05 4.4i with trouble, no crank starts, TFP, p0335, voltage drops

[cfherrman]

I have had this x5 as the wifes dd since 2012 or 2013 and it had been a great purchase, especially after i stupidly got rid of my 99 540i6. So car has been great, more power then we need, tight, every once in a while i need to run it hard as the wife dont or it will slightly miss out. I have been fighting this problem since 10/31/2015 where the car would not start with no crank randomly, most of the time it would put it in TFP. After 10/31/2016 we stopped locking the car to see if the anti theft was locking out the starter. I cleaned the ignition sometime around christmas. I think its the transmission switch as a couple of times i have gotten it to start my messing with the shiftier but i cannot find any information on the 6hp26 zf transmission switch and how to test it. Most of the time when it would not start we would just wait for the car to sleep and it would start fine, however this week it is not starting a lot even after waiting. It had shut off twice while moving slow speeds, once on 10/31/16 and once around 2/17. I ordered a crank sensor from bavauto but it was not the correct one, the part number i pulled out of my car is 7 503 140-05 and i am having trouble finding one. I dont like to throw parts at a car i rather troubleshoot it. I have been thinking about getting auto engenuity with the bmw package to perform in depth troubleshooting, has anybody used this and could it find whats causing a no crank? Car probably has the common valve seal leak and the oil filter cap leaks a small amount as well, i have been topping up with mobil 5w30 at first with one quart, then one quart of 10w30, and a quart and a half of 15w50. Probably have around 5 to 10k miles on this oil. It is a 12/4 build 2005 x5 4.4i, i am probably forgetting other information but i am lost on what to do please help.

10/31/2015

the car went into engine failsafe and transfailsafe while I was turning (sadly normal, not bmw fast turn) and shut the engine down. Was 3/4 mile from my mothers house and called her for a tow as it wouldnt crank. When she got there, maybe 5 minutes, it started with trans failsafe. We hung out few hours and drove home in TFP. I cleared the code,

p0335, crankshaft position sensor A circuit

p1727, (no description, but points to ambient temp sensor if i recall)

with my scanner, torque pro with bluetooth adapter, and all is well. Looked into it on the forums and thought i might have had a low battery or a bad crank sensor. Left the batter unhooked overnight and charged it up. Battery is approching old, but is not.

So all is well untill

12/23/2015

i thought i only had the same two codes but my screen shot shows,

p0335, cranks sensor

p2088, Powertrain A camshaft Position Actuator Control bank1 b

p2090, Bcamshaft bank1 c

p1727

With tons of pending faults, honestly i dont remember all these but it is in my screens

p111F, p0261, p0270, p0267, p0264, p0598, p0102

So i do the same again, fine untill 2/04.

p0335, p1727 with p11f pending.

2/17/2016

same three codes

3/3/2016

I left the fill cap half on and half of and got a slew of codes, car ran rough, i put the cap on right and cleared the codes.

3/9/2016

p0014, B camshaft Position

p0335, p1727

pending, p0300, p0306, p0308, p0303

3/22/2016

p0335

p0024, B camshaft

p1727

3/25/2016

happened today, no crank, while i was driving, well car was parked while we wre eating. Held key in start position and moved shifter back and forth, heard clicking in the ignition when going into park. I do not think its a transmission switch. I checked voltage from ob2 adapter and it read 10.8. Got a jump from family and it would not try to crank untill the voltage read on the ob2 adapter around 12.2 volts, which took about 5 minutes of booster cables being hooked up. It started and voltage read running at:

Ob2 adapter, 13
Obc, 13.8
Jump terminal, 14.4

I am going to check the electrical connections at the starter, ground strap, battery, and battery acident cutout. I will be also most likely replacing the battery. I beleive i have two separate issues, one being the ews low voltage lockout and a bad crank sensor, i think i have to change the pigtail to the new style on the crank sensor.

4/1/2016

Car wouls only last 1 day from a full charge. Wife drove it when i said it was not a good idea and it shut off going over rain road tracks. I jumped it and drove it back watching voltage on obc. Was around 13v and would drop to 12v on a bump consistently.

4/2/2016

Checked voltages everywhere, had 12.4 volts when car is asleep, 12.2 awake, key off both times. Checked voltage and tightness at jumper post, battery, battery cut out, battery ground. Checked voltage at alternator and connection looked tight. Checked connection at power steering and was tight. Checked immobilizer fueses and had 11.8 key on and engine off. Was working to check the starter but quit for the night.

