Hi all,

Hoping someone will have an insight into the problems I am having with my 99 SL SOHC. About two months ago i had a coolant leak. Replaced water pump. Within a week my starter went out and i replaced with a new one which immediately broke. Put second new one in and car starts rough. On a mechanic friends recommendation replaced my plugs and the Coolant Temperature Sensor. No changes in how rough the car started. Check engine light came on and code said the crankshaft position sensor was bad. Replaced and car now cranks worse than ever. This morning it took 20+ cranks and almost all the battery to get it going. Car spits white smoke for 1 - 3 minutes after cranking. Also have been losing coolant but there is no external leakage. Coolant disappears from reservoir in a day or two and I have gone through two gallons of coolant in the past month with no signs of a leak. Car runs fine after i get it going and subsequent starts are perfect but the initial crank is hard with lots of vibrations. Any advice is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance

 

Sounds like you have either a crack in the head, or a blown head gasket. The water is leaking into your engine, being burned, and going out the exhaust pipe. Get your car running, and check the exhaust for the smell of anitfreeze. The white smoke is another giveaway.

As for the starter -- sounds like the replacement one you got was not right to begin with, and the next one is not much better (where are these parts coming from anyway?)

 

Starter is a duralast from autozone. Second seems to be ok. Went out this morning to crank the car and check the smoke for a smell of antifreeze and the car cranked right up. Car was parked in my garage last night and the front end is jacked up... don't know if those factors would affect my problem. Typically the problems with cranking are the first time I crank it on any given day and not on later cranks, even if I shut it down immediately after the first crank and restart it. The car is usually driven by my wife and I have not let her drive it in the past few days. I will have to take it for a spin later today and then park it overnight in the driveway and see if the exhaust has an odor when I crank it up tomorrow.

 

Here's a couple of other issues you might want to think about, but I'm not suggesting a problem in this area (not without more information) .....

When you park the car outside on the driveway, does the driveway have a noticable slant from front to back?

Second question/comment -- Try to make sure the level of fuel in the gas tank is always more than 1/4 full -- does the extended cranking occur when the fuel tank is below the 1/4 mark on the gauge?

 

So here's the latest. Car was not driven for several days and it cranked fine each time i tried, even after sitting all night. I took it out for an hour last night and the car sputtered and stumbled on the first crank this morning. no smoke from tailpipe and no smell of antifreeze. Car is parked on level surface and gas tank is 3/4+ full.