I'm trying to get my stepson's E350 started- I wasn't driving it so I am handicapped by not knowing exactly what it was doing at the time. He called and said it wouldn't start after loading some furniture. I drove to the location, and attempted to jump it with my F150 Lightning. Turned over but did not fire. It seemed like it wasn't turning over as fast as it should, but I attributed that to the low battery(s). He hadn't changed the oil lately, and it was 5 quarts low. I topped it up and it still wouldn't fire.
Had it towed to my shop the next morning, and charged the batteries, and tested them. Front was new, and the back tested bad. Got it replaced at Walmart (free). Still wouldn't start. Sometimes it would barely turn over even with new batteries and the charger hooked up on 200A boost. I pulled the starter and it checked out good, I checked all of the connections, tested the fuses under the hood, all good. He said it was driving fine before it died, but I'm not sure he would have noticed that anything was amiss.
I changed the oil and filter, changed and drained the fuel filter, re-checked the charge and tried again. No go. Fuel pump runs, fuel canister was full when I changed the filter. What gets me is he was driving it every day with no major problems, aside from the fact that he called about smelling smoke from the engine that turned out to be the AC clutch. I told him he could drive it with the AC off until I had the chance to replace it. That solved that problem at the time, except now there is AC clutch disk powder all over the front of the engine.
It almost seems that the engine is not spinning freely- maybe there's some fuel in a cylinder and it's hydro-locking, or like a bearing is seizing? No oil in the water or water in the oil.
Summary:
Bad rear battery- replaced (both 700 CCA)
Low oil- changed oil and filter
Water reservoir low- topped up
Fuel filter drained and changed
Starter pulled, tested, and re-installed
All connections cleaned and tightened
Was running when it was turned off- don't know first hand how well
Am I missing something obvious?
I don't have a code scanner- is that the next move?
I know it should have 750 CCA batteries, but it has been starting fine for 2 years with the 700s.
Thanks for any help!
Had it towed to my shop the next morning, and charged the batteries, and tested them. Front was new, and the back tested bad. Got it replaced at Walmart (free). Still wouldn't start. Sometimes it would barely turn over even with new batteries and the charger hooked up on 200A boost. I pulled the starter and it checked out good, I checked all of the connections, tested the fuses under the hood, all good. He said it was driving fine before it died, but I'm not sure he would have noticed that anything was amiss.
I changed the oil and filter, changed and drained the fuel filter, re-checked the charge and tried again. No go. Fuel pump runs, fuel canister was full when I changed the filter. What gets me is he was driving it every day with no major problems, aside from the fact that he called about smelling smoke from the engine that turned out to be the AC clutch. I told him he could drive it with the AC off until I had the chance to replace it. That solved that problem at the time, except now there is AC clutch disk powder all over the front of the engine.
It almost seems that the engine is not spinning freely- maybe there's some fuel in a cylinder and it's hydro-locking, or like a bearing is seizing? No oil in the water or water in the oil.
Summary:
Bad rear battery- replaced (both 700 CCA)
Low oil- changed oil and filter
Water reservoir low- topped up
Fuel filter drained and changed
Starter pulled, tested, and re-installed
All connections cleaned and tightened
Was running when it was turned off- don't know first hand how well
Am I missing something obvious?
I don't have a code scanner- is that the next move?
I know it should have 750 CCA batteries, but it has been starting fine for 2 years with the 700s.
Thanks for any help!
