2004 E53 4.4i Crankshaft Position Sensor Voltage? Crank No Start

[SCAP]

EDIT: FIXED.

Hello,

I bought a non running 2004 X5 with the 4.4 engine from a guy who works at a used car dealer. He seems to know his way around and just wanted this car out of his garage as he didn't want to deal with it. It was towed to my house.

He said he was washing the engine bay and was going to fix a power steering leak to get it ready to sell. Said it drove beautiful. But after washing the engine, there's a crank no start. He said there's no spark. I haven't checked it yet as I don't have someone to crank it for me but that will be confirmed hopefully in the next day or 2. I do have fuel pressure at the rail.

I am borrowing an Autel Maxisys and am analyzing data. EWS checks out and I don't think that's the issue (although the key is kinda wonky, the shell is taped together). When I crank it, RPM reads 0 during the crank. I picked up an extra crank sensor from the junkyard just to try it. Same thing. So I put my DVOM on the Crank sensor connector, the middle is ground and one I think is supposed to be 5v reference and the other is 12v. However one reads -9v and the other reads -11v!!! I looked at the connector and I think it goes right to the DME.

Some note to add, this car sat in my driveway without a battery for about a month or so. It has a new (remanned) battery and it's strong at 12.4v.

Any ideas? I bought the mitchell online repair manual but info seems to be lacking. I thought there might have been a troubleshooting flow chart, but I guess not. Might spring for the Bentley hard cover manual but I want to get this started.

Thanks

EDIT: The IVM (intergrated power module) was bad. It sits in a black box in the same compartment under the cowl as the DME. I pulled the connectors off and it has some fuses on it. One fuse was blown. The connector pins had green crusties on it. I swapped it out with a junkyard one. Fired right up. Had "Engine Program Fail Safe" (limp mode). The module next to it is the VVT VDO module. I pulled that and same thing, green crusties on the pins. Replaced that with a junkyard one and the engine failsafe was gone. Basically inspecting DME, VVT, and the IVM is a great starting point.

[andrewwynn]

No spark almost always means EWS sync problem. Crank sensor is a likely candidate as it's required to start. The next thing is key switch (or the key itself not sending EWS). Do you have more than one key?

[aureliusmax]

EWS synch problems are likely an issue for no start. Because you shouldn't be able to see the tachometer move while cranking if the EWS tamper system is active. A scan tool will be able to give you a ews synch error while cranking and that's a good first clue.
Very likely washing the engine had nothing to do with the fault occuring.
If existing key has failed, or become corrupted, you will require new keys cut and made and have a special program to read the data on the ews module and let you program new keys.
Good news is I have done this before. Bad news, it's a bit of a complex procedure to learn and follow all the steps, esp if you're not used to troubleshooting BMW's like I was at first. You will need quite a bit invested in special tools and parts to accomplish these goals unless you can outsource it to someone who has all the tooling and skills.

[SCAP]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

No spark almost always means EWS sync problem. Crank sensor is a likely candidate as it's required to start. The next thing is key switch (or the key itself not sending EWS). Do you have more than one key?

No. Only one . It was beat up when given to me. It had electrical tape. I just now cut it open and took a peek inside. It wasn't glued, only taped The battery slide out with ease. I have never been in this key fob and it looks like this battery has 2 small connectors that need to be soldered on. I was able to slide the battery out.

I just ordered a new battery from amazon and will try it tomorrow when it arrives. Will a dead battery / bad connection not soldered battery not work? I have minimal experience with BMW but I thought the battery only controlled the door locks and if battery is dead it will still start.

Thanks

[SCAP]

Originally Posted by aureliusmax

EWS synch problems are likely an issue for no start. Because you shouldn't be able to see the tachometer move while cranking if the EWS tamper system is active. A scan tool will be able to give you a ews synch error while cranking and that's a good first clue.
Very likely washing the engine had nothing to do with the fault occuring.
If existing key has failed, or become corrupted, you will require new keys cut and made and have a special program to read the data on the ews module and let you program new keys.
Good news is I have done this before. Bad news, it's a bit of a complex procedure to learn and follow all the steps, esp if you're not used to troubleshooting BMW's like I was at first. You will need quite a bit invested in special tools and parts to accomplish these goals unless you can outsource it to someone who has all the tooling and skills.

I am borrowing a Maxisys with J2534 programmer. I am not used to high end scan tools but it seems like EWS is good? Also my key is kinda messed up (see reply above). There is an EWS voltage error but I'm wondering if that had to do with the car having no battery for well over a month.

Thanks

[aureliusmax]

seems simple enough.
no voltage message just means the module not getting powered up
the ews module is behind the drivers left side kick panel. remove it and inspect harness and measure supply voltages - reference a diagram if you have access

if all else fails i have the tools here to program new keys and take the rom from the ews
module and match the programming. good news blank keys for these cars are available and inexpensive from ebay. just keep the original so someone can copy+cut the key

[andrewwynn]

Battery in key only for remote functions. The EWS uses self powered radio like RFID.

The scanner sees the key. Clear the error about EWS and maybe find the realtime value for crank sensor.

[SCAP]

Originally Posted by aureliusmax

seems simple enough.
no voltage message just means the module not getting powered up
the ews module is behind the drivers left side kick panel. remove it and inspect harness and measure supply voltages - reference a diagram if you have access

if all else fails i have the tools here to program new keys and take the rom from the ews
module and match the programming. good news blank keys for these cars are available and inexpensive from ebay. just keep the original so someone can copy+cut the key

Thanks, I'll do some digging and inspecting. I also have access to a donor car. Another 04 or 05 I can't remember, 4.4i. I have the key for that and can play the swaparoo game because I can get these parts for dirt cheap.

[aureliusmax]

Originally Posted by SCAP

Thanks, I'll do some digging and inspecting. I also have access to a donor car. Another 04 or 05 I can't remember, 4.4i. I have the key for that and can play the swaparoo game because I can get these parts for dirt cheap.

doesn't really work like that.
the key, ews module, and dme all have to be synchronized to allow the engine to start. you won't be able to just swap components.

[SCAP]

Originally Posted by aureliusmax

doesn't really work like that.
the key, ews module, and dme all have to be synchronized to allow the engine to start. you won't be able to just swap components.

Yes I know it's a system with coded components. According to this youtube video the EWS module, DME, key cylinder, key and EWS ring are all synched. It appears that's what you need to do a swap without any coding. Granted on his video I think it was mentioned it was an 01 E53 and mine is an 04.

I got a DME, VVT module, EWS module, key cylinder, EWS ring and key from a 2004 4.4 just like mine from a donor car I think had a blown engine because coolant was everywhere. I will be trying it in the next few days to see what happens. Thanks for the help.