Finally got my PA SOFT 1.4.0 working, please help

[Roman D]

I had everything cleared, took a trip to NJ for picnic at one of the parks, will scan the car to see what is there.

[jfoj]

PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is the WRONG tool for driveability issues.

Get an OBDII smart phone/tablet App and interface, typically $30 or less. These Apps are usually best for driveability issues and they support Emission Readiness Monitor Status, Freeze Frame and Live/Realtime data. They are also great for Logging data for review after the car has been driven and can really help find unusual problems. Logging is very helpful for the less technical to pass date on for more advanced users to offer comments.

Android - OBDFusion formerly known as Touch Scan for approximately $5.00 and ELM327 OBDII to Bluetooth interface.

iProduct - OBD Fusion for $9.99 and ELM327 OBDII to Wifi interface.

Some people prefer to have an extension cable to keep the interface away from their feet.

Something like these cables are often of interested:

Amazon.com: ASSEM® OBD-II OBD2 16-Pin Male to Female Diagnostic Extension Cable 100cm: Automotive

http://www.amazon.com/OBDII-Extensio...Q9HPSGWZ2SB34Q

I usually suggest getting the OBDII interfaces from Amazon if you are located in the US/North America or in your specific Region/Country. Make sure you choose an interface that indicates that the order will be "Fulfilled by Amazon" otherwise you may be waiting for WEEKS for an interface to arrive from Asia. Ebay is another option, but pay attention where the interface will be shipped from, again weeks for an interface from Asia, so if you can wait and want to try to save some money, go for it, but if you need an interface soon, choose wisely.

Read the 2 links below:

Cold weather misfires and CEL, common issues $50 fix! - E46Fanatics

Save yourself up to $200 and some headaches - Electric Fuel Pump PM - E46Fanatics

Need to see Freeze Frame info if the SES/CEL/MIL is on and Fuel Trim values at both warm idle and a steady highway cruise between 45-60 MPH.

MAF issues, first cleaning a MAF RARELY resolves anything, the only thing it usually cleans is your wallet.

If you have recently replaced the MAF, put the original back on the engine until you sort out all of the obvious issues. There are MANY counterfeit MAF's on the market and the major trap is ASSUMING the MAF is not the problem since it was recently replaced. Also quite often the MAF is NOT the cause of idle related Lean conditions and misfires, faulty MAF's usually under report the airflow as a percentage and are more of a problem at highway cruise speeds and not engine idle.

Unplugging the MAF will often cause the engine idle to be smoother, reduce or eliminate idle misfires. This DOES not mean the MAF is bad, it is due to the DME going into a fixed fuel Map mode that is typically by default Richer than when the MAF is connected and this will mask Lean conditions caused by intake and/or crankcase air leaks.

P0102 means for some reason there is not likely a signal from the MAF. Verify if the MAF connector is properly plugged in, sometimes the female terminals in the connector are spread and loose on the MAF pins, sometimes there are broken wires inside the wiring harness between the MAF and the wiring box near the throttle body and sometimes the MAF just is bad with no output signal.

WARNING - DO NOT buy a cheap ebay MAF, there are many Asian counterfeits on the market that do not work properly. See of there is an MAF reading in Grams/Sec. Most E46 have an idle MAF reading of between 3.5-4

Note, there may or may not be Lean Codes showing up. Lean Codes usually trigger at around 10% Fuel Trim values or higher. Keep in mind that sometimes these engines can have a Lean condition that does not or only intermittently triggers Lean Codes. This is why monitoring the Fuel Trims in real time is important. Ideal Fuel Trim values are typically in the 0% to +2.5/+3.0% range.

Vacuum leaks from the Power Brake Booster are also hard to find and often overlooked. For Power Brake Booster related problems, read this thread - Lean codes and rough idle problems - Check your brake booster & report in - E46Fanatics

Make ABSOLUTELY sure the O2 sensor wiring has not been mixed up, read these links:

E46Fanatics - View Single Post - 01 325i runs like ass - help!!

