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Hi All,
I have been working on my moms 2004 300M for the past few months after the dealer and a local shop couldn’t trace any problems. For over a year now the car on occasion will not start. The car will attempt to turn over but will not fire up. Sometimes it works just fine. This can happen whether the engine is hot or cold.
Initially I found that there was low fuel pressure and traced it to the pump: that has been replaced. This appeared to help, but not solve the problem. The alternator was then replaced (but I think this was unrelated and just a standard failure due to age). A handful of vacuum hoses were replaced, but this only helped and did not solve the problem. I did notice over time that it was eating oil. I replaced the manifold and valve cover gaskets. I also thoroughly cleaned the manifold as it did have a substantial amount of oil just sitting in it. This actually appeared to solve the problem for about one month, but now it has returned recently and with a vengeance (nearly every time it doesn’t want to start).
There was no oil in the coolant last time I changed the manifold gasket. I haven’t taken it apart again, but I suspect there is an oil leak still in the engine and just haven’t had time to look. I do need to do the compression test, but I do not suspect a cracked head or head gasket as once it runs it does so with no issues and very well (not quite new, but close).
What else can I look or test for…or should I chalk this up to gremlins?
Thanks for any advice and ideas
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I should mention (after looking at other recent posts) that the entire valve assembly for (I believe) 1/3/5 is completely discolored (similar to this guys Xtera)
He says Scotty Kilmer attributes this to overheating, but…surprise surprise this engine hasn’t ever overheated. I did replace the thermostat since everything was apart anyway a month ago.
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