[Spenser]

SOLVED! HPFP was the issue.
---------------------------------

Hi! This is my first thread because up till now I've found great advice on other's posts. As an overview, I've experienced waste gate rattle forever and have had issues reaching target boost, but lately a new problem arose with hard cold starts and very bad idle and decreased high fuel pressure, but if the engine is warm it seems ok. I'm thinking it may be clogged injectors due to turbo oil blow by. Here's a history of the car and and deeper explanation of everything going on with it. Please let me know if my thoughts sound reasonable, and give me input on what else I can do to diagnose this issue, thanks!!!


Google doc with everything below in an easy to read format: https://docs.google.com/document/d/103SE9PgHCzeMFDIvn96sBoFVAXGBD-raIXsiznXZr3U/edit?usp=sharing

2007 BMW 335i 6MT
Current Mileage: 103,000 miles
(See Appendix A for list of mods)

Logs:

• Cold start: https://datazap.me/u/sriches/cold-start
• Cold engine pedal down and car limping: https://datazap.me/u/sriches/cold-pedal-down-limping
• Warm 3rd gear WOT: https://datazap.me/u/sriches/warm-3rd-gear-wot

Summary of Issues

1. Cold start up is very rough, RPM goes high (1,900) then low (600) and and then back up (1,300) upon a code 29F2 (High pressure pump / open loop set too high) being thrown with an engine malfunction screen. Radiator fans turn to max and idle remains at 800 RPM. Car runs very sluggish, but once warm if the car is turned off and back on it drives more normal, yet still has some performance loss (maybe due to bad turbos).
2. Turbo wastegates rattle like a nonstop maraca band.
3. Boost under target (code 30FF) typically when doing a 3rd gear WOT pull from 30-70 mph.
4. Since 98,000 miles (5,000 miles ago), engine has gotten low on oil needing a liter of oil every 2,000 miles.

Engine Codes Thrown
** Look at the Google Doc to see more details in a pretty table **

• 29DC - Cylinder injection switch-off
• 29F2 - High pressure pump / open loop set too high
• 30FF - Boost under target - possible boost leak
• 29E0 - Fuel mixture control
• 29E1 - Fuel mixture control 2
• 3100 - Low boost mode engaged - CEL displayed

Diagnostics Performed

• Logs. (don’t know how to come to a conclusion on anything though…)
• After rough start up with codes 29DC and 29F2, high fuel pressure is a constant 2 on JB4 when driving (2 converts to 300 psi). Though after the car warms up and is turned off and on, the high fuel pressure goes between 4-11 (600-1,650 psi) with regular driving, and between 8-14 (1,200-2,100 psi) when WOT.
• Low fuel pressure seems to always be around 65-75 psi, and most often remains at about 66.
• Removed all spark plugs. All of them were dry, and no oil on the threads and generally looked good.
• Emptied oil catch can - very little amount of oil (9,000 miles since install)
• Also see Appendix for recent maintenance performed.
• Edit (Sun 5/19): Last night I ran the car on the freeway for about 30 minutes at around 4,700 RPM (trying to burn off an unclog injectors - if that was part of the problem). This morning's cold start was normal and didn't have the same response as yesterday when the RPM went crazy and threw the codes. Fuel pressure was good too.

Possible Problems

• HPFP or fuel injectors? Unsure if HPFP because pressure seems to hold after the car is warm. HPFP was replaced under warranty at least 3 yr ago with previous owner. Unsure if injectors because spark plugs look good with no wetness or oil.
• Turbos - Pretty sure they are the culprit of the boost issues. Would they be part of the rough cold start and idle? I wouldn’t think so. Also, I’m thinking maybe they have oil blow by which is causing the low oil every 2,000 miles. When I installed my charge pipe, the stock charge pipe and intercooler had a ton of oil in them. Could there be so much oil blow by that it causes the rough start and idle if there’s too much oil getting in the cylinder??? Randomly I’ll notice white smoke coming out the exhaust while driving (after the car is warm). But it seems random and I’ve not seen white smoke when idling and I’m looking at the exhaust, or even if I rev the engine. Excessive blow by may be clogging the injectors which would cause hard cold starts. Also heard (from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQeFqAG9Iig) that bad crankcase ventilation could cause oil blow by. Maybe there’s an issue because my OCC had just a very small amount of oil in it after 9,000 miles. How would I check this?? Do I have a bad PCV valve and should it be upgraded?