[B]Would like to know what you guys think, how one removes the alternator on a n62, where is the voltage regulator, should i check connections under the dash where the jumper wire from the hood connects too and how you get there? Any help appreciated thanks![/]

[80stech]

I would start by replacing the battery. Checking voltages without loading the battery doesn't tell you much.

[cfherrman]

I did load test it awhile back with a simple 100amp load tester and it passed it, if i cant find anything i will.

[gatojurko]

Too long story to read...

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by cfherrman

I have had this x5 as the wifes dd since 2012 or 2013 and it had been a great purchase, especially after i stupidly got rid of my 99 540i6. So car has been great, more power then we need, tight, every once in a while i need to run it hard as the wife dont or it will slightly miss out. I have been fighting this problem since 10/31/2015 where the car would not start with no crank randomly, most of the time it would put it in TFP. After 10/31/2016 we stopped locking the car to see if the anti theft was locking out the starter. I cleaned the ignition sometime around christmas. I think its the transmission switch as a couple of times i have gotten it to start my messing with the shiftier but i cannot find any information on the 6hp26 zf transmission switch and how to test it. Most of the time when it would not start we would just wait for the car to sleep and it would start fine, however this week it is not starting a lot even after waiting. It had shut off twice while moving slow speeds, once on 10/31/16 and once around 2/17. I ordered a crank sensor from bavauto but it was not the correct one, the part number i pulled out of my car is 7 503 140-05 and i am having trouble finding one. I dont like to throw parts at a car i rather troubleshoot it. I have been thinking about getting auto engenuity with the bmw package to perform in depth troubleshooting, has anybody used this and could it find whats causing a no crank? Car probably has the common valve seal leak and the oil filter cap leaks a small amount as well, i have been topping up with mobil 5w30 at first with one quart, then one quart of 10w30, and a quart and a half of 15w50. Probably have around 5 to 10k miles on this oil. It is a 12/4 build 2005 x5 4.4i, i am probably forgetting other information but i am lost on what to do please help.

10/31/2015

the car went into engine failsafe and transfailsafe while I was turning (sadly normal, not bmw fast turn) and shut the engine down. Was 3/4 mile from my mothers house and called her for a tow as it wouldnt crank. When she got there, maybe 5 minutes, it started with trans failsafe. We hung out few hours and drove home in TFP. I cleared the code,

p0335, crankshaft position sensor A circuit

p1727, (no description, but points to ambient temp sensor if i recall)

with my scanner, torque pro with bluetooth adapter, and all is well. Looked into it on the forums and thought i might have had a low battery or a bad crank sensor. Left the batter unhooked overnight and charged it up. Battery is approching old, but is not.

So all is well untill

12/23/2015

i thought i only had the same two codes but my screen shot shows,

p0335, cranks sensor

p2088, Powertrain A camshaft Position Actuator Control bank1 b

p2090, Bcamshaft bank1 c

p1727

With tons of pending faults, honestly i dont remember all these but it is in my screens

p111F, p0261, p0270, p0267, p0264, p0598, p0102

So i do the same again, fine untill 2/04.

p0335, p1727 with p11f pending.

2/17/2016

same three codes

3/3/2016

I left the fill cap half on and half of and got a slew of codes, car ran rough, i put the cap on right and cleared the codes.

3/9/2016

p0014, B camshaft Position

p0335, p1727

pending, p0300, p0306, p0308, p0303

3/22/2016

p0335

p0024, B camshaft

p1727

3/25/2016

happened today, no crank, while i was driving, well car was parked while we wre eating. Held key in start position and moved shifter back and forth, heard clicking in the ignition when going into park. I do not think its a transmission switch. I checked voltage from ob2 adapter and it read 10.8. Got a jump from family and it would not try to crank untill the voltage read on the ob2 adapter around 12.2 volts, which took about 5 minutes of booster cables being hooked up. It started and voltage read running at:

Ob2 adapter, 13
Obc, 13.8
Jump terminal, 14.4

I am going to check the electrical connections at the starter, ground strap, battery, and battery acident cutout. I will be also most likely replacing the battery. I beleive i have two separate issues, one being the ews low voltage lockout and a bad crank sensor, i think i have to change the pigtail to the new style on the crank sensor.