E46Fanatics - View Single Post - Frustrated and Confused MAF plugged and unplugged

Read my "BMW 20 Questions" comments in this thread - Surging at idle...Vanos? - E46Fanatics

Check for or be aware of cracked valve covers and bad valve cover gaskets:

Repair Valve Cover? - E46Fanatics

[Roman D]

Allright, so I had reset everything and did some driving...
No misfires so far but these came back:
E4 (228) O2 Sensor Controller bank 2, deviation too great, deviation rich.
E3 (227) O2 Sensor Controller bank 1, deviation too great, deviation rich.
Interesting that I had struggled to solve Lean fuel codes a little while ago and now rich fuel codes are busting my chaps.
Other things that I don't like:
Hissing sound (to be verified - may be it is normal sound of air travel trough intake, passed smoke test)
Looking trough Oil fill opening - I don't like the way cover looks inside - too dirty, I am tempted to take everything out - Intake, Valve cover, PCV, replaced all hoses where applicable and install all new gaskets and study every part under microscope, get everything sparkling clean.
Oh,and I noticed - one of the pumps was leaking, took it out, installed a little O-Ring in to the part with rubber top and net basket - no more leak at the pump but reservoir is still dripping - it was getting dark so that to be resolved at later time.

[jfoj]

So let me REPEAT myself, PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is the WRONG tool for driveability problems. PLEASE read what I stated above.

What you have to FULLY understand is your engine has a LEAN problem. Yea, yea, yea, yea you are going to tell me how PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is stating "deviation too great, deviation too rich".

What we have here gentlemen is a FAILURE to communicate.

This is a problem with language translation.

What PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is stating "deviation too great, deviation too rich" is really saying is the DME is trying to overcome a LEAN condition and the DME is maximum fuel enrichment and the DME is up against its MAX enrichment and the mixture is still TOO LEAN.

This is a semantic problem.

Until you get an OBDII smart phone/tablet App and Smoke Test the vehicle, you are chasing your tail.

It is not that hard but you have the WRONG tool for the job.

You have a serious LEAN problem, likely intake boots, CCV and hoses, power brake booster, DISA or vacuum caps on the intake that are missing.

[Roman D]

Originally Posted by jfoj

So let me REPEAT myself, PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is the WRONG tool for driveability problems. PLEASE read what I stated above.

What you have to FULLY understand is your engine has a LEAN problem. Yea, yea, yea, yea you are going to tell me how PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is stating "deviation too great, deviation too rich".

What we have here gentlemen is a FAILURE to communicate.

This is a problem with language translation.

What PA Soft/BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is stating "deviation too great, deviation too rich" is really saying is the DME is trying to overcome a LEAN condition and the DME is maximum fuel enrichment and the DME is up against its MAX enrichment and the mixture is still TOO LEAN.

This is a semantic problem.

Until you get an OBDII smart phone/tablet App and Smoke Test the vehicle, you are chasing your tail.

It is not that hard but you have the WRONG tool for the job.

You have a serious LEAN problem, likely intake boots, CCV and hoses, power brake booster, DISA or vacuum caps on the intake that are missing.

Hi, thank you very much for such detailed explanation. I will follow your advice and order hardware/software you had recomended. I would like to apologize for miscomunications due to English is not my main language,, I mean it is but this not a language I was born in to, sadly, coming to US in my twenties and pretty much by myself, i stood no chance to pull myself trough college so whatever I had picked up on the street - I do my best with it. Back to cars- I did smoke test in a way that smoke was pumped in to untake boot and all was found - little rubber cap had cracked. Is there a better smoke entrance point that could show me issues with different cuicut?

[jfoj]

Originally Posted by Roman D

Hi, thank you very much for such detailed explanation. I will follow your advice and order hardware/software you had recomended. I would like to apologize for miscomunications due to English is not my main language,, I mean it is but this not a language I was born in to, sadly, coming to US in my twenties and pretty much by myself, i stood no chance to pull myself trough college so whatever I had picked up on the street - I do my best with it. Back to cars- I did smoke test in a way that smoke was pumped in to untake boot and all was found - little rubber cap had cracked. Is there a better smoke entrance point that could show me issues with different cuicut?

Sorry, I did not mean to come off like this was specifically toward you. I am very aware that dealing with different languages and cultures can sometimes be a bit tricky.

I was not referencing "your" failure to communicate, I was referencing the softwares failure to communicate due to the way the software developers referenced the specific mixture condition. I believe the problem is part a language translation error from German and the point of view of the developer. Kind of like is the glass half empty or half full, it is just the way the person may view the world.

