Hi, all.
Something strange to me happened yesterday and today....maybe tomorrow......
Yesterday afternoon, I stopped by coffee shop to pick up some coffee, came out, but the car won't start. It would crank, crank, crank then nothing. It is kind of hard to explain the situation, but it is like you can hear 'kkkkkkkkkkkkkk' sound that you hear right before the engine starts, but it will just go on, but won't engage to running engine. So I called my service manage at the dealer since I just had 70K service 'B' and coolant flushed, brake fluid change, got new rotor and pad for the brake (can you hear $$$$ flying away? [X(]), plus fuel filter replaced, and he thinks it is battery which I didn't agree.
He saidto call roadside assistance, so I did. While I was waiting for the technician to call and come out, I tried to ignite the engine again and IT STARTS! It had check engine light on, but it would work, so I could go home.

This morning, the car starts fine, the check engine light is OFF for some reason, drop my kid at the school, now I am heading to work, stopped for a stop sign engine running, then the engine just shuts off, and it had same symtom again! [:@]I sat in the car for 25 minutes (called technican, and my wife to come and pick me up), then it would start again. Later it did it again from work to home. I drove home after the car started.

I don't think it is battery because the car starts but my friend thinks it is alternator, I don't know why. Could this besome problem with my fuel pump or fule filter? I would like to find out why before I bring this car in for a service so I won't waste money.

Thanks in advance.

 

sounds like the crank sensor is bad to me

 

You got it. It was the bad crank sensor.
I just had my car serviced at dealer past Monday. I had to tow the car in as car stopped again on my way to dealer.
Costed $400 to get the job done. According to service manager, they have to remove manifest to replace the sensor and that is why the labor is high. Sensor is $150.

Now, my question is why would you need something like that called crank sensor?

 

Yup, the old crank position sensor - been there, done that. I found that if you try it every few minutes over 10 minutes it will eventually start which will get you to the dealership.

 

HELLO................THIS IS 100% CORRECT.......COZ I CHANGE A LOT OF THEM ALREADY...........YOU HAVE A BAD STARTER.....CHANGE IT ......GUARANTY .... YOU'LL PROBLEM IS SOLVE........

 

The reason you need a crankshaft position sensor it the tell the engine control unit where cyl #1 is, this way the engine control unit knows when to fire the injector and the ignition coil to make the car run.

 

it's true but if hear a just click click click sound......even your battery is good......... and some times it start and some times its not..... absolutely you have a bad starter............

 

Trust me - this is probably the cps - do some researchon it. Starter turns over but computer does not fire the engine cause it doesnt know where the cyls are. It is a common ML320 problem. And the poster says it is a 'kkkkkkkkkkk' sound which sounds like the starter motor is running but the engine is just not firing.

 

Your starter is what gets your car going: it "spins over" your engine.

TAKE NOTE: if your engine "turns over", in other words makes the r---rrrr---rrrr sort of noise it normally makes when you turn the key all the way to "start", YOU DO NOT HAVE A STARTER PROBLEM.
The ONLY thing the starter does is turn the engine over.
NOTE: BAD STARTER SYMPTOMS ARE VERY CLOSE TO BAD BATTERY SYMPTOMS AND BAD ALTERNATOR SYMPTOMS You MUST have a fully charged battery for your starter to operate properly. The ALTERNATOR keeps your battery charged. Symptoms of a bad starter:
If your lights are bright with the engine off, but they get really dim when you turn the engine over with the starter, and the engine turns over very slowly, you may have a starter problem. If freshly cleaned battery terminals get hot along with the entire battery cable (positive and negative) you probably have a bad starter.
HINT: Often you can tap on the rear of a starter that does NOTHING: (that is, you turn the key and get only silence: no rr-rrr-rr sound) and make it start one more time.
What happens is the brushes wear out in the starter, making a bad electric contact. Tapping on the back of the starter with a hammer jars the brushes back in place, where they'll make contact one more time.
Another way starters fail is in the "bendix" or starter drive. Your car will start to turn over with the starter, then suddenly make a rrrrrrr-ing! kind of noise, and the engine will stop rotating while the starter motor keeps going!

 

HI ALL...THIS IS MY IDEA..NOT SURE IF IT'S RIGHT OR WRONG..BUT I BET THIS IS A CRANK POSITION SENSOR PROBLEM...NOT STARTER MOTOR AS YOU SAID JOYANLLI...REMEMBER THIS..THE POSTER SAID HIS CAR SHUT OFF AT STOP SIGN..I GUESS AS THE ENGINE IS RUNNING, THE STARTER MOTOR ISDISENGAGED. THINK OF THIS YOU'LL FIND OUT IT AINT STARTER MOTOR PROBLEM...SRY IF IM WRONG.