4/1/2016

Car wouls only last 1 day from a full charge. Wife drove it when i said it was not a good idea and it shut off going over rain road tracks. I jumped it and drove it back watching voltage on obc. Was around 13v and would drop to 12v on a bump consistently.

4/2/2016

Checked voltages everywhere, had 12.4 volts when car is asleep, 12.2 awake, key off both times. Checked voltage and tightness at jumper post, battery, battery cut out, battery ground. Checked voltage at alternator and connection looked tight. Checked connection at power steering and was tight. Checked immobilizer fueses and had 11.8 key on and engine off. Was working to check the starter but quit for the night.

[B]Would like to know what you guys think, how one removes the alternator on a n62, where is the voltage regulator, should i check connections under the dash where the jumper wire from the hood connects too and how you get there? Any help appreciated thanks![/]

You have a dead battery. Just buy a new battery.

[jfoj]

As mentioned, I would replace the battery, it it does not matter it load tested fine, replace the battery. BUT I also suspect you may have an intermittent charging problem like I ran into. You mention that you had 10.8 Volts reading after driving at one point, this means the battery is likely bad and/or 100% depleted on available power due to a no charging situation.

You need to MONITOR the charging Voltage, while Torque will do this, it requires a lot of work to get connected, I would recommend a wired UltraGauge for $70. You can also use the Hidden OBC Menu to monitor the charging Voltage, but it takes some effort to access this on the OBC.

I do not know about the V8 E53, but I can tell you for a fact that my 4.8l E70 WILL NEVER inform the driver of a charging system problem. Not sure if this is a software or design problem, but you can remove the alternator belt and start the vehicle and get NO indication of a lack of charging! Seems to be a V8 only option from what I have seen. I am not the only one that has run into this issue with the N62 X5 platform, albeit mine is an E70.

I had an intermittent no charging problem on start up that I was nursing along for warmer weather and finally replaced the Voltage regulator which I assumed was the cause of the intermittent no charge problem and this did resolved the problem. If it had not been for my UltraGauge not auto starting or waking up, I would have not known what was going on and how intermittent the no charge problem was. The no charge seemed to be related to colder ambient temperatures. I would start the vehicle and have a no charge condition and I even experimented to find out if the charging start if I continued to drive the vehicle, and found out it would not self correct while driving. I had to pull over and restart the engine to get the charging system to work! I nursed the problem along most of the Winter because I did not fancy changing the Voltage regulator in freezing temps.

A few weeks ago I replaced the Voltage regulator and this seems to have resolved my intermittent no charge on engine start condition. I also decided to replace the battery as well because I did not trust it even though it tested fine on many different expensive testers and I was going to be on a week long trip with the family and it is not worth the price of a battery to cause me headaches.

After pulling the battery, found it was over 4 years old and once the new battery was installed the starting performance and charging stability was far better as well. So I am very happy I replaced my "tested good" battery based on my gut instinct at the end of the day.

At least on the E70 the AWD and transmission will go into Limp mode when the charging Voltage drops too low. On the E70 it actually has a lot of power load shedding that is performed to conserve power for the engine to run, but once things start shutting down, you are already in a pretty bad situation. Ask me know I know! If you read the attached thread you will see what happens.

You may want to consider an UltraGauge as a safety net to monitor the charging Voltage and performance on your vehicle. This IS the only way for me to know if my vehicle is not charging. Would be interesting if you removed the serpentine belt on your V8 E53, if you would get any indication of a no charge situation. I suspect there may be a common denominator with the V8 X5 platforms even though they are very different animals. If your wife is the primary driver, the UltraGauge is a good option because you can set threshold alarms for engine temp, Voltage and other item it can monitor. Additionally this is probably the only "automatic" tools that checks for codes every time the vehicle is started, so you will be informed of Pending codes AUTOMATICALLY!

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...tem-issue.html

UltraGauge OBDII Scan tool & Information Center

A more advanced scan tool will not likely give you more insight to this problem. My suggestion is to monitor the charging Voltage closely or just replace the Voltage regulator and battery, this will be far cheaper than AutoEnginuity and will likely be what you have to do at the end of the day anyway.

I think the E53 has the water cooled alternator and I would assume the Voltage regulator is internal to the alternator?? I know at least for the E70 V8's it is pretty common that the Voltage regulators only last about 80k miles, not sure about the E53.

