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Old 07-30-2006, 11:57 PM
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Angry 2000 4.4 Problems Starting

I'm new to the community but have been reading around the board for quite a while. From the looks of it there are some very smart member here. Keep up all the good work everyone. I love that the Home page of the site is write-ups. Makes finding useful info very easy!

So now on to my question. My 2000 X5 has had some troubles starting lately, and i have finally grown tired of listening to is sit there and crank.

When I turn the key to the #3 position sometimes it will set there and the engine will just crank endlessly. Like it will not catch fire. I acquired the X5 with about 93000 miles on it and drove it for about a month before it started acting up. The first thing that happened was that it died about a mile down the road one day. I coasted off to the side of the road and restarted it without any problem. It drove around just fine for a good while and then it started having troubles with starting. It just sits there and cranks.

The X5 only does it when it wants to. I have tried letting it set there with the key in the #2 position and then starting it. It doesn't seem to help. Back when it first started happening the X5 would start right up on the second try, but now it will start on any different number of attempts, ranging from the second to the seventh. It has grown very annoying. It also has an annoying habit of dieing. Sometimes when driving down the road sometimes when backing out of a parking spot, very unpredictable and very sporadic.

It has also done that thing where you turn the key and you see the tach jump up and then fall all the way back down without the motor even turning over. It is just strange.

The last time the X5 had a service done I had then flash new software. It hasn't helped. The service was a Service II so they changed the fuel filter. They even did a Motorvac fuel injection cleaning service. At that time they also informed me i needed a new alternator.

So if you have any ideas please let me know. Anyone have any experience with something similar? Sorry for the book, if i forgot any important details please ask.

Thank you in advance,
Trever
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Old 07-31-2006, 01:25 AM
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my first guess is coil packs, but since you said alternator, that makes sense too...
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Old 07-31-2006, 01:33 AM
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I would look into the fuel pressure, and the ignition system.

Get your dealer to check the engine codes. Any other approach is going to be a guess, and my suggestion is to get it solved sooner instead of later, or you may be buying a new starter motor as well (extended cranking can damage it).

Just a thought, but was the fuel filter replaced prior to the problem showing up, or after?

If the alternator was part of the problem, I wouldn't expect it to crank so readily.
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Old 07-31-2006, 01:45 AM
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I did replace it at that time. They told me that the reason it needed replaced was that the bearings were shot. It was making a mean growling noise they said and when they showed it to me i could not turn it by hand. Expensive little water cooled piece o' crap. $695 for a reman if i remember correctly.

Would the coil packs do that, or is there something before that that powers the coil packs? Because if it was coil packs wouldn't it just be most likely one or two and then wouldn't it just start and run on 6 or 7 cylinders?

Thanks for the reply.

Last edited by HellzMindPlaya; 10-11-2006 at 01:40 AM.
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Old 07-31-2006, 01:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HellzMindPlaya
Would the coil packs do that, or is there something before that that powers the coil packs? Because if it was coil packs wouldn't it just be most likely one or two and then wouldn't it just start and one one 6 or 7 cylinders?
Agree with you on the coils, they are individual so I would look elsewhere.

The something before the coils is the engine computer. It tells the coils what to do, triggered by the crank sensor. Either one or the other, or the fuel pressure idea.
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Old 07-31-2006, 02:03 AM
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I had my local independent shop check codes and it doesn't have any that would help solve the problems. I also have a carsoft code reader and it doesn't show anything worth while. I had problems with clogged cats after the Service II but I fixed that. The fuel filter was replaced after the problem started. The shop even pulled the fuel filter back down and made sure that it was the correct one because I was having problems with the cats. (The clogged cats were making the X5 have a missfire and run like crap.) That is fixed now but i am still having starting problems.
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Old 07-31-2006, 03:44 AM
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I had a very similar problem, but this was with a diesel so may not be exactly the same.
All the car would do was crank but not fire.
Having spent a week at the dealer, it turned out to be the fuel rail pressure sensor. It was giving incorrect readings to the management system and it just shut the engine down.
I assume the petrol engines have a similar set up, so it may be worth having a look at that to.
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Old 07-31-2006, 11:08 AM
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I think Laurence is on the right track, if it was a coil you would get a SES light, the alternator would not cause starting problems so that is off the table. I think you probably have a fuel pump going bad. It's rare to see a fuel pump not have catastrophic failure, but it does happen. Fuel pumps are designed to kill themselves if they start acting strange, they have a fusible link inside the motor and any strange behavior will cut the power to the pump so to avoid any possibility of electrical spark.

The first step is to confirm the fuel is getting to the engine and that requires removing the fuel line at the engine during a time that the engine wont start. There are safe ways to do this but they require tools I don’t think you have. The fuel pressure is not huge but it’s enough to be a problem if you do not have experience removing pressurized fuel lines. At that mileage changing the fuel pump AND FILTER would be a good start if you want to throw parts at the problem.
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Old 08-14-2006, 10:44 PM
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Did you find a fix for this yet? I have around 74k on my 2000 4.4 and just started seeing this problem a couple weeks ago. Intermittent at first, but it's been happening more frequently now. Generally takes 2-3 tries to start with no rhyme or reason for why it is happening. To make things even more fun, I had it stall on the freeway today doing around 50. Made my commute pretty exciting. In any case, this seems to be a common problem these days, and I'd rather not throw parts at the problem if I don't have to.
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Old 08-14-2006, 11:33 PM
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No :'( i never did get it fixed. I am not wanting to put a lot of money into the diagnosing so it has just been something that although it is very annoying and quite embarrassing I live with. I did remove the back seat for a little while and had the X5 take a little longer to start (7-8 cranks) a few times, but each time I did hear the fuel pump running and since a fuel pump costs $265 I didn't feel like just throwing one it for the hell of it.

Hardest part about figuring out what the problem is that it doesn't happen all the time, and when it does happen, it doesn't throw any codes.

Several things it could be after what little research i have done:
transmitter in key?
receiver ring around ignition switch?
fuel pump?
ecu?

Even a new key, which i should get because when I got the car I only got one, is $160.

If anyone has else has ever seen this problem please let us know, on any car with a 4.4 for that matter. If anyone has any ideas on what to check those are appreciated also.

Thanks

(sorry I wasn't much help)
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