leak from the inner rocker cover gasket and I spent the rest of the day trying to get it all apart.

The rocker cover bolts were easy, but getting the plastic covers off that hold the injector wiring sure wasn't. What a horrid job trying to get to those clips. And then you still can't get the drivers side off without releasing the dip stick. Try doing that from under the car.

So I've ordered all new gaskets and seals for the entire job, and have sandblasted one cover now and will do the other tomorrow. I've always hated that crap gold / silver paint that flakes off the covers so it's time to fix that too.

SO fingers crossed this is where my issue started.

I can't really imagine the coils will get very good plug contact when under oil.

To you Rob from PLR [wink11][smilebigeye]


MKIII How To Repair and Inspect the PCV System

Running issues, one for the gurus

Thanks for that. I found one on Pelican Parts also and both are very helpful.

Seems that this info indicates an erratic idling issue, so I'm really interested to see if these symptoms are also prevalent at road speeds when the car comes under load as my issues were seriously worse in this situation.

I'm so far into it that I'll definitely look after this known issue also. Dealers seem to do a kit for this problem, but the hoses appear to be just new versions of the old ones, still rubber and non oil resistant. I'll look to silicon hoses once I get them all off. Dealer also suggests the entire PCV cover get's replaced, but I can't see why. I'm sure it can be cleaned up and put the $175 back in my pocket. Ditto for the oil separator unit. It's $70+ but isn't it cleanable and reusable?

Well that was rather disappointing. I've had the car off the road now for two weeks waiting for parts and the time to do the job. Plugs changed, coils all checked, rocker cover gaskets all replaced, emissions hoses all checked and replaced as required. Car should be like a Swiss watch again. Went to reverse it out of the garage for a test run and immediately you could tell that the problem was still there. It really shows up in reverse. A few small hills on my street but the same lurching feel was there.

Not sure if I should just park it in the middle of the paddock now and hope lighting strikes it.

So, a little more info.

Car now idles fine although maybe a little high. 900ish.

BUT............the instant you select drive or reverse, the erratic issue starts. Slip it back into Park, problem goes away. Back into Drive, issue starts. Lumpy idle, erratic RPM etc. Driving it is even worse. Under zero load it's not too bad but even faced with a simple rise in the road, not even a hill and you can feel it struggling.

Hey Rob,

Did you get your issue sorted? If so what was it???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FisherX

Hey Rob,

Did you get your issue sorted? If so what was it???

---

Yes, I did fix it. And a couple of other small issues that raised their ugly heads.

Even though I checked all those damn coils and running it to 1500 rpm and pulling off a coil lead, I couldn't isolate the issue. So all of those oil soaked plugs were changes, the rocker cover inner and outer gaskets changed, rocker covers stripped and repainted, all of those dodgy PCV air breather hoses replaced at the back of the engine. Put it all back together. NO CHANGE.

Then it dawned on me that I may not be invoking the issue badly enough when testing things. Yes it plays up at idle, but way worse under load. So this time, into drive and stall it up to 2200 rpm hard on the brakes, bingo, there's the problem. Massive breakdown. Then I started pulling the coils whilst it was under big load, and sure enough, coil on drivers side RHD car, closest to the firewall had given up the ghost.

Changed it out for a new one and she's been great ever since.

And then I sorted the AC also.

Hot air coming out of the drivers side centre vent but the other three were cold. It was that damn two way solenoid valve set mounted to the shicker turret on the inside of the engine bay. One heater hose in, and two out. That had destroyed itself internally, but only on one solenoid.

BMW part for less than $100 fixed that right up.

So the old girl is singing again, and I'm enjoying working AC. All good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by uzz32soarer

Changed it out for a new one and she's been great ever since.

---

Great news, good work. Did the offending coil pack look physically damaged? Any burn marks, or arcing or insulation damage?
Thanks