Good luck.

[cfherrman]

It had a indicated 10.8 volts from the ob2 adapter but if you put a multi meter on the jump terminal it will read much higher, around 12.2-12.5 depending if its awake or asleep. I can definitely change the battery but i do not believe that is the problem as the readings on the battery and other places are different, they should be the same. I beleive this is my number 1 problem.

I did write the auto engenuity part before i figured out the low voltage lock out but left it in as information. Part of the reason is for my 06 f250 diesel as well. I would have to spen around 800 to get ae with bmw and ford, i rather not.

Alternator looks like its air cooled, why does the voltage drop because of bumps, can a faulty regulator do this and why does is voltage lower in the car then on the jumper termal when the alternator is not spinning? Jumper termal shows 14.4 volts running and in the 13s in other places.

Im hesitatent to throw parts at it without very good indication of it being bad. I will change the battery soon as in a year or two will be 5 years on it, but i will figure out my different voltages problem before i do.

Ultraguage sound cool i will check into it, sound like the diesel crowd can use that very well. Right now i will still use the torque pro and the obc.

Thanks for your help i have be looking and checking thinks for quite some time.

[jfoj]

If you are really convinced that the OBDII adapter Voltage is 10.8 but the Voltage at the jumper terminals is much high then you have a connection problem with too much Voltage drop. Likely a bad body to frame ground. This can be a pretty common problem on BMW's but you may also have a bad connection somewhere else.

But I would advice you to monitor the charging Voltage every time you drive the vehicle. The Voltage regulators are known to do screwy stuff but batteries with a bad cell will also cause strange behaviors on these vehicles.

My e46 had the original battery fail in under 4 years, was replaced under the Bumper to Bumper Warranty. The dashboard would light up with a Christmas Tree, ABS, Traction Control, Brake Warning lights, you name it. The battery was the problem, the car still has the original alternator and regulator at year 10.

A new battery can be bad so do not think that a 2-3 year old battery cannot be bad. Even testing misses problems with batteries. I have had bad cells and bad internal connections that pass tests and are hard to find.

Do not expect a piece of test equipment or software to solve your current problem, you need to use your head and rule out the obvious possibilities.

[cfherrman]

Ive checked the battery ground connection at the battery and at the ac compressor, tight and wire looks good, not damaged. Ive checked the hot side at the battery, crash cut out on top of the battery, jumper terminal, and with a multi meter at the alternator as i cant feel the wire without removing it. Really i think my next move is removing the bottom plate so i can check it at the starter and getting behind the dash and chckong the hot wire that runs the width of the car.

I have checked the voltage while driving, it was in the 13s and would head south on bumps. I can repeatedly make it go to 12v by just going into the garage. I might hook a volt meter to the jump terminal and tape it to the windsheild when i get the car back together.

So far no Christmas tree and no warning other then trans failsafe, which might be a separate problem, and that one is rare.

With having different voltages everywhere a nee battery will.be a band aid.

Im not interested in buying ae anymore since i know its a low voltage cut off, really i wrote that whole post about a week ago while i had to wait to be verified and added more information to the end, i should have deleted all of it and kept the new info at the end.

Thanks i really appreciate it, i ussally find solutions with searching but this one i could not.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by cfherrman

Ive checked the battery ground connection at the battery and at the ac compressor, tight and wire looks good, not damaged. Ive checked the hot side at the battery, crash cut out on top of the battery, jumper terminal, and with a multi meter at the alternator as i cant feel the wire without removing it. Really i think my next move is removing the bottom plate so i can check it at the starter and getting behind the dash and chckong the hot wire that runs the width of the car.

I have checked the voltage while driving, it was in the 13s and would head south on bumps. I can repeatedly make it go to 12v by just going into the garage. I might hook a volt meter to the jump terminal and tape it to the windsheild when i get the car back together.

So far no Christmas tree and no warning other then trans failsafe, which might be a separate problem, and that one is rare.

With having different voltages everywhere a nee battery will.be a band aid.

Im not interested in buying ae anymore since i know its a low voltage cut off, really i wrote that whole post about a week ago while i had to wait to be verified and added more information to the end, i should have deleted all of it and kept the new info at the end.

Thanks i really appreciate it, i ussally find solutions with searching but this one i could not.

Just buy one of these and keep it in the car