My Proposed Solutions (what I’m leaning toward)

1. Replace PCV valve with upgraded one in hopes to reduce oil blow by.
2. Replace turbos.

Appendix A - List of Performance Modifications

• JB4 G5 (typically run on Map 5)
• DCI (BMW Dual Cone Performance Intake)
• VRSF Charge Pipe
• Tial BOV
• VRSF Catless Downpipes
• Corsa Exhaust (catless - full exhaust from downpipes back)
• BMS Oil Catch Can

• Fuel: Always premium. Never had e85.

Appendix B - Relevant Maintenance History
Most recent at top

• Oil + filter changed (Liqui Moly Molygen 5w-40) @ 100,741 mi
• Engine air filter washed and oiled (I did measure and use the correct amount of oil) @ 100,538 mi
• Cleaned VANOS solenoids @ 90,928 mi
• Installed silicone vacuum lines @ 88,500 mi
• Walnut blasting to remove intake carbon deposits @ 88,062 mi
• New Spark Plugs (NGK Laser Iridium 95770 gapped to 0.022 in) @ 88,062 mi

[NoGuru]

Well, that is a very detailed post.

I would start with some of the easy general maintenance items.
Change your plugs first.

What is the mod list on the car? I see you are running Meth and E85.

[arkie6]

What is the index number of your fuel injectors?

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by NoGuru

Well, that is a very detailed post.

I would start with some of the easy general maintenance items.
Change your plugs first.

What is the mod list on the car? I see you are running Meth and E85.

Thanks for the reply! I'm not running meth and don't have it set up, and I've never used e85....though I see values are showing up for both in the logs. Maybe my jb4 setting are screwed up?

My spark plugs were changed 15,000 miles ago and I looked at them all yesterday and they looked pretty good. All of them looked like:


My mod list is near the bottom of the post (I know, post is super long, I don't expect everyone to read every word).

Mods are:

• JB4 G5 (typically run on Map 5)
• DCI (BMW Dual Cone Performance Intake)
• VRSF Charge Pipe
• Tial BOV
• VRSF Catless Downpipes
• Corsa Exhaust (catless - full exhaust from downpipes back)
• BMS Oil Catch Can
• Fuel: Always premium. Never had e85.

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by arkie6

What is the index number of your fuel injectors?

I think they are index 10. The part number is 13537537317-10 for cylinder 1. I've never replaced them (I've had the car almost 2 years and have put 17,000 miles on it). I'll have to look to see if the other bank is using the same.

Edit: All 6 have the same part number.

[NoGuru]

Humm, this is a tricky one.
Did you put bad gas in?
It does seem to point towards a fuel issue but hard to be certain.

Hope someone else chimes in to help troubleshoot.

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by NoGuru

Humm, this is a tricky one.
Did you put bad gas in?
It does seem to point towards a fuel issue but hard to be certain.

Hope someone else chimes in to help troubleshoot.

Just over a week ago I drove 850 miles from Salt Lake City to Seattle (I'm in WA for the summer - and only have a fraction of my tools). It was mostly fine on the freeway, but did throw codes 29E0 & 29E1 (fuel mixture control) a couple times randomly while cruising on the freeway.

So Saturday drove for 30ish min on the freeway at 4,700 RPM to see if the injectors were clogged and to help burn/clean them off. Sunday cold start was normal, no issues at all - I only drove it a small distance so no time to warm up completely. Today's cold start was bad again, and a lot of white smoke starting coming out the exhaust. I turned the car off and on a couple times and eventually it was "normal" enough to start driving and luckily had no other problems on my short 8 min drive. I'm guessing I'll probably get the same hard cold start when I go back to it this evening.

