89 320i Intermittent Missing

[Ciaran Moynihan <ciaran.moynihan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi=20

I'm new to the list and was wondering if any of you have come across a =
very
strange very intermittent problem that I've been having with my 1989 =
320i.

Occasionally while cruising or accelerating the engine will die for a =
second
and then pick up again. This results in a very annoying 'lurch' in the =
car.
There is no spluttering or fading power loss associated with this, the
engine just seems to shut of for a second and then pick up again. This =
may
happen 4 or five times during one long trip and then might not happen =
again
for weeks.=20

Once or twice the engine has just died for no reason at a steady tick =
over
and started easily again. The car can also take a long time to start =
very
occasionally and sometimes I have had to leave it for a few minutes =
before
it would start. There is however no strong smell of fuel which I would
associate with 'flooding' when the engine is hot. The Tick over is =
normally
a little rough but steady.

I have checked all Wiring to the ECU, Engine sensors, Fuel Pump and =
Relay
and all seem OK. Otherwise everything else is fine with the Car.

Has anyone come across a problem like this. I am considering paying a =
Bosch
Engine Management specialist lots of =A3=A3=A3 to run a full set of =
tests on the
car but as it is an intermittent problem they will not guarantee me =
that
they will find it.

The Motronic ECU is supposed to store fault codes. Is there any way to
download and analyse these without specialist equipment or is there any
other way to diagnose this problem.

I would appreciate any suggestions anyone might have on this either via =
the
digest or direct email.

Thanks

Ciaran

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