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Hello my name is Alex and i`m from Romania, iv recently bought a bmw e21 320/6 (found it on some old man back yard) and i got a problem with the engine...after i got the car i replaced the air filter and the spark plugs put some oil in the head of the pistons (the car hadent been started for more then 3 eyers) put a battery on it and tryed to start the car. The engine spins but dosen`t wants to start so i sayed ok lets check the ignition wiring , pulled the wire out tested the spark on the chassis again no spark so i bought a new set of ignition wirings and give it another trye again the engine spins but no spark so iv bought a new distribuitor cap and a new rotor. Iv sayed this must be it now it will fire but again no spark at the engine, iv bought a new set of fuses and replaced all of them , cleaned the relays and all contacts wiring and give it another try same no spark , after all this iv cheked the ignition coil wire no spark at the coil so iv tested with another coil again no spark at the coil , iv mesured the 2 wires that are conected to the coil iv got 12v on them so the coil gets curent but the coil dosent send it to the distribuitor cap i realy don`t know what to do any more and what to check so i`m pissed off. The ignition sistem is the old tipe with tranzistored controler and breakerless distributor.

Ohh men. I'd have the same problem with my car, and never find. I changed the complete engine wiring, and thats the point in mine. Hope you find, maybe you have more luck than me. I'm so sorry but I can't help you. Good luck and keep us updated!

Today i bought an ignition module, for the car i`l test it tomorow if this is not doing anything i`l change the impulse sender from the distribuitor as a last chance....

Not much other options left indeed! Keep us posted!

also keep the double resistor in mind. it's a tough element but it could be broken or corroded contacts. Or maybe the pulse coil in the distributor is faulty or its contacts (green shielded wire)

Succes.

Sorry iv forgot to post. The thing is iv replaced the ignition module and i`ve tried to start the engine but same thing, i sayed lets see if i got spark and iv pulled the ignition coil plug out and again same thing no spark. After that iv been thinking that i`v shuld get cleened all electrical contacts again so i get my self a nice pice of sandpaper , some break cleaner and contact spray and start to cleen everything again. I`v started with the 2 resistors from the iner wing on the left side of the engine cleened all contacts make it again like new, after that i`ve turned my attention to the impulse sending wheel , mesured the gap acording to Heyens manual it must be betwin 0.35mm and 0.7mm so it was oky...iv cleened the star as much as i culd used a loat of break clener on the impulse star and distribuitor itself. After that iv found close to the servo liquid reservoir 2 wires that where bitten by rats (dono if this was the caouse for the non spark problem) iv managed to repair them and iv sayed again if it won`t start it must be the impulse generator. Iv puted the battery back on the car and traied to start it but no luck at all i was so pissed off that i wuld put 5L of gass on the engine and burn the shit out of it, but iv sayed let me se if i got spark , so iv pulled the plug out and give it a trye and when i see the spark it was like i was catching god on his legs )). So i`v puted some gas in the carburetor chamber and it started i was so dam happy , after the gas was over the engine died iv seed oky at least iv heard u running. Iv finaly managed to start the car with the gas from the fuel tank after iv succed to brink the gas on the fuel filter with my mouth (not a good taste lol ) but as i was so happy the car starts at 3K rpm and i must be holding her on the gass if not she dies...don`t know why meabe someone knows...it was late in the night and coulden`t see much thing. Its my first Carburator car and it gots the Solex4A1 i`l make pictures of the cad in the weekend.

Ehmmmm as far as I understand you, it could be a fuel delivery problem? Fuel pump or carb adjustment? Did you perform an exhaust gas analysis?

Jeroen wrote:Ehmmmm as far as I understand you, it could be a fuel delivery problem? Fuel pump or carb adjustment? Did you perform an exhaust gas analysis?

I can`t do any exhaust analysis on the car because its not drivebel iet , the engine dies if i don`t rev it. If i`l take the RPM to 2k the engine runs wery well if i let go the gas he dies after 1 2 seconds the RPM`s sudenly drops to 1k after that almost to 0 and then it dies. So fuel comes to the engine because if i keep it at 2K the engine dosent make any changes runs smooth. BTW thanks for your sugestions and time.

OK well then its 99% sure to me you need to clean, check and adjust your carburettor. In some cases it may be beyond repair. I'll change the title of the topic and hope our carb specialists come up with some advice.

Jeroen wrote:OK well then its 99% sure to me you need to clean, check and adjust your carburettor. In some cases it may be beyond repair. I'll change the title of the topic and hope our carb specialists come up with some advice.

Thanks for the topic rename. Iv went today to the car open the hood, remouved the air filter housing and iv noticed that the electronic idle valve dosen`t got any plug in it like the rest of the electrical things from the solex, iv checked for the wire near the solex and i`m shocked that there is no wire on there. Does someone know that electronic idle valve runs with a constat + because i can try to put a wire there and give it a constat 12v. I didn`t worked much on the car because iv got a terible flew and i can`t stand on 2 legs for long terms atm.

Yes
The 2idle valves need constant power.

The heater in the shoke house has a thermometer swich, which prevent warming up when engine is really cold
This thermo switch is located in the bottom of the manifolt, between the two water hose connections

BertjeConti wrote:Yes
The 2idle valves need constant power.

The heater in the shoke house has a thermometer swich, which prevent warming up when engine is really cold
This thermo switch is located in the bottom of the manifolt, between the two water hose connections

The 2 idle valves are got plugs in them but above them is some valve that is unpluged u know if that valve its necesary to get constat power on it ? Acording to haynes manual that vlave is called "fuel cut off valve" but in bmwfans iv found it like electric idle valve...i`m kinda confused. I`l check that thermo switch.

The top one and the two idle valves are normally connected and have constant power. The type 1 solex 4A1 cabs do not have a topvalve. That's a modification for the later models. It is that the early types had an open connection of the fuelchamber to the air and later they put a valve in it to avoid vaporising of fuel when the engine is stopped.

the part marked with 2 red dots is not geting any constant power.... it shuld ? can i get any wire with 12v on it to make it run ? its a random pic that looks like my Solex4a1

It is important that the two below get power to idle the engine. The marked item must get power to open the valve so the fuelcompartiment will get enough breathingspace. Normally the marked item and the two idle valves are connected to make sure they all get 12V.

This is how they are connected: