Intermittent issues starting, low idle and stalling

PALOSBB40

MEMBER
1991 BMW 735
3.5L
6 CYL
2WD
220,000 MILES

When pressing gas pedal engine backfires. Did find filter from fuel pump strainer floating in gas tank. Did replace with new fuel pump and fuel filter. Did also replace spark plug wires and distributor cap. The spark plugs are less then two years old and looked good. Did clean the ignition rotor because it was black. I also cleaned the EGR valve and air flow mass sensor and throttle body. What do you think the problem could be? Thanks.

Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 7:47 AM

3 Replies

AL514

MECHANIC
5,235 POSTS

Hello, thanks for using 2CarPros. Have you had a timing belt done recently or at all that you know of? That's a high mileage car and if the oil is changed regularly it will gunk up the hydraulic tensioners causing slack in the chain. Probably why it backfires, a crank/cam correlation test must be done to check that cam timing is correct.

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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 9:04 AM

PALOSBB40

MEMBER
53 POSTS

Hi, thank you. I had the car three years and never replaced timing chain but did do oil changes at regular intervals.

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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 9:11 AM

AL514

MECHANIC
5,235 POSTS

Have the timing chain checked by a professional technician, a lab scope should be used to check the crank and cam timing, just lining up the timing marks may not give you the whole picture.

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Sunday, June 7th, 2020 AT 4:43 PM