fuel relay

[Hey Joe]

I have a 1985 318i manual. And I'm having the exact same problem as bigman348. But is just suddenly started to happen 3 days ago.

My Car will only start if I leave it sit for a long time. When it does start it might idle for 15 minutes max and then it shuts off again. I've been able to drive it around on a couple of occasions just around the block to see how it's driving and everything seems alright. But if I stop the car and let it idle for too long it shuts off again. I noticed today it's getting harder to start. It started this morning but it shut down after idling about 5 minutes and hasn't started since.

I was able to actually drive it yesterday but today it only started once and didn't stay on very long.

anyone have this problem before and know what could be wrong?

[jeffreyb4me]

hope the bad ground fixed it, tis possible. The ICC reading you need is 485mA, no lower no higher. You obviously need to contect your ammeter in series to the valve, an easy [ BUT be careful not to ground anything!] is to unplug it then connect only one lug of the plug. Connect the meter's aligator clips to the male lug on the valve and the open female terminal of the connector.
HOW high is the idle ???
very high would be about 1600 RPM with engine hitting 'fuel-cut' [ surging quickly]
slightly high about 1200......