Engine Died Suddenly, EML, BAT, Check Engine Light came on

[nateH]

Hello I am a bit of a newbie on this forum
I currently have an e85 z4 with the N52 engine with just a cold air intake (AFE) with around 106k miles on the odometer.

This afternoon my engine just suddenly died. I was reversing and got about 3 feet before it just went out. Immediately, a red battery light came on with the EML, and a check engine light was in yellow. The engine had been driven only 15 minutes prior so it was well warmed up. I went to start it back up, and it started perfectly with no lights or anything out of order. RPMS were steady, and no off sounds could be heard.

Deep down, I have a feeling I may be looking at a faulty fuel pump, but the mechanic in me says no since it held RPMs steady, and it seemed as if I had all the power available when I drove. Another thing off quick research is possibly a low battery so I will look at voltage when I get off work.

Has anyone experienced this or is this a known issue for yall
If anyone can help shed some light I would be beyond grateful. Let me know if I can fill you in on what happened

 

[Neens76]

Someone more knowledgable will be along but have you checked battery connections?

 

[nateH]

Someone more knowledgable will be along but have you checked battery connections?

Battery connections are solid. Check even my main lines that run into the engine compartment. Checked fuses as well nothing was blown which I figured since when it died I still had power to everything

 

[colb]

With it running put a voltmeter on the battery terminals and see if its being charged by the alternator, you should see 13 -14volts if its charging. ensure the connections at the alternator are tight as well. Since you have an eml on code read it to see what code it set.

 

[GAZA62]

When i had my Z the only time the engine died was a drained battery due to faulty alternator but it took a while of driving to drain the battery and the car started shutting down dash lights all went out no power steering then finally gave up when i stopped at traffic lights but would not restart like yours.

Re fuel pump i had one that needed changing it never caused any warning lights but i could hear it and feel it through the seat.

 

[nateH]

Alrighty, it's now been around 2 days, and no issues have come up. Knock on wood.
I checked battery voltage- read a perfect 12.45
as well as alternator output- a perfect 14.26
so it seems my car may have had a bad day or something of that nature; I don't know yet. Once I get home from college, I'll, look more in-depth into it.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Alrighty, it's now been around 2 days, and no issues have come up. Knock on wood.
I checked battery voltage- read a perfect 12.45
as well as alternator output- a perfect 14.26
so it seems my car may have had a bad day or something of that nature; I don't know yet. Once I get home from college, I'll, look more in-depth into it.

Are you sure you just didn't stall it? The only ever stall I did was perfectly smooth and it just cut out :lol:

 

[nateH]

Alrighty, it's now been around 2 days, and no issues have come up. Knock on wood.
I checked battery voltage- read a perfect 12.45
as well as alternator output- a perfect 14.26
so it seems my car may have had a bad day or something of that nature; I don't know yet. Once I get home from college, I'll, look more in-depth into it.

Are you sure you just didn't stall it? The only ever stall I did was perfectly smooth and it just cut out :lol:

See that would make sense but its an automatic

 

[Scooba_Steve]

See that would make sense but its an automatic

Dang! It's odd to cut out fully. Perhaps the ignition switch?

 

[nateH]

See that would make sense but its an automatic

Dang! It's odd to cut out fully. Perhaps the ignition switch?

From everything I've looked like I think your suggestion might be correct. It makes the most amount of sense, so I'll keep it in mind. As of now, the car starts perfectly, and I haven't had an issue since.

 

[nateH]

I am back sadly
So I was driving at full throttle, and my engine went straight into limp mode, A Christmas tree of a dash appeared and power steering went out the door. I pulled over, turned the car off, and turned it back on, and everything was back to normal, not even a check engine light. This was maybe 2 weeks ago, and nothing happened, but now it's back. I went to start my engine, and it would just crank. I stopped, let the car sit for a minute, and tried again for it to start right up. There was no check engine light at all. I started driving, and maybe 3 minutes into it at low speed, my car did exactly what it had done 2 weeks before. I pulled over, turned it off, and everything came back, but now I have a check engine light.

So I did some digging and found this forum
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=127004

So I'm pretty sure it could be my eccentric shaft sensor; everything checks out. But I want to get a code reader (I don't have one, but I just bought Carly, so that'll be nice for the future) before I drop 300 on this. Anywho, I'm going to try to check it out tonight.
Ill try and update this thread and maybe make a full in-depth guide if it is my shaft sensor.

 

[Roberltd2]

Maybe worth putting some fuel injector cleaner in the tank. Here in the UK I've used Wynn's Formula Gold.
Forte Advanced Formula Motor Flush as well when you do the oil change.
It worked for me anyway.
All the best.

 

[nateH]

Okay, so a lot has happened-
I first checked my ESS, and unsurprisingly, there was a ton of oil. So that is an issue.
But I then thought to check my codes (at this time, I do not have a check engine light; it disappeared this morning for some reason idk)
I then found codes as follows Read by my Creator 310+
2A94 DME: Crankshaft Sensor, signal
2Ad0 No message from the transmission control unit... (Basically, this code comes from 2A94)
Now a faulty Crankshaft sensor, that could be the issue I think. It makes sense with a rough start and what I have said previously in this thread.
it is now dark and raining in social, so I'm going to retreat inside and look more into this next Wednesday when my parts from FCP arrive; hopefully, I'll be able to get through the week.

 

[nateH]

Alrighty, it's now been almost a month, and I can say it was entirely my CSS. Hope this thread helps others as always. Might make a tutorial I do not know yet.

ALSO if you purchase the CSS kit from FCP, they send you the wrong bolt so be aware of that

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Alrighty, it's now been almost a month, and I can say it was entirely my CSS. Hope this thread helps others as always. Might make a tutorial I do not know yet.

ALSO if you purchase the CSS kit from FCP, they send you the wrong bolt so be aware of that

 

[Z4Mariner]

Kudos for posting your solution as a follow-up ! That's mighty helpful to folks searching for anawers !!