Hi all. I'm wondering if anyone has seen a circumstance like this before.

When I tried to start it up my E320 4Matic one day this winter, everything powered up except no crank. No sound at all of attempting to crank. Tried a AAA jump to no effect. Tried three different keys with the same result.

After pushing the car backwards out of the driveway (to get a trapped Nissan out from in front of it), the E320 started up as if nothing was wrong.

Several days later, after parking the E320 overright on a steeply declining driveway at another house (with nose pointing down maybe 20 degrees), same no crank issue appeared. Had to get towed out of there and brought back to my level driveway. After pushing the car backwards, it again cranked and started right up.

I tried emulating the declining position with ramps under the back tires, with the hope that maybe I could prove that a sensor was detecting low fluid (because of the odd angle) and intentionally preventing the car from cranking. But even after a few days, I could not get the E320 to exhibit the no crank issue again.

Then I noticed a bigger (but related?) issue: a leak somewhere along the transmission pan with what I am assuming is trans fluid (coffee brown -- not red). Please see pic for the corner bolt where I figure the leak is originating (after wiping everything up and waiting for the leak to begin again). Trans fluid has never been replaced; none has even been added. Car's pushing 170k miles (got it second hand a few years ago).

I might be forcing a connection between the no crank and the leak. Is that probable? Or maybe coincidental, and the fact that pushing the car backwards resolved the issue twice leads to the shifter as a likely culprit (i.e., that it's not locking in to the gears properly)?

Sorry for the novel-length post. Any ideas greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks for the quick reply.

The first time, on level ground in my driveway, I was able to shift to neutral and push the car back a few feet. I immediately shifted to park and the car started right up.

The second time, I shifted to neutral, but needed a tow truck to pull the car out of my friend's declined driveway (otherwise, it would have rolled right through the garage door!). But once the car arrived back at my level driveway, it exhibited the same no-crank behavior until I pushed it backwards a few feet and shifted it into park. Then it started right up. (I didn't try starting it in neutral immediately after pushing it backwards -- that didn't occur to me at the time.)

I had read that when there's no crank, you should try starting the car while in neutral. BEFORE pushing the car backwards, I tried starting both in neutral and park (both times), but there was no crank at all.

Currently (it's been about two weeks since the second incident), the car starts up without any problem, both in park and neutral. Even after having the back up on ramps (and jackstands to get the car's rear up even higher), there's been no problem cranking. So I'm leaning toward the angle not having been at all related (just bad luck to have the issue in a position that required a tow). Although that's irritating, given that I'm left with what seems like a random no-crank waiting to happen again!

Thanks again for responding!

 

Possibly a neutral safety / park interlock? I think that's part of the shifter on the '02, but it may also be that a worn shifter linkage bushing is allowing so much play as to not engage the park interlock when the shifter is in P.

 

Thank you for the idea. I will check both and report back.

 

It sounds like your CPS sensor may be faulty, easy to replace and relatively inexpensive. It can explain why your car is not starting most of time.

As for the leak, I would recommend wiping up as much oil as possible and then check underneath the car again to see where the leak is coming from. ATF fluid usually has a reddish hue to it, if its brown its probably engine oil instead, which typically leaks around the valve cover, timing cover or god forbid the head gasket.

 

Not CPS. He had no cranking. With a bad CPS, the engine will crank away, but not fire.

 

Thanks to everyone who pitched in suggestions. I ended up replacing the trans filter and pan gasket, as well as the plug adapter (see pic below for the part I'm referring to -- above the trans pan at the front right corner). I've read that the plug has a tendency to leak. Sure enough, after cleaning up all the spattered fluid and watching closely for the source, it was the plug.

Still no resolution on why the car didn't crank those two previous times (until I pushed it backwards), but I'll examine the shifting mechanism next if it recurs.

Thanks!