Wont start - possibly crank angle sensor??

[ryan1980]

Hi All,

My E21 BMW (with vr 3.8 engine in it) wont start I have just finished replacing the timing chain, crank angle sensor and harmonic balancer.

I have no spark. I can't bring up the fault codes as obviously i dont have the lights on the dash. Any ideas? Would the car not start if the CAS was faulty?

What are the symptoms of a faulty CAS and is there some other way i can test / override it??

Ryan

[Cheap6]

More info. might help some; a new conversion or previously running and just stopped? There should be spark if the CAS and DFI are working, even if the PCM isn't. The CAS will earth/not earth the signal wires as the vanes on the balancer pass through it - I've posted how it works in previous posts = search. Can you jury rig a 'dash' light to check the codes?

[ryan1980]

It was running fine until now. exuse my ignorance, but whats PCM?
I suppose it would be possible if i had the cable from another VR?

I'll do a search of your posts, thanks mate

[jasetheace]

Need help with this one,its got me totally bewildered.
I can only start my VS first thing in the morning,or about an hour after I have turned it off.
It was on gas when I bought it,had these said probs,put an entire new gas system on it and problems still remain..? I stop hard at traffic lights..it dies...Im driving along and it dies..same results on petrol.
Any ideas?
Cheers
Jase

[hako]

Need help with this one,its got me totally bewildered.
I can only start my VS first thing in the morning,or about an hour after I have turned it off.
It was on gas when I bought it,had these said probs,put an entire new gas system on it and problems still remain..? I stop hard at traffic lights..it dies...Im driving along and it dies..same results on petrol.
Any ideas?
Cheers
Jase

I'd check for logged fault codes first as it's probably the CAS that's failing - they fail when hot and then fix themselves when cooled down but this gets worse....much worse! Another test is to pour cold water over the sensor when it fails....should then start.
A new CAS is as low as $50 on Ebay and not too hard to instal.
To check codes:Checking error codes VR/VS (Revised)