Cold start

So the starter cranks the engine normally (normal cranking speed) but it takes a while before the engine fires/ runs?
When you engaged reverse, did it stall when you placed the shifter in reverse or when you let out the clutch?
What is the Fast Idle RPM when started from cold and what is idle RPM when the engine is at operating temp?

 

Wow...it could be any of a dozen things.

Time to methodically eliminate one possibility at a time.

Have you made any changes to the car recently? Is the gasoline fresh? How’s your fuel filter and air filter? Sparkplugs, wires, dizzy cap and rotor all in good shape? Does it only stall when cold? What’s the idle rpm? Is the auxiliary air valve under the coolant tank working properly? Any vacuum leaks?

I could go on and on, but you get the idea...focus on one thing at a time and see where you’re not getting either spark, fuel or air (it’s got to be one of those three).

I know it’s frustrating but take comfort in the fact that the 328 is, fundamentally, a very simple machine. If you keep digging you’ll find the cause.

Good luck. Please keep us posted...

Alan
N.J.

 

Also check to make sure your Frequency Valve is vibrating while the engine is running. See the other threads on this subject to learn more.

Alan
N.J.

 

There are several video's on Youtube that go over all the major components of the Bosch K-Tronic injection, what they do and how they work (). It's hard to help you trouble shoot this without knowing control pressures. However, given the title of the thread, I would start troubleshooting with the Cold Start Valve on the fuel Injector (this is the line from the fuel meter that does to the main body, not one of the cylinders). For the most part, K-tronic is a very simple system and there are only a few components on the system that assist with a cold engine start.

 

The video is a good initial primer for the K-Jet without Lambda system so would apply directly to a euro version 328, but, since the OP is in Los Angeles, he probably has a US version 328 which is a K-Jet with Lambda system so has some significant differences (although one needs to learn K-Jet without Lambda before learning K-Jet with Lambda). If a US version 328, I like Alan's suggestion to confirm/deny if the frequency valve is vibrating (it should vibrate whenever the fuel pump is running) as the initial diagnostic step. We've had many instances on the K-Jet with Lambda and KE-Jet with Lambda systems where something goes wrong in the protection relay function, disabling the frequency valve (or EHA on KE-Jet/KE3-Jet), and then the Mechanic (wrongly) "fixes" things by tweaking the manual mixture screw. This can make warm-running OK-ish, but starting and cold-running will be negatively impacted. If the frequency valve is properly vibrating when the fuel pump is running, the next diagnostic steps IMO would be to confirm/deny if the cold and warm control pressures set by the WUR are still reasonable as Chris suggested. Good Hunting!

 

I had a similar issue a few months ago with my 308 Euro QV. Car would start OK- ish, let it run for a bit and start to back out of the garage, it would just quit. Crank and crank but wouldn’t fire. Pushed it back into the garage and put a full charge on the battery , then installed a quick disconnect on the positive battery cable just for good measure. Thinking low Battery and possibly flooding it cranking it over. Haven’t had another issue. Maybe I’m just lucky.