Engine re-installed after rebuild, now having intermittent no crank no start- HELP

GearHead335i · 08-01-2022, 02:03 PM

So to break it down, I own a 2012 x5 35i that spun and rod bearing after doing an OFHG job. The car sat for awhile before I decided to remove the engine so I could see what I was working with. The engine was torn down and Ended up having a spun rod bearing on cylinder 1. The crankshaft was repolished and brought back into spec. The car only drove 0.9 of a mile after OFHG replacement before it shut off so the damage to the crankshaft was minimal. We plasti-Gauged the bearing clearances and all were the same and well within spec. Since the bearing had spun on cylinder one, I opted to replace the piston and rod for cylinder one as well just to be safe. All new coded bearings were installed along with New connecting rod bolts, bedplate assembly bolts, oil pan gasket, timing chain assembly, head gasket, valve cover and valve cover gasket, various O-rings and Other things I’m not thinking of right now.

Engine was put back together with all proper torque measurements/sequence, engine was timed with a N55 timing kit and the motor now spins over beautifully. Get the thing back in the car and The transmission hooked back up with torque converter bolts reattached I went to go turn the engine over just before I moved any further. There are a few different things unplugged as the charge pi/throttlebody/intake manifold are not installed on the car right now but the car should/did turnover after I initially tried a couple of times but now the starter solenoid you can just hear clicks.

I ran the codes and other than the slew of codes I knew would be there since several things are unplugged currently, there were two starter codes; A0B4 (Engine start, starter operation) and A0B3 (starter motor terminal 50).

Now two years ago when I was tracking down what was going on after I did the oil filter housing gasket, I originally thought it was the starter because it was doing something similar but the motor was completely locked up so obviously the starter was just going to click. Point being the starter was brand new When I installed it two years ago when all of the stuff originally happened. My thought is maybe the starter gave out because I tried to turn the car over so many times with it locked up? Also, the battery is legitimately brand new just got it yesterday.

I’ve researched this a little bit and saw that terminal 50 is something that is on the positive battery cable referred to as the BST and when this comes up as an issue there is actually something that physically pushes out almost like a fuse that you have to push back in or replace the cable entirely. I’ve looked at the BST and it does seem as if the Terminal 50 piece on the positive battery terminal cable is popped out a little bit and I tried to push it back in with a screwdriver but no luck. I think apparently you have to somehow remove and disassemble all of the positive terminal wiring and plastic portion of the battery topper and hammer back in the terminal 15 “fuse” that pops out when this happens (not something I want to do so I have purchased a new cable that will be here Wednesday.)

At the end of the day I am just a little exhausted and could definitely use some help. Should I disassemble the battery topper and try and push back in the terminal 50? Could a starter that was brand new two years ago trying to turn over a seized engine multiple times be bad now? Again the engine turns over freely and perfectly with a breaker bar and the engine turned over a couple of times when I was just trying to build oil pressure before I plugged everything else in and tried to fire it for the first time but again now it is not and all you hear is the cell annoyed click. I’ll post a video so you guys can hear it one of the couple of times it did turn over and then when it stopped turning over and just started to clip.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

https://youtube.com/shorts/dJDKQKxU4fE?feature=share

wcs531 · 08-01-2022, 02:32 PM

The sound in the video seems strange, like the starter is spinning but the teeth aren't engaging in the flex disc perhaps?

GearHead335i · 08-01-2022, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wcs531

The sound in the video seems strange, like the starter is spinning but the teeth aren't engaging in the flex disc perhaps?

Yeah you are right in the beginning when it first starts cranking it does sound strange but then evens out and sounds normal. I wonder if I should unbolt the six bolts that connect the fly wheel and torque converter and see if it spins over freely then? Although when I spin the motor over by hand it feels fine and it’s only clicking now which if it was the fly wheel on the back of the motor then it would at least try and have the starter teeth connect with the fly wheels again since it would be in a new position After spinning the motor over by hand. Plus the transmission and motor are perfectly put together, no gaps or anything so again theoretically it should be spinning over just fine. What’s even weirder is that it did spin over and now it just clicks which is making me think somehow the brand new two year old starter could be the problem.

GearHead335i · 08-01-2022, 03:47 PM

Some further development, realized the ground underneath the front drivers side wheel well was disconnected, reconnected it, starter still just clicks. I’m leaning towards the BST (fix would be replacing the positive battery terminal). Reason I think that is bc the car has a restraint malfunction on the idrive. That, as well as the starter just clicking, from my research all signs point to BST. Still can’t explain how the car did crank a few times intermittently and now no longer does…

All of this would mean that the car is under the impression that it got into an accident. I mean i did disassemble the entire front clip/front suspension of the car so that could have something to do with it.

MrSweet1991 · 08-01-2022, 04:14 PM

Sounds like your on the ball with the BST, just curious though. Can you not use a battery and jump the starter motor directy to see if it works?

wcs531 · 08-01-2022, 07:41 PM

Rewatched the video and did see that the harmonic balancer was spinning so the starter is catching the flex disc.

I would post on e90post since its probably more active and the issue is engine related versus chassis.

These threads seem to point to the CAS module being fried:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1825758

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...highlight=A0B4

GearHead335i · 08-01-2022, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

Sounds like your on the ball with the BST, just curious though. Can you not use a battery and jump the starter motor directy to see if it works?

That’s good to hear as I am currently covered in cuts, grime, and small pieces of dirt and gravelFrom my driveway….lol. You know I was going to do that before I put the engine back in and I am KICKING myself I didn’t try and turn the motor over with the starter when it was out. I have not tried to connect a battery right to the starter although I did uninstall the starter and hit the push to start and it turned over (just the starter, not the engine as the starter wasn’t installed) which in theory means the starter is ok atleast it has enough power to turn itself but may not be enough when it’s reinstalled turning the engine over.

If the starter is good though then it could be one of only two things; the BST or do you think some how the engine and transmission isn’t in lined up some how? Even though their are no gaps at all, every bolt goes in and lines up fine, no gaps or anything, same with the starter, lines up to rear of engine no gaps.

Also do you know are the BST’s one time use? I saw a few people that had hammered it back in and the car started. I ordered a new one so tried to hammer it back in and cleared the restraint codes, reinstalled, and still click.

Last thing I can think of is there’s a ground that goes to the front of the engine off of the water pump plug and I grounded it underneath the lower turbo manifold bracket as I was almost positive that’s where it went and the ground for the front of the engine was back at the car but it was the rear ground that was at the car, and this ground went to the front of the engine. Do you think that could have anything to do with it? I’m starting to think maybe there was some type of coating, zinc maybe on the lower turbo manifold bracket causing it to not have a good ground. There’s a guy on YouTube I followed for a lot of the rebuild and he forgot to put the front ground on and only 1 of his dme’s were showing up when he scanned the car. His name on YT is “Simple Car Guy”

GearHead335i · 08-02-2022, 09:29 AM

UPDATE, realized I purchased the starter 2 years ago from fcpeuro and with their lifetime warranty I decided to buy a new starter. One side return the original one I purchased two years ago they will refund me in full, pretty cool program deff worth checking out if you haven’t already, and they are local in Milford Connecticut.

So on the way that should be here tomorrow is a brand new starter and BST (Battery Safety Terminal- positive battery terminal Has a pyrotechnic fuse in it that if the car was in an accident or thought it wasn’t an accident blows and does not send the correct voltage to starter). In my case I’m thinking with me disassembling the entire front end with a dead as a doornail battery or is what caused the fuse to blow. I don’t know why I was thinking if it’s completely dead it’s as good as unplugging it which was dumb on my part because it obviously wasn’t.

Also tested voltage at the starter solenoid and it’s showing around 11.64 V which I was surprised by although the caveat is that at the B+ terminal (where you jump your car from upfront) was jumping all over the place never getting a consistent 12v aswell as at the alternator, same thing, jumping all over the place. So I’m feeling pretty confident that it’s the BST, a faulty starter, and if that doesn’t do it, must be the CAS module as some others pointed out since the symptoms are fairly similar. Will keep this thread updated but any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated and welcomed!

