Starting problems

[DarkMyrakul]

New to the forum, but not new to cars. Hope to learn lots of good info on this forum. With that being said, here is the issue:

The car currently has 30,1XX miles on it. Three days ago, the car started and ran for about 5 minutes. I drove across the parking lot, turned off the car, ran inside to grab something. When I came back out and tried to start the car again it started, sputtered, and quickly died. From then on it only cranked and would not start; with the exception of 2 quick sputters. I had the car towed to the dealer. When they called me in the morning the car started just fine for them, no issues all day. They had to release the car because the codes somehow disappeared and they could not re create the problem.

Fast forward 2 days to today. The car has been running perfect since the dealership. Went outside to start the car....started, sputtered, and died. Tried to start it again and it only cranks. Same issue.

The kicker, exact same parking lot. Almost exact same spot. About to have it towed to the dealership again; in the mean time, any thoughts?

 

[SHOrod]

How old is the battery? I understand that the starter is engaging and spinning the engine, but modern cars are very susceptible to weak/old batteries. And since the first time this happened was after you started the car, ran it for a very short time, then shut it off, the battery would not have had much time to replenish.

If the battery is more than 3 years old I'd consider replacing it before getting too excited about having bigger, more expensive issues.

FWIW, I've already had to replace the battery on my 2011 SHO with 13k miles on it. It failed to the point where it would not even engage the starter. Got me to work just fine but wouldn't start when I tried to leave work 10 hours later on a nice spring day.

My wife previously had a 2002 Lincoln LS that on a 3 year old battery would start fine, let her back out of the driveway, then stall when shifted from reverse to drive. It did this for a couple of weeks, every morning. I tried a few things to no avail, then replaced the battery from a recommendation on a forum and never had another issue.

-Rod

 

[TheDailySHO]

What he said is what I was thinking. Always a safe bet to start with the battery. My Mustang started to do the exact same thing and after new batt no issues.

 

[DarkMyrakul]

Thanks for the experiences. It is at the dealership, because it is under warranty. I will let them know of your experiences and see what they say. Here is another thought also; the issue could never be recreated at the dealer and worked fine for 2 days. I understand it still may be the battery. But after sitting overnight there it starts fine in the morning. There is a little bit of smoke from the exhaust after trying to start it, just noticed that before they towed it. I've read about a similar issue with an injector being stuck open and flooding the engine and the gas evaporates overnight.....possibly? Either way I will post what the dealership has to say. Thank you for your advice.

 

[SHOdded]

Enough smoke to tell the color? Black or blue or white? On these cars, a leaky turbo or turbo oil line fittings and a problematic PCV system can cause oil-based smoke. A leaky injector has been known to happen. Did you try to crank the SHO while keeping the accelerator pressed all the way down (to cut off fuel supply)? You will usually smell fuel out the exhaust if the leaky injector is an issue, maybe the cats are handling it for now. Pulling the plugs will verify that problem if it happens again.

 

[DarkMyrakul]

Very true. I could've sworn it was bluish....indicating oil. But the smoke is not present during any other time, only when it does not want to start. The turbo seals would show up all the time. Possibly the pcv....but, failed to mention very important part....the codes. I guess those would've helped a lot in the beginning. P00C6 and P0087. It is a fuel issue, just not sure which part of the fuel system is causing it yet. Sounds like the fuel pump...but the smoke is the weird part. No smell of gas either.

 

[DarkMyrakul]

So just got back from the dealership. Still nothing, they cannot recreate the problem.

 

[SHOdded]

Did they check for codes? Doesn't sound like it. People get that smoke sometimes when they have aftermarket non-catted downpipes, though the cause is debated between weak turbo seals & the nature of the GDI engine tech. Usually, sitting overnight and then getting smoke out the exhaust is due to leaky valve stem seals (in older cars). Haven't seen an EB teardown yet that has that problem.

 

[DarkMyrakul]

They checked for codes, the weird thing is, there are none when the car gets to them. I have been driving around for several days now and no issues. Seems to only happen in a specific parking lot.

The parking lot is next to a fairly large earth station satellite, probably has nothing to do with it, but this is the only place I have experienced the issue so far. I don't know what effect this would have on the key or other components. I really don't want to test the theory by parking there again because I am tiered of towing my car. But would it be too far fetched to say this may have something to do with it.

 

[TheDailySHO]

But would it be too far fetched to say this may have something to do with it.

I would say it is more than a coincidence. It's possible that place is emitting something that is perhaps activating a diode or device of some sort that is causing the drain. I had a jeep that kept going dead and it ended up being the stupid UConnect phone in the rear view mirror never shutting off. Not related issue but it illustrates that electronics have some weird things that can happen to them. If it only happens in that one place, its the place.