Also did some digging yesterday, the PCV valve and flapper seemed ok - I shook them and could hear them working, and blowing in the valve air came through only one way. I took the chargepipe off to check for excess oil - there was a pretty small amount, maybe just enough to cover the palm of your hand. I also noticed oil in my coolant reservoir and I was low on coolant - it looks like I have a small leak on the oil filter housing gasket, but would this cause the hard starting and white smoke?

[bbnks2]

You have a high pressure fuel code, mixture control codes, and injection switch off codes... and you stated that while cruising you've seen your HPFP is sitting at 300psi but LPFP pressure is fine. I think that would point to the HPFP as ONE of your issues. Cruising HPFP should be 600-800psi maybe even 1000psi depending on load and rpm. WOT should be 1800psi+.

White smoke is a sign of a stuck open injector (raw fuel). The JB4 doesn't show fuel cut-off AFR properly so you can't do the decel test for a stuck open injector... The only other thing I know of to look for a leaky injector would be fouled spark plugs. You only showed us one of them... are any blackened?

Is the car in limp mode in that 3rd gear log you posted? If not, it doe snot look to be running right at all for what looks like the stock tune... i would reset the JB4 to default values because you might have something jacked up...

low coolant and oil in coolant reservoir is 99.99% the oil filter housing gasket. I don't think I've ever seen a blown head gasket. Looks like you really need to do some basic maintenance/troubleshooting and then reassess.

[Charlie_D]

Hi There

Apologies to jump in on your thread. I am new in the forum and am trying to post a message for help with my car.

I have a squeaking sound that comes from around the gear lever. It only happens when the car has warmed up. If I rest my hand on the lever it stops, but as soon as I lift my hand it squeaks again.

Any advice with this or point in the direction of an existing forum?

Thanks

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Originally Posted by Charlie_D

Hi There

Apologies to jump in on your thread. I am new in the forum and am trying to post a message for help with my car.

I have a squeaking sound that comes from around the gear lever. It only happens when the car has warmed up. If I rest my hand on the lever it stops, but as soon as I lift my hand it squeaks again.

Any advice with this or point in the direction of an existing forum?

Thanks

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by bbnks2

You have a high pressure fuel code, mixture control codes, and injection switch off codes... and you stated that while cruising you've seen your HPFP is sitting at 300psi but LPFP pressure is fine. I think that would point to the HPFP as ONE of your issues. Cruising HPFP should be 600-800psi maybe even 1000psi depending on load and rpm. WOT should be 1800psi+.

White smoke is a sign of a stuck open injector (raw fuel). The JB4 doesn't show fuel cut-off AFR properly so you can't do the decel test for a stuck open injector... The only other thing I know of to look for a leaky injector would be fouled spark plugs. You only showed us one of them... are any blackened?

Is the car in limp mode in that 3rd gear log you posted? If not, it doe snot look to be running right at all for what looks like the stock tune... i would reset the JB4 to default values because you might have something jacked up...

low coolant and oil in coolant reservoir is 99.99% the oil filter housing gasket. I don't think I've ever seen a blown head gasket. Looks like you really need to do some basic maintenance/troubleshooting and then reassess.

Now I'm experiencing two different scenarios of cold starts. Still getting the same as before where the hpfp pressure is super low and the engine hesitates, but this morning's cold start the JB4 read hpfp pressure of 12 (1,800 psi). There was a TON of white smoke coming out the exhaust then. I turned the car off and restarted it a couple times, but it didn't stop until I started driving and reved the engine a little bit - then the pressure showed the normal 5 (750 psi) and I was able to commute to work (though I drove it like a Camry as to not demand extra fuel).