Anyway, I did not want you to get off track and you or others following this thread think there was now a "Rich" mixture problem. Luckily this is not the the first time I have dealt with this point of view problem.

Still the same Lean problems you had in the beginning.

You may still have some form of a vacuum leak, even from the crankcase or even the power brake booster. Often you need to open the oil fill cap and fill the crankcase with smoke, then put the oil fill cap back on and start looking for smoke leaks. Often performing smoke testing when it is darker and using a strong flashlight is another way to look for leaks.

This fluid pump is a good tool for making a smoke test.

See if you can find this pump at your local auto parts store - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=sr_1_3&sr=8-3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsgB9eBl58I

Freeze Frame data is very useful when trying to resolve fuel mixture problems. As I mentioned the OBDII smart phone/tablet Apps are very good for driveability problems. OBDFusion is the App I like to support people with. They have BOTH an Adroid and iProduct App.

I also just re-read everything from the beginning and see that you have not had the vehicle very long.

I would be verifying the O2 sensors are plugged in to the correct engine bay connector and also make sure the O2 sensor wiring has not been spliced at some point.

I find the O2 sensor wiring swapped bank to bank often and the O2 sensor signals are polarity sensitive and if the wiring is spliced or "universal" O2 sensors that need to connector form the original O2 sensor spliced can be connected backwards and drive you crazy trying to resolve problems that are out of the norm.

[upallnight]

Misfire to a computer means the computer identified that cylinder as not producing the same power as the other cylinders. The computer note the rpm when the cylinder fire and can determine if it is the same as the other or less. Misfire could be from a weak spark, or a lean mixture.

Msfire is not the same as what most people assume, which will be a bad spark plug or a bad coil.

[Roman D]

Oh, wow! That is a brainstorm.
You ara absolutely correct, I have this X5 for couple of month now. Someone on this forum once said - if you about to buy an X5, be sure that you willing and able to throw $3-4k at it within first half a year of ownership - that was not a joke .
How do I differentiate oem o2 sensors from generic?
I can check if wiring was spliced - should be easy. Also, I am guessing, if connectors are cross swapped, it should be visible as well, if I am looking specifically for that....

[jfoj]

Originally Posted by Roman D

Oh, wow! That is a brainstorm.
You ara absolutely correct, I have this X5 for couple of month now. Someone on this forum once said - if you about to buy an X5, be sure that you willing and able to throw $3-4k at it within first half a year of ownership - that was not a joke .
How do I differentiate oem o2 sensors from generic?
I can check if wiring was spliced - should be easy. Also, I am guessing, if connectors are cross swapped, it should be visible as well, if I am looking specifically for that....

Um, no, unfortunately things are not always as simple as they may appear on the surface.

"Direct Fit" O2 sensors have the connector on the pigtail, they may not be from the BMW dealer, but they are "Plug & Play". "Universal" fit O2 sensors require the connector from the original O2 sensor to be cut off and then using crimp connectors supplied with the "Universal" fit sensor the wires are spliced. The problem is the O2 sensor wiring is POLARITY specific. If you swap the wiring polarity on an O2 sensor then it works BACKWARDS. Wire color coding may not match up and then people make a guess and can make things MUCH worse and they do not even realize they are creating a problem.

As for the O2 sensors being swapped Bank to Bank, NOTHING is labeled and this is where the problems start. The engine bay wiring harness has no labeling so there is no point of reference. Often the wiring can easily be swapped an again, nobody is aware of this.

When buying a used car of any age, I always go into the deal ASSUMING nothing was done right with prior repairs. I then methodically verify every single aspect of the subsystems as I sort out the molestation of prior owners and foolish mechanics.

You may want to read my comments here, read them carefully. You want to verify 100% that the O2 sensor wiring is correct.

E46Fanatics - View Single Post - 01 325i runs like ass - help!!

E46Fanatics - View Single Post - Frustrated and Confused MAF plugged and unplugged

[Roman D]

Hi Guys, as was advised - I got Tourque thing. Nice looking app.
Here is the report out of - I need some help to translate it to human language...
When I was looking at active app - graph for Bank1/sensor1 was jumping up down - all over the screen while the rest were more or less constant straight line....