flooded engine cylinders
 

I was searching this site for flooded engine, and found this video that help fix the problem.


2002 x5 e53 225,000 miles. It was cold, 10 degrees F, and being an older car I wanted to keep it in the garage. I started the car on the first crank and moved the car inside and turned off engine. Car was on no more than 1 min. Next morning I tried to start the car and It just kept cranking but not starting.

After watching this video, I now know I had to keep my foot on the pedal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ha9Gq72wNs

bobbio

De-flood worked on 06 X5 e53
 

....thanks for the de-flood link! Worked for my ‘06 e53....Never flooded my ‘04 X5 e53 during almost 200,000 milles of ownership r.i.p....but my ‘06 which I bought last year w 103,000 miles and wonderful condition interior, has twice flooded the engine....both times happening when the engine was running for under a minute. If your engine floods, and the above video link is broken, here is the procedure:

1). put key in ignition and turn to position “1” ( when the dash lights up).

2). Floor the gas peddle.

3). Crank the engine, with the gas peddle floored, for 15-20 secs.

4). Rest 15-20 secs.

5). Repeat steps 1-4 until you hear the engine start to start

when you perceive the engine is starting to run, let off the gas peddle and the engine should start to idle. If it conks out, you can then try to start the car “normally” as excess fuel should now have exited and de-flooded the engine. My car took about 4-6 cycles of the above,

Dave

Never start a car and shut it off unless you have let it run for at least 5 minutes. BMW M50 thru M54 engines are known to flood if you start the engine move the car and shut it off when the temperature is below freezing. Also never use starting fluid because the hot wire in the MAF may ignite the mixture. You may damage the MAF or start a fire in the engine compartment.

Some procedure as old school engines. Foot to the floor and crank.

I didn't think it possible to flood a fuel injected engine.

From my experience tuning an aftermarket EMS, they run pretty rich during and right after startup to help the car start and idle easier during open loop until the cats and emissions stuff triggers closed loop running. So I'm guessing that's the reason it's possible under just the right circumstances.

:iagree:

That's why I tell people to wait at least 5 minutes before shutting down their BMW when the temps get below freezing. 5 minutes of running should heat up the 02 sensors and you would be in the closed loop where the fuel system can be adjusted by the computer. When the engine is in open loop it is just operating base on the ect (engine coolant temp) and the ambient air temp with a predetermined fuel map. This fuel map provides for a very rich mixture to prevent the engine from stalling on very cold days. Back before computer controlled electronic fuel injection (BC) the rich condition was provided by a choke on the carb. The choke would restrict the amount of air entering the carb so the mixture will be a lot richer.

When running the engine a short time causes the engine to flood, it shouldn't still be flooded the next morning. The fuel should have evaporated overnight. Cold morning flooding is often an indication of a weak battery not cranking the engine fast enough or another problem such as plugs that need to be replaced that don't cause a problem in warmer weather.

Only a few cylinders will have a valve open, so essentially, the other cylinders will be closed tight so the gasoline will have nowhere to evaporate. That's is why the gasoline in your tank don't evaporate overnight.

If an engine was like a gas tank there would still be compression in those cylinders with closed valves the next day. Also, it doesn't take much of a flooded condition to wash the oil film off the cylinder walls to the point they don't seal. Cylinders are not airtight.

Air is always compressible, a liquid is not.

If there is enough gas to wash down the cylinders, the cylinders and plugs are wet and like my dad told me, you are not going to start an engine with wet plugs.

Here's a thread on a guy who couldn't believe his engine was flooded. He tried for several days to get the engine started. Finally gave up and had the car towed to a shop. When the mechanic worked on the car he found the plugs dripping wet. The mechanic dried the plugs and ventilated the cylinders expelling any gas still remaining in the cylinders. Put the plugs back in and the engine started right up.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...0#post25719750

Certainly if plugs get soaked and you don't wait long enough for them to dry any new attempt to start the engine will re-soak the plugs. It is also true that removing the plugs is one way to correct the problem without the wait. That is, unless something else is causing the flooding, not cold weather and/or slow cranking.

My point remains the same, overnight the plugs should dry out and the flooding condition gone. That doesn't mean the engine will start if something else is causing the flooding. There is nothing in that thread indicating how long between the last start attempt and when the mechanic pulled the plugs. My bet is the first thing the mechanic did was try to start it, before he went through a systematic troubleshooting list.

Based on the prior missing condition, something was failing, likely causing the flooding. My suggestion for that thread would have been to start with the simple troubleshooting stuff, air restriction, fuel pressure and spark. If I didn't find anything I would pull a plug to read if air/fuel mixture is reasonable. If not, I would check another plug. If also wet, to save I might pull all plugs, clean them and put them back in an hour or so. When it is back together I would not assume all is well. For first start attempt I would spray starting fluid. Depending on how they looked it would indicate the next step.

My point with washed down cylinders had nothing to do with starting or not. It was that when the rings aren't sealing more air can enter or exit all cylinders. Even when that is not the case a cylinder is not air tight and will allow evaporation.

I think sticking to the simple troubleshooting steps here is always the best approach since members have varying experience, tools and testing equipment. Unfortunately, many members don't have a code reader which is always my first troubleshooting step.

2005 X5 E53 4.4i starting issue
 

Heh guys, I seem to be having the same issue. So I left it overnight. Today I went out and tried the above procedure with the foot to the floor and it started up first time to a very high rev. Then when I took my foot off the pedal the revs came down, it stumbled and died. I tried once more for a short time but all I got was cranking. Did it really take 6 times to start? What if it is not fuel but oil.

cheers

Did you have any other symptoms prior to the no start?

No, it just happened. The solution was a faulty fuel pump that just died on me when these symptoms began. All good now.