Replaced battery x5, turns over but will not start

[racerxfast]

Hi All,
I worked on my 2004 X5 3.0 all week, replaced the front left drive shaft, and also replaced the amp which had become defective due to known issue of moisture coming into that area. I had disconnected the negative terminal on the battery while I was working on the amp. When I reconnected the battery the car started doing all kinds of crazy stuff lights going on and off, alarm sounding momentarily. I quickly disconnected the negative side. check battery voltage and see that it needed a charge. So I charged overnight. When I reconnected battery everything lights up as normal all sounds good and turns over well but no engine start.
Here is what I have diagnosed so far:

Checked codes and found P0604 Internal Control Module Random Access Memory (RAM) Error
This code was probably left from the dead battery. However I cleared the code and now no codes come up what so ever.

Checked all fuses related to fuel and ignition
Checked Fuel pump relay Confirmed that Fuel pump is working and there is fuel on the rail under pressure
Went ahead a replaced the battery
Checked for any bad wiring or corrosion

I am beginning to think it has something to do with the ECM or imobilizer. I know for this year there is no IBS so there is no coding needed for a battery change.

I have been reading this forum and found nothing to lead me in a direction of solving this issue. Any ideas would be much appreciated. I have been reading your forums for years and have gotten alot of answers to date. Became a member today so I could participate finally. I love my X5 and the 2nd owner with 185,000 miles I plan to drive this car until the wheels fall off.. Thank you in advance for any troubleshooting advice any of you could offer.

[upallnight]

For any engine to run you need gas, air, and a spark. You stated that the fuel pump is running but did you check the fuel pressure at the rail? Did you do a compression check to verify that you have compression in all the cylinders? Did you verify that you have spark? Perform these checks and I know you will isolate the problem to one of these area.

[racerxfast]

The car was running like a top 4 days ago so I do not think compression is the issue.
There is pressure at the rail I cannot check the pressure but when I discharge the rail it flows.

When turning the engine over initially it hits as if beginning to start so I think there is spark. It seems like something is not allowing all the components to come together. This is why I thought it might be the ECU/immobilizer communication from the battery being discharged/taken out.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by racerxfast

There is pressure at the rail I cannot check the pressure but when I discharge the rail it flows.

Define "flows". At 50 PSI I would think it would be spraying everywhere.

[racerxfast]

When I say flows I mean it sprays all over the place at high pressure when I depress the valve on the fuel rail.

[upallnight]

If you have fuel at the rail (assuming it the right pressure) now you need to determine if you have an injection signal to the injectors. A bad module/sensor could be preventing a signal being sent to the DME to send injection pulses to the injectors. If you have a noid light you can verify that the injectors is receiving an injection signal pulse. No noid light, you can pull an injector and put it in a jar and see if gas is coming out of the injector. Or you can connect a spare injector to one of the injector connectors and do the same test.

[TwinTurboGTR]

In my opinion, I think you need to take a step back. If 4 days ago it ran ok and you did electrical work... thats where you need to start first; at the change.

If you have a GT1, I would first try to communicate with everything.

The statement you made that upon connecting the battery again and having a christmas tree come on and the alarm and all kinds of funny stuff is troubling. Also learning the battery needed a recharge after being down for 4 days... What was the voltage of the battery?

Definitly make sure you have solid contact with that negative terminal as well.

[racerxfast]

Yes Twin turbo I agree I think that this an electrical issue things are out of sync. That is why I keeping thinking back to the ecu and or the immobilizer. The car turns over so the connections to the battery must be fine.
I am going to check that the injectors are in fact outputting fuel add instructed by Upallnight. But I can't help but think it is something much simpler. Process of elimination will result in success. I will report back soon.
Thank you for the input iam open to anything at this point.

[racerxfast]

So I was going to test the injectors with a noid light and wow it looks like I have to take off the entire fuel rail to get to the injector connectors. This does not look like a great way to test this. I am still stuck on some other electrical issue other than this. I guess I will work on it tomorrow in the light. Just seems like it must be some way easier to test.

[TwinTurboGTR]

It would probably be easier to hook up a scope to the harness side and test for PWM. This way you kill two birds one stone. Check for resistance across the path and check for the signal from ecu.

Like I was saying earlier... I find it hard to believe there is something wrong with the fuel delivery system. If there is, it would not be the primary problem but the secondary. I would check the fuse blocks related to ignition.

Also still curious as to what made you change the battery. What was the static charge on it while sitting for 4 days. Even after charging it, should be enough to start.