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MY N53 (NOX, Injectors, rough run, sooty exhaust) Is running badly how do I diagnose
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08-13-2018, 07:04 PM | #1 |
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MY N53 (NOX, Injectors, rough run, sooty exhaust) Is running badly how do I diagnose
So I have had my 325I E91 LCI for a couple of years and I like maintaining it myself, it quite a complex beast so here's the outcome of lessons I've learned along the way.
This is relevant to when its not running properly, it may have rough idle particularly when cold, has an excessively sooty exhaust or you suspect leaky injectors etc. N.B. If your buying one the sooty exhaust is your first "tell" that theres a problem. When I got misfire codes I tried the old school swap the coils around etc, if you car was running fine but then start with, but the symptoms start happening on cold starts. I hope this can help you can quickly diagnose the problem. Firstly you need to equip yourself with INPA which is the BMW diagnostic tool, it also worth upgrading to the 2.023 loader: https://bimmerprofs.com/msd80-loader-2-023/ With INPA always clear Short Term (F4/F1) and long term/history memory codes(F4/F3) IN THE DME menus. Don't forget to clear the History particularly with NOX errors! These are the common problems: - You have a sooty exhaust - You have rough idle on cold start for a couple of minutes and then clears and works normally - When the injectors leak more you will have misfire codes etc - When they are leaking badly you have CEL lights on cold startup that clear on 2nd start after 2 minutes. - You probably also have NOX errors, NOX issues won't normally cause rough running and certainly won't cause the cold start CEL light. However Nox sensors die quickly when the injectors start to leak and can in my experience be changed and then fail in a short order because the Injectors are leaking, so check you injectors first! - High oil consumption, most likely PCV issues or a leaky rocker cover. Checking for Injector issues: Here's what you do: - Let the car sit over night - Pull the plugs, if you can smell fuel and the plug looks wet (not oil but petrol) then you have identified a leaky injector Tools: Spark Plug Tool: You will also need a 12mm thin wall spark plug spanner 3/8" with an articulating head, This is because the plugs are at 5 degree angles to the bore of plug aperture. However Laser do a cheap tool on Amazon at £9; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Spark Plug Torque : 23NM +-3 https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...-plugs/5rctKot So you have leaky injectors: Change all 6 injectors to revision 11 (revision11 are not compatible with other revs, some say per bank however I personally believe it better to do it right first time and bargain hunt to get the price down), also make sure you replace the decoupling rings (the little metal ring with 3 prongs on the injector). Where to buy stuff at discount whilst still getting a warranty: - At the moment Merlin Diesel Systems are the cheapest business seller, they will do 150£ per injector on Make me an offer (eBay), if you are lucky you can also combine this with a eBay 10% off day so £135ea. - You can buy the decoupling rings from Harry Fairborn or Cotswold deliver in set of 6 for £42, pn 13537564751 x 6 - You will want 6 spark plugs, at the moment AutoDoc seem to be the cheapest at circa 6.50ea https://www.autodoc.co.uk/ngk/636500 - Depending in the age/condition of you coils you may want to change , there was a BMW recall in 2012 so you may be able to get a free set. DELPHI are OEM for the new rev coils https://www.autodoc.co.uk/delphi/7908929 Injectors: Tools: To install the injectors I'd recommend buying a 14mm Common rail diesel tool - about £8 for the "Mercedes" one on Amazon (they are generic) and this will allow you to torque the lines rather than half ass it... Remember to grease the lines with transmission oil as per the TIS. 14MM Common Rail socket tool: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Here is the TIS: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...-lines/4N5n5Ly Torques: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...-lines/5lzDB5f Before installing the new injectors, make sure you use you old injectors as a "BORE CLEANING TOOL", in essence pull the injectors up and downing their position, in my case 1-5 were easy to do and 6 had a bunch of deposits stopping it slide easily out and in, also clean the injector to remove scudge. The injectors should smoothly click into place with hand force, make sure they do this before you uncap your new injectors as the PTFE seal will swell up! Do not use the bracet as tool to lever on the injectors, most likely you still have a smudge build up you risk damaging the ptfe seal and inturn recking your cylinder head. If you have a really stuck injector a slide hammer will be required i did mine with a conventional body shop one (Clarke 9 piece kit for £20 will do) on the right hand side of the body, or there is a special tool that Laser make for the job. Slide hammer (proper tool) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Petro...53.m1438.l2649 I preferred to remove the spark plugs and put the coils back in or tape up (to stop contamination) before I try and take out the injectors, this removes the air lock! Remember to write down the 2 x 3 digit codes on the left side of each injector, these are required for coding. Additionally you need to code the injectors and clear the adaptations : https://bimmerprofs.com/not-encode-injectors/ Don't forgot to clear the adaptations and go through the process to setup again - its makes a big difference.. Finally if you are using 2nd hand parts or have pulled your injectors you need new PTFE seals which are about £1.60 ea from H.B. or Cotswold, in addition you also need the following special tools, here is the cheapest place: https://www.xxl-automotive.de/Spezia...0::162451.html NOX Problems: So injectors are fixed/ok, now on to NOX problems: Firstly check if you car runs stratified, if it does and does so reliably then all is good. Checking to see if your car runs stratified: https://bimmerprofs.com/n43n53-operation-modes-check/ This is also the reason why you may have a sooty exhaust, because you maybe are stuck in Homogen mode which is essentially a LIMP mode with over-fuelling. If you car doesn't run stratified its probably down to faulty NOX sensor or NOX cat (an ageing Cat is the common on >80k), Check for NOX errors in INPA. If you see NOX CAT Ageing then you NOX Cat is at the end of useful life circa 80K. Your OPTIONS: So you have a car with Less than 80K miles: 1. New BMW Nox sensor about £400 2. Replacement NOX probe 8 wire from the NOX shop £160 https://www.nox-sensor.shop/shop/nox...uct-6697701859 More than 80k miles, I don't want to worry about my NOX cat Ageing issues now or in the future: 3. Bimmerproffs NOXEM emulated about £320, great if you car has 80K miles+ and/or you want to work regardless of the ageing of NOX CAT I'd like my 325i to be more powerful and I'd rather not worry about NOX system like Bimmerproffs solution: 4. Remap of 325i or 330I with NOX coded out £250, Maptech and ProMap, if you have a 325I this will make a big performance gain i.e. 265BHP and 45NM increase http://www.map-tech.co.uk/your-car.htm?car=674 Personally I'd recommend option 4, I used Maptech.. PCV problems: - High oil conceptions - Whistling! Finally, Check your PCV valve, in fact if your car has a 100K miles then just replace it, they don't last forever. - the traditional test is to put your finger over the breather hold on the PCV (round cap at back of rocker cover) - if it whistles and is sucking then the diaphragm is knackered. Some good instructions here: https://vanos-bmw.com/product/111275...53-11127548196 Options: 1. New valve Cover - About £400 2. New Diaphragm from Ebay £30. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Membrane-...53.m1438.l2649 3. If you need it in a hurry then Metzger N52 CAP fits it you cut the fins off and the the internal spiral with a Dremel https://www.autodoc.co.uk/metzger/12821714. I used black high temp gasket silicone to seal. you can also probably cut out the diaphragm. If this was useful to you please post me REP :-) Last edited by Will_460cs; 08-14-2018 at 03:52 PM.. |
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08-14-2018, 07:16 AM | #4 |
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09-17-2018, 01:02 PM | #6 |
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Thanks for the great info.
I don't have any injector issues but my NOX sensor was knackered so I went the NOXEM method from bimmerprofs. Works as intended and runs stratified very well. |
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09-19-2018, 03:59 AM | #7 |
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09-19-2018, 07:12 AM | #8 |
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Mainly on motorway light cruising when stratified is most active below 70mph, around 5mpg improvement overall I'd say.
City and start stop driving is as before due since it mainly runs Homogeneous mode. |
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02-25-2019, 03:51 AM | #10 | ||
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I have reset all adaptations, followed bimmerprofs tutorials to redo them. I still get the 30E9 nox cat ageing error, and the engine does not perform in Stratified charge mode. I have gotten in touch with one of the Map Tech guys, explained them what I am getting and they said, I quote Quote:
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03-16-2019, 02:12 PM | #11 |
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As your fault is is the CAT itself If they delete the NOX function then the Cats in the map the car can't tell thats the cats are removed or not however as your NOX CATs are clogged then you are loosing performance regardless.
Direnza have a N53 NOX replacement mid section it relatively cheap and combined with the map is a fix, or its a cut and weld up job. I haven't tried unplugging the NOX sensor with the map, i believe this would result in a fault code that would stop Stratified charge, however I havent tried it.. Getting rid of the NOX cats is a good thing for both sound and performance and the MAP will improve performance allot if a 325i.and performance and the MAP will improve performance allot if a 325i. |
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03-16-2019, 02:25 PM | #12 | |
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I have already previously spoken with map-tech and will have the work needed booked for April. I'm going to decat, code out NOx sensor and remap, seems like the best solution to all this. Thanks for the help. |
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04-28-2019, 08:59 AM | #13 |
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I got a CEL yesterday and the revs seem unstable between 1,100 - 800, also the REV's don't stay constant - so if i was to try and hold it at 1k it would go down and back to 1k every second!