Is this behavior of a failing hpfp? Where sometimes on cold starts it'll have basically no pressure, and other times will be way to much pressure? I also noticed yesterday while doing some pulls that the pressure was too low under WOT (7-10 on JB4... so 1,050-1,500 psi). The car was warm when I did the pulls. Also checked the spark plugs again and they looked fine (I think). All of them again looked pretty much like this:

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by Spenser

Now I'm experiencing two different scenarios of cold starts. Still getting the same as before where the hpfp pressure is super low and the engine hesitates, but this morning's cold start the JB4 read hpfp pressure of 12 (1,800 psi). There was a TON of white smoke coming out the exhaust then. I turned the car off and restarted it a couple times, but it didn't stop until I started driving and reved the engine a little bit - then the pressure showed the normal 5 (750 psi) and I was able to commute to work (though I drove it like a Camry as to not demand extra fuel).

Is this behavior of a failing hpfp? Where sometimes on cold starts it'll have basically no pressure, and other times will be way to much pressure? I also noticed yesterday while doing some pulls that the pressure was too low under WOT (7-10 on JB4... so 1,050-1,500 psi). The car was warm when I did the pulls. Also checked the spark plugs again and they looked fine (I think). All of them again looked pretty much like this:

Rail pressure will be very high during "cold start." as the engine is revving much higher than idle... As far as WOT rail pressure, that sounds way too low but I'd need to see the log. You look to be on either map 1 or stock power levels in the log you posted so you should be having 0 rail pressure issues even if you had 100% E85 in the tank lol. Again, if LPFP pressure is 65psi+ then you probably have a HPFP issue.

That plug looks slightly fuel fouled to me but I guess it could just be the picture. This is a plug I just pulled from my engine after ~500 miles and an autocross event:



Between that plug and the white smoke and misfiring I'd say you need to look into troubleshooting the injectors more.

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by bbnks2

Rail pressure will be very high during "cold start." as the engine is revving much higher than idle... As far as WOT rail pressure, that sounds way too low but I'd need to see the log. You look to be on either map 1 or stock power levels in the log you posted so you should be having 0 rail pressure issues even if you had 100% E85 in the tank lol. Again, if LPFP pressure is 65psi+ then you probably have a HPFP issue.

That plug looks slightly fuel fouled to me but I guess it could just be the picture. This is a plug I just pulled from my engine after ~500 miles and an autocross event:



Between that plug and the white smoke and misfiring I'd say you need to look into troubleshooting the injectors more.

So the ground electrode is pretty white and ashy looking, with a little bit of black speckles on the end of the threads. What's a good way to test if it's injectors vs hpfp? Would bad injectors cause the high pressure reading to be up and down? Are both injectors and pump bad? I'm hesitant to replace one or the other since they're both fairly costly.

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by Spenser

So the ground electrode is pretty white and ashy looking, with a little bit of black speckles on the end of the threads. What's a good way to test if it's injectors vs hpfp? Would bad injectors cause the high pressure reading to be up and down? Are both injectors and pump bad? I'm hesitant to replace one or the other since they're both fairly costly.

Rail pressure issues wouldn't cause white smoke... That's usually raw fuel. does it idle weird too? Put your hand over the exhaust pipe and feel for a "vacuum" pulse. Exhaust should come out in a steady stream if the cars not missing.

Snap a pic of all 6 plugs lined up... You started out by showing 1 normal looking plug now you're showing a different plug that looks like it's got wet fuel on it. Both times you said "they all look like this." Something's not adding up here lol... either you're lying to yourself about what you're seeing or your not knowledgeable enough about what you're looking at to realize that the two plugs you posted a picture of look drastically different.

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by bbnks2

Rail pressure issues wouldn't cause white smoke... That's usually raw fuel. does it idle weird too? Put your hand over the exhaust pipe and feel for a "vacuum" pulse. Exhaust should come out in a steady stream if the cars not missing.

Snap a pic of all 6 plugs lined up... You started out by showing 1 normal looking plug now you're showing a different plug that looks like it's got wet fuel on it. Both times you said "they all look like this." Something's not adding up here lol... either you're lying to yourself about what you're seeing or your not knowledgeable enough about what you're looking at to realize that the two plugs you posted a picture of look drastically different.

