[Shmooples]

Background

Hello!

The car i'm currently working on is a 2008 335i. Prior to running into this issue, I was cleaning the undercarriage of the vehicle as there was a bunch of buildup from a previous leak (I mention that I was cleaning it because maybe I bumped a couple things out of place on accident?) Had it on ramps and when I was finished underneath, it started up a little rough, however it normalized after a few seconds. I parked the car, and the next day, it would not start at all. This was around the end of 2023, and am just getting around to working on it again recently.

Diagnosing

Originally, I thought it was the engine ground strap because whenever I would try to start the car, it would only make a click noise, and then nothing. No crank at all. After removing the old engine ground strap, i noticed it was severed in half, which makes sense. After replacing that, it cranks now, however, the car still does not start. I made sure to check if there was spark by having the coil pack outside of the engine and using a spare spark plug grounded to the block to see if there was anything. I did not see spark, so I am trying to figure out why that is. I smell fuel when I try to start it up as well. Just bought a new battery as I suspected that as well, however, that did not help the situation either even though the old battery was 10 years old. I made sure to register the battery too. A code for the electrical cooling pump (waterpump i'm assuming) came up as well, however, i did the electronic bleed procedure as a method of testing wether the pump was working and sure enough, coolant was flowing through the system. Unplugged the intelligent battery sensor as that was another code that was popping up and still, only cranking, no starting.

Is there another ground that I am missing maybe? I searched online and the only one I saw was the one on the driver side located by the engine mount (which I replaced). Any help would be much appreciated, and im happy to provide more information as needed. Looking forward to ripping this thing around again!

Codes

- 2E84. Elctrical cooling pump, communication
- 2E98 Generator, communication
- 2E8E Intelligent battery sensor, communication
- 2E8B Intelligent battery sensor, signal
- 2AB4 DME, internal error: RAM-checksum
- 2DEC Power management, battery control
- 2E7C Bit serial data interface, signal

[noidex]

I am not very experienced with electronics but I'd suggest checking everything related to spark with a multimeter. If you trace down everything you should eventually run into where the issue lies, I guess?

Since it is cranking and you can smell fuel (poor cats) I'd suspect that it's more likely something with the coil or something. Or maybe a fuse?

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by Shmooples

Background

Hello!

The car i'm currently working on is a 2008 335i. Prior to running into this issue, I was cleaning the undercarriage of the vehicle as there was a bunch of buildup from a previous leak (I mention that I was cleaning it because maybe I bumped a couple things out of place on accident?) Had it on ramps and when I was finished underneath, it started up a little rough, however it normalized after a few seconds. I parked the car, and the next day, it would not start at all. This was around the end of 2023, and am just getting around to working on it again recently.

Diagnosing

Originally, I thought it was the engine ground strap because whenever I would try to start the car, it would only make a click noise, and then nothing. No crank at all. After removing the old engine ground strap, i noticed it was severed in half, which makes sense. After replacing that, it cranks now, however, the car still does not start. I made sure to check if there was spark by having the coil pack outside of the engine and using a spare spark plug grounded to the block to see if there was anything. I did not see spark, so I am trying to figure out why that is. I smell fuel when I try to start it up as well. Just bought a new battery as I suspected that as well, however, that did not help the situation either even though the old battery was 10 years old. I made sure to register the battery too. A code for the electrical cooling pump (waterpump i'm assuming) came up as well, however, i did the electronic [...]

Something got shorted out and a fuse or even the power distribution box sitting on top of your battery got damaged and cut power to the car just like when in accident maybe? Checking fuses ita a start. Google how to troubleshooting the power distribution box on top of the battery maybe you need to replace it? 🤔

[Shmooples]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Just went through all of the fuses in the glovebox and they all checked out fine. I'll go through and check parts with a multimeter next! It's interesting how i have a handful of BSD codes. I know the water pump works, as i attempted the electronically bleed procedure, and coolant was flowing. I unplugged the intelligent battery sensor, tried starting, and nothing, so i'm assuming thats all good. I'll have to take a look at the alternator next as that is the next code relating to the BSD line, although, would that issue cause the vehicle to not start? I'll also take a look at the power distribution box on top of the battery as well.

Again, i appreciate the help. Kinda curious about checking the ecu & cas module as well just to rule that out...