Scanned the car came up with misfire, cold start codes and NOX codes etc... So I'm assuming my NOX and Injectors need doing! (Just waiting for my INPA cable to do a proper scan first of course!) Question is I was already considering doing a mid CAT and muffler delete, would anyone recommend deleting the primary and secondary cats and mapping/coding the car for the NOX sensors all at the same time to get rid of the NOX once and for all? I don't like the idea of having a bad clogged CAT with e NOX emulator in place? Also are Index 11 injectors anymore reliable? If i just bite the bulletin and pay the £1,200 for all 6 how long do I expect them to last considering I maintain the car properly, regular oil changes, catch can in place etc.. |
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05-10-2019, 03:11 PM | #14 | |
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Firstly, run Diagnostics i.e. INPA, clear both historical and current fault memories.. then check and see what returns... if you have lumpy idle and sooty exhaust then its likely injectors will need doing. easy way to confirm this is pop the spark plugs after one evening.. this will tell which are leaking as the plug will be wet. Index 11 are a big improvement. parts cost is 900£ for 6 injectors from merlin + decoupler rings £40 from Harry Fairborn.. Personally yes id remap and dump the NOX system.. |
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05-14-2019, 08:14 AM | #15 | |
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I’m just a little confused, by mapping the Nox out and deleting the mid Cats, would the car still run stratified as per normal and I wouldn’t get any more Nox error codes? What would be the difference between a Nox delete and lets say the Noxem etc. Thanks again |
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05-24-2019, 07:51 AM | #16 | ||||
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You didn't mention if you had popped the spark plugs after leaving it over night - if you haven't do this this.. Mapping out the Nox is essentially the same result as noxem both are fooling the car in to thinking the box sensor is either giving good data (noxem)or the data doesn't matter (mapped out). Same result two different ways of achieving it. A remap will give 265bhp on the 3l n53, allot of running companies don't offer that bump up although I believe it's a generic remap option. You can physically remove the nox cats with either solution and you should do this as there no point in having them there as they are restrictive. As I mentioned Direnza have a cheap but works stainless mid section. Whoever remaps a 325i n53 should get 265bhp alongside the nox delete. |
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05-24-2019, 09:44 AM | #17 | |
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The rough idle including the misfire i mentioned was apparently due to low fuel! I read in another post these engines shouldn't be ran on low fuel due to high pressure and so after refuelling and resetting/clearing the history with INPA, its running fine now. I'll be popping the sparks this weekend to double check the injectors as they're are Index 03 and make sure they're not leaking, however the price for -11 seem to have gone up. I contact the company you mentioned and they are now £198 each so close to £1,200! Last edited by aaronblack; 05-28-2019 at 08:34 AM.. |
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Will_460cs216.50 micdev423.00 |
06-01-2019, 07:47 AM | #18 | |
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I have 4 working non leaking injectors (I had 2 leaking). If you or anyone else is interested they are available for sale. |
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08-03-2019, 12:39 PM | #19 | |
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I've since emailed MapTech and they quoted £370 for Decat, Nox and Remap although as you said its a 330i so not much in it for a remap prob/maybe just better throttle response and around 280/90bhp. I was about to book it, until I read the FAQ for NOXEM and realised it seems a lot smarter than the just a delete! it apparently delays CAT generation etc. which means up to 25% better efficiency! Not sure if the delete does anything like this. I've also looked at the DIRENZA mid section you mentioned but its only for the 325i unfortunately, although RealOEM shows same exhaust setup for the 325i and 330i I'm not sure if diameters fit. |
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08-04-2019, 02:51 PM | #20 | ||
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325i and 330i have the same cat and mid pipe, so the Direnza mid pipe is nice cheap solution and is a direct fit for 325i and 330i etc.. the only thing that's different between 330i and 325i is a valve on the rear box which is inconsequential anyways... put there to change volume level etc If this helps you please click on the appreciate link!- shameless plug |
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08-05-2019, 12:00 PM | #21 | |
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Ordered the Direnza hopefully it fits haha, I'll report back once fitted just incase anyone else is interested or is following. Thanks again Will. |
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Will_460cs216.50 |
09-11-2019, 02:42 PM | #22 | |
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I heard 30E9 will be happening if NOX sensor is aged and clogged (but still working somewhat and responding). According to bimmerprofs, it can be diagnosed with INPA by looking at NOX sensor offset. Should be around 1ppm, less that 5ppm. Mine shows "!14" including that exclamation mark. In this case, according to Bimmerprofs, car decides NOX cat must have aged and throws 30E9 code and stratified game over. I wasn't aware NOX can be coded out so already ordered NOXEM, will see how that goes. Did the map/code work for you, including NOX? I might eventually get tempted to visit ProMap, just 2hrs drive.
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