Ok this morning I went and took all plugs out again after the car sat overnight (about 13 hrs since I last drove it). Here's what they looked like. None of them were wet.

Google photos album to see in full resolution: https://photos.app.goo.gl/sc8ZnMt32qEYryaJ6









And a video of this morning's cold start (then drove 8 minutes):

And this evening's 'cold start' dashboard view (after 9 hours of it sitting):

If I turn the car off and on a couple times it eventually has a normal idle and no smoke. Sometimes I need to drive a short distance and then turn the car off and back on.

[dpaul]

In all likelihood there are a number of issues affecting your car.

That said, what stands out to me is that your have a consistent 29F2 code and logs show indications of erratically controlled pressure on the high pressure rail. In addition, you report "hard starts", which I take to mean long cranking times and are a classic sign of a failing HPFP. Finally, all the other codes you report could be explained as downstream consequences of a failing HPFP or HPF sensor (part of the pump). However, keep in mind that an improperly adjusted JB4 can be the source of 29F2 codes - you can google to find threads about this.

If I were throwing parts at this problem, I'd remove the JB4 while troubleshooting and if 29F2 codes persisted, I'd swap out the pump.

As to the other stuff; white smoke on cold start is a classic sign of injector failure but your plugs look fine or at least are not wet. So an injector issue seems unlikely. Smoke on startup (usually blue tinged) that disappears or is episodic during normal driving (as you report) is a classic sign of bad valve stem seals. That could account for your increased oil usage but could not account for your initial rough idle (nor could leaky turbo seals). In the absence of any clear indication of oil leaking from VCG, OFHG or oil pan gasket, I'd look first to the PCV system to address oil usage. It is poorly designed - the most common failing items include the PCV valve, the vent hose with flapper and the oil cap. Again, this would have nothing to do with the hard start/rough idle.

[Spenser]

I ordered a new hpfp and oil housing filter gasket + oil cooler gasket. Will update when they come in and I find time to install them.

[NoGuru]

I would think bad O2's sensors could cause the blue smoke as well.

[Spenser]

Alright so I installed the new fuel pump and oil housing filter gasket + oil cooler gasket. MUCH BETTER! The fuel pump seemed to be the main culprit. No more hard starts or choppy idle. Fuel pressure is never lower than 5 on JB4. I also flushed the coolant a few times, and will monitor it for oil to make sure the gaskets were the main cause of the oil getting in coolant. Also going to change the oil this week and send it in to Blackstone Labs for analysis.

Car is still not 100%, I think near the end of summer I'll do a major overhaul of maintenance items.

Thanks everyone for their input and advice!!

Here's a video of a cold start up after the fuel pump install - night and day difference:

[addictedtoboost]

Originally Posted by Spenser

Alright so I installed the new fuel pump and oil housing filter gasket + oil cooler gasket. MUCH BETTER! The fuel pump seemed to be the main culprit. No more hard starts or choppy idle. Fuel pressure is never lower than 5 on JB4. I also flushed the coolant a few times, and will monitor it for oil to make sure the gaskets were the main cause of the oil getting in coolant. Also going to change the oil this week and send it in to Blackstone Labs for analysis.

Car is still not 100%, I think near the end of summer I'll do a major overhaul of maintenance items.

Thanks everyone for their input and advice!!

Here's a video of a cold start up after the fuel pump install - night and day difference:

Makes me wonder, since you say your HPFP was replaced 3 years ago by the previous owner, how reliable actually are the rebuilt HPFP they're selling today? Did you buy your HPFP from FCP?

[Spenser]

Originally Posted by addictedtoboost

Makes me wonder, since you say your HPFP was replaced 3 years ago by the previous owner, how reliable actually are the rebuilt HPFP they're selling today? Did you buy your HPFP from FCP?

Sorry my wording wasn't the most clear in the original post. I meant that the fuel pump was replaced 3+ years ago. So the old pump was at least 3 years old, but likely older. All I know is the recall work had been done at some point with the previous owner(s).

Yeah the new pump is from FCP. Their warranty definitely gives some peace of mind.