After getting my car to start after it was flooded a few weeks ago, my car intermittently isn't able to start now.

The car ran great and engine temps went down by 15 degrees after I changed all 4 plugs when I first flooded it. It occasionally dropped in rpms to about 620, but it only lasted for only so long before it climbed back up or until I blipped the gas pedal, but other then that, the car seemed fine.

A few days ago, after getting a haircut, all of a sudden it didn't start. My coolant buzzer came on. I thought it could've been an air pocket. I decided to crank the engine to get it to start and see if the buzzer would stop buzzing once I got the fluids to circulate. On my third attempt, I cranked the engine for about 5 seconds before the car finally decided to start for me and 3 seconds later the buzzer shut off re-affirming me that it was an air pocket. 2 days pass. I drive my car to the car wash, park it to dry it with a towel, then start it up when I was finished but the damn thing didn't start. And guess what? The coolant buzzer came on. I let it cool, then added about a quarter of water from my Dasani bottle before it was topped off at the radiator. Still, no luck when I went to start it, I eventually gave up on cranking the engine and just ended up popping the clutch to start the car. Drove it home, then after about 15 minutes, I went to see if the car would start, but nope, it didn't. Is my engine starting to **** on me?

 

I would do two checks:

1. Compression check
2. Coolant pressure check

Those you can do (or have done) without tearing up the car. If those check out fine, then you can start tearing up the car to see what might be the problem.

 

Make sure you are filling coolant in at the fill coolant neck. If you fill it up somewhere else the coolant buzzer will still go on, since the coolant sensor is right there.

Second if it is still buzzing and visually you can see the coolant at the top of the fill neck, thenvcheck your codes to see if you have a faulty coolant sensor (thermosensor).

 

Are you blowing white smoke by any chance?

If your coolant seals are holding up, the cold start issue could be unrelated to your coolant buzzer.

Check your coolant resevoir and make sure it's full up. When you run your engine, the expanding coolant eventually pressurizes the system to the point some coolant is pushed into the resevoir. When the engine is shut off and the coolant cools down, it forms a vacuum that pulls the coolant back into the system. If the level of the bottle is too low it could be pulling air in. Another possibility is you have a slow coolant leak. Sometimes it'll burn off before it ever hits the ground so you won't see a puddle. Sniffing around the engine bay should let you know if there's any coolant escaping, the smell is unmistakable. These are easy tests you can do before anything else.

 

White smoke only came out on cold starts and only lasted until the car was warmed up. I took it as condensation burning off. The buzzer came on after dirving it. The car was already warmed up. The thing is that when the car got up and running, the buzzer shut off.

 

Start the engine with filler cap off and check for bubbles rising in the coolant filler neck.

 

UPDATE

I got my car started today by using the same method I did the first time it didn't start, when I thought the car was flooded. AcesHigh suggested I spray WD-40 into the manifold where my boost gauge hooks up to. I tried this method again and it got my car started again. BUT! I noticed that my air pump ran up then shut off. It started back up again, but then shut off again also. It did this routine of turning on, then shutting off about 7 times before it finally ran up with out stopping. When all this was going on, a decent amount of smoke was coming up from underneath the air pump and didn't stop until I shut the car off. I don't think it was oil or any coolant just burning off because I started the car cold and it was around 60 degrees outside this morning. I looked underneath my car and saw a wet spot about 7 inches in diameter. It looked like it was dripping oil because I saw droplets coming from the plastic oil pan guard. What's up with my air pump and whats causing the smoke coming from underneath it? I couldn't tell if the smoke was coming from the turbo housing either. Before all this, my car boosted fine with the exception of late transistion to the secondary turbo when driven hard. Help?

 

Bump

 

It's fuel... I started the car yesterday morning just to see if it will start. It struggled, but it started after about 5 seconds of cranking the engine. I gave it a little gas then went to look if I was leaking and saw that it was dripping. Could this be why it flooded itself again. At first glance, I thought it was oil, but when I put my hand in the area it was dripping from, it was watery and smelled like fuel. I had a good 5 drops in my palm. When I rev the engine, I can hear the sound of fluid rushing from inside the car. A buddy of mine on this forum told me that the Fuel Pulsation Dampner could be busted. Anything else I should look into?

 

Anybody? Im just looking for any useful info or guidence.

 

If you suspect the fuel system, test it:

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