GearHead335i · 08-06-2022, 03:42 PM

*****SOLVED*****

Turns out it was a grounding issue which still is blowing my mind bc I thought everything was grounded properly. Did a simple check by connecting jumper cables from the chassis to the engine as a temporary ground to see if the car cranked, sure enough cranked right up. I also replaced the BST and swamped the starter for the new lifetime replacement from fcpeuro, but that may have been for nothing but oh well, can’t hurt to have a brand new starter and BST.

Also got the car to fire up for a second to be sure once everything was back together she would run. Deff happy days over here, hopefully the rest of the reassembly goes without a hitch!

08-01-2022, 02:03 PM	#1
GearHead335i Lieutenant 147 Rep 538 Posts Drives: E90 335i xDrive LCI Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Southern New Jersey iTrader: (1)	Engine re-installed after rebuild, now having intermittent no crank no start- HELP So to break it down, I own a 2012 x5 35i that spun and rod bearing after doing an OFHG job. The car sat for awhile before I decided to remove the engine so I could see what I was working with. The engine was torn down and Ended up having a spun rod bearing on cylinder 1. The crankshaft was repolished and brought back into spec. The car only drove 0.9 of a mile after OFHG replacement before it shut off so the damage to the crankshaft was minimal. We plasti-Gauged the bearing clearances and all were the same and well within spec. Since the bearing had spun on cylinder one, I opted to replace the piston and rod for cylinder one as well just to be safe. All new coded bearings were installed along with New connecting rod bolts, bedplate assembly bolts, oil pan gasket, timing chain assembly, head gasket, valve cover and valve cover gasket, various O-rings and Other things I’m not thinking of right now. Engine was put back together with all proper torque measurements/sequence, engine was timed with a N55 timing kit and the motor now spins over beautifully. Get the thing back in the car and The transmission hooked back up with torque converter bolts reattached I went to go turn the engine over just before I moved any further. There are a few different things unplugged as the charge pi/throttlebody/intake manifold are not installed on the car right now but the car should/did turnover after I initially tried a couple of times but now the starter solenoid you can just hear clicks. I ran the codes and other than the slew of codes I knew would be there since several things are unplugged currently, there were two starter codes; A0B4 (Engine start, starter operation) and A0B3 (starter motor terminal 50). Now two years ago when I was tracking down what was going on after I did the oil filter housing gasket, I originally thought it was the starter because it was doing something similar but the motor was completely locked up so obviously the starter was just going to click. Point being the starter was brand new When I installed it two years ago when all of the stuff originally happened. My thought is maybe the starter gave out because I tried to turn the car over so many times with it locked up? Also, the battery is legitimately brand new just got it yesterday. I’ve researched this a little bit and saw that terminal 50 is something that is on the positive battery cable referred to as the BST and when this comes up as an issue there is actually something that physically pushes out almost like a fuse that you have to push back in or replace the cable entirely. I’ve looked at the BST and it does seem as if the Terminal 50 piece on the positive battery terminal cable is popped out a little bit and I tried to push it back in with a screwdriver but no luck. I think apparently you have to somehow remove and disassemble all of the positive terminal wiring and plastic portion of the battery topper and hammer back in the terminal 15 “fuse” that pops out when this happens (not something I want to do so I have purchased a new cable that will be here Wednesday.) At the end of the day I am just a little exhausted and could definitely use some help. Should I disassemble the battery topper and try and push back in the terminal 50? Could a starter that was brand new two years ago trying to turn over a seized engine multiple times be bad now? Again the engine turns over freely and perfectly with a breaker bar and the engine turned over a couple of times when I was just trying to build oil pressure before I plugged everything else in and tried to fire it for the first time but again now it is not and all you hear is the cell annoyed click. I’ll post a video so you guys can hear it one of the couple of times it did turn over and then when it stopped turning over and just started to clip. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! https://youtube.com/shorts/dJDKQKxU4fE?feature=share Last edited by GearHead335i; 08-01-2022 at 03:02 PM..
