I am going to try to keep this short, but my car has been giving me problems starting the past week and a half. From a cold start, it takes a few minutes of cranking untill the engine finally kicks on. It runs very rough for about 10 or so seconds after finally starting, and from there, it runs perfectly

This all started after I took it to the dealership to have the radiator fans and the thermostat replaced. I took it back to the dealership and complained about the rough start. They performed a compression test, and replaced two hose clamps that "fixed the issue". I had to take it back for a third time. This time, they replaced the crankshaft positioning sensor, and said it was good to go. This issue is still not resolved, and was wondering if anyone out there has ran into this issue.

As far as I know, the only code left in the computer is the Camshaft positioning sensor, but this error was present before any of this ordeal happened. They advise the next step in troubleshooting would be to check the timing, but seeing as how the car runs 100% perfectly after it is started, I dont know that this would be the best place to start.

 

Is your coolant temperature sensor, read the sticky about common problems/solutions. A temporary fix for this is open the key for about 5 seconds without starting the car, then close the key, then start the car.

 

Be careful how long you try to start it. Your starter will overheat and go out.

Maybe it's a fuel issue? Next time you're having trouble starting it leave the key turned to on and check for pressure at the rail. There's a valve at the firewall end of it.

 

I tried the five second key trick this morning, and it started a bit quicker than it had the previous few days. Didn't get a chance to check the fuel at the rails last night, hopefully my evening will not be too busy, and I can get to that tonight. When it does finally start, i get a big ploom of white smoke out of the tail pipe. Do you think it could be a bad valve cover / head gasket?

 

The smoke is probably bc of unburnt fuel, or i guess it could be coolant in the chambers. Have you been losing coolant? The fuel rail thing is very simple to do, just take of the engine cover and the rail is right there.

 

I haven't noticed a drop in the coolant level yet. With out checking the fuel rail, I do smell a lot of fuel when it wont turn over. I just went out to my car during lunch, and it took forever just to start. The oddest thing is that as soon as it does start, it runs perfectly.

 

Change your coolant temperature sensor and apparently you also have a bad head gasket or cover gasket. One thing at the time, keep doing the open key method until you get a new sensor, they tend to fail very often. You will continue to get this issue everytime your car gets cold, which is, everytime the car sits for a considerable amount of time witnout being driven.

 

has the engine speed sensor been replaced?

 

Dan is correct, the CTS sensor directly relates to fuel pressure on a cold start. When they malfunction it will tell the ECM its -240 degrees or something like that and won't let the fuel pump work because it would freeze the fuel. Sometimes it will do the opposite when the engine is hot. The car is too smart for its own good. The white smoke could be a condition from cranking it all the time, i hope you didn't blow the headgasket. Fingers crossed.

 

Odd thing is, my car started easier in the morning than it normally does if i go to my car during lunch.

I decided to take a break at work every 2 hours just to start it up and let it idle for a bit. It normally starts up on the 2nd crank if the engine is still relatively warm. When I went to lunch (after 2 breaks) I noticed my car started almost perfectly. I popped the hood open, and noticed that the coolant reservoir was almost completely empty. Would this rule in favor of the issue being a leaky head gasket? This is the first time that I checked, and the coolant reservoir was less than full.