'87 325iC - acceleration and and blower motor

[Drew Mouton <drew@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

I'm back on this list after a couple-year hiatus. I recently bought an 
'87 325iC (automatic), and though I've previously owned and rebuilt a 
2002 and a 320i, I'm learning new things about the 325i everyday.

This particular car came through a dealer, who I believe got it at dealer 
auction (so the price was right). I don't know much about the PO, but I 
can make some assumptions: most importantly, though it looked as though 
it had been sitting for a month or two, it also looks like the engine was 
replaced/rebuilt within the last thousand miles or so. It needed some 
attention - ie, I've rebuilt brakes at all four corners, flushed all the 
fluids thoroughly, replaced bushings and other suspension parts, re-wired 
some circuits that had shorts, and I'm about to install an ANSA free flow 
exhaust, etc. - but from the moment I first turned the key, it started 
right up and idled evenly at about 1200 rpm.

1.) Here's my first problem: the day I drove it home, I was out on the 
freeway at about 60mph, and I accelerated hard. It seemed to immediately 
falter, rpms dropped down to 1000 or so, acceleration dropped off 
completely, and the engine faltered for about 5 seconds. Then, it resumed 
normal revs.

Since finishing the various maintenance tasks I've already mentioned, 
I've been driving it daily and in general it drives well (though doesn't 
quite seem to have the power I'm expecting). 

However, yesterday afternoon, after driving it around a bit to get it 
warmed up, I stopped at a stop sign, then stomped on the accelerator. 
Hard. I got about 50 feet worth of really good acceleration, then the 
rpms dropped to about 500, there was no response to the gas pedal, and 
the engine continued to falter. I stumbled part way up a hill, then 
eventually I was able to resume (mostly) normal driving.

This morning, I turned the key, it started up, then the engine quit. It 
wouldn't immediately turn over, but after goosing it a bit it did catch 
eventually, and I drove the car (normally) into work.

So...my gut feeling is that this is an injector-level problem, but since 
I've never done any work on injectors - much less on this car - I'd be 
working directly from the Haynes book. Anyone have some suggestions for 
the best way to approach this problem?

2.) Second problem - when I got the car, the AC blower didn't work. No 
response from the control on the console. I removed the blower motor, 
applied current to the contacts and the fan blew fine. I cleaned it and 
put it back in, and now it can be controlled from the console - except 
that it only clicks on at full-speed (level "4"). 

Is fan speed regulated on the blower motor, on on the console? Is it 
possible that there's a bad bus on the blower motor that's only clicking 
it on when full current is applied?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Drew Mouton

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