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08-01-2022, 02:32 PM	#2
wcs531 Second Lieutenant 97 Rep 281 Posts Drives: E90 335xi / E70 X5d Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Philadelphia iTrader: (1)	The sound in the video seems strange, like the starter is spinning but the teeth aren't engaging in the flex disc perhaps?
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08-01-2022, 03:47 PM	#4
GearHead335i Lieutenant 147 Rep 538 Posts Drives: E90 335i xDrive LCI Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Southern New Jersey iTrader: (1)	Some further development, realized the ground underneath the front drivers side wheel well was disconnected, reconnected it, starter still just clicks. I’m leaning towards the BST (fix would be replacing the positive battery terminal). Reason I think that is bc the car has a restraint malfunction on the idrive. That, as well as the starter just clicking, from my research all signs point to BST. Still can’t explain how the car did crank a few times intermittently and now no longer does… All of this would mean that the car is under the impression that it got into an accident. I mean i did disassemble the entire front clip/front suspension of the car so that could have something to do with it.
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08-01-2022, 04:14 PM	#5
MrSweet1991 Captain 129 Rep 828 Posts Drives: BMW E90 330D M Sport Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: West Midlands iTrader: (0)	Sounds like your on the ball with the BST, just curious though. Can you not use a battery and jump the starter motor directy to see if it works?
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08-01-2022, 07:41 PM	#6
wcs531 Second Lieutenant 97 Rep 281 Posts Drives: E90 335xi / E70 X5d Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Philadelphia iTrader: (1)	Rewatched the video and did see that the harmonic balancer was spinning so the starter is catching the flex disc. I would post on e90post since its probably more active and the issue is engine related versus chassis. These threads seem to point to the CAS module being fried: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1825758 https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...highlight=A0B4
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08-02-2022, 09:29 AM	#8
GearHead335i Lieutenant 147 Rep 538 Posts Drives: E90 335i xDrive LCI Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Southern New Jersey iTrader: (1)	UPDATE, realized I purchased the starter 2 years ago from fcpeuro and with their lifetime warranty I decided to buy a new starter. One side return the original one I purchased two years ago they will refund me in full, pretty cool program deff worth checking out if you haven’t already, and they are local in Milford Connecticut. So on the way that should be here tomorrow is a brand new starter and BST (Battery Safety Terminal- positive battery terminal Has a pyrotechnic fuse in it that if the car was in an accident or thought it wasn’t an accident blows and does not send the correct voltage to starter). In my case I’m thinking with me disassembling the entire front end with a dead as a doornail battery or is what caused the fuse to blow. I don’t know why I was thinking if it’s completely dead it’s as good as unplugging it which was dumb on my part because it obviously wasn’t. Also tested voltage at the starter solenoid and it’s showing around 11.64 V which I was surprised by although the caveat is that at the B+ terminal (where you jump your car from upfront) was jumping all over the place never getting a consistent 12v aswell as at the alternator, same thing, jumping all over the place. So I’m feeling pretty confident that it’s the BST, a faulty starter, and if that doesn’t do it, must be the CAS module as some others pointed out since the symptoms are fairly similar. Will keep this thread updated but any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated and welcomed! Last edited by GearHead335i; 08-02-2022 at 03:40 PM..
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08-06-2022, 03:42 PM	#9
GearHead335i Lieutenant 147 Rep 538 Posts Drives: E90 335i xDrive LCI Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Southern New Jersey iTrader: (1)	***SOLVED*** Turns out it was a grounding issue which still is blowing my mind bc I thought everything was grounded properly. Did a simple check by connecting jumper cables from the chassis to the engine as a temporary ground to see if the car cranked, sure enough cranked right up. I also replaced the BST and swamped the starter for the new lifetime replacement from fcpeuro, but that may have been for nothing but oh well, can’t hurt to have a brand new starter and BST. Also got the car to fire up for a second to be sure once everything was back together she would run. Deff happy days over here, hopefully the rest of the reassembly goes without a hitch!
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