Won't Crank Won't Run

[dirttraxx]

I have an 07 MS3. Bought it used in ~February, and to my knowledge the car is stock. ~130k Miles on it now. It was starting to run rough on cold starts, and had issues bogging down on hills (particularly the big one leaving my neighborhood). About a week ago it started to actually die after starting it. Starting it would be at ~2k rpm, and kind of slow drop as normal, but it would drop below 800 rpm and just die. So the first thing I did was put in new plugs. bought and gapped plugs at stock temperature. Badly needed, but nothing changed. Cleaned the MAF. Again, badly needed, but nothing changed.

So I thought perhaps the in tank fuel pump was having issues. Checked the relays, Bypassed the low-pressure resistor, and it didn't change a thing.

Thought maybe the injectors were clogged. Well, I had previously run a can of seafoam and heet (thought maybe it was water in the tank) through the tank (not at the same time), so that didn't make sense, but I was running out of ideas.

So this weekend a friend (far more mechanically competent than myself) and I decided to pull the intake manifold. We removed the air box, top mount intercooler, throttle body, serpentine belt, and battery box +ecm to get the damn IM off. Holy fuck. I wish I took before and after pictures, but I didn't. Direct injection didn't seem to be doing the back side of the intake valves any favors. There was a ton of build up from oil and who-knows-what-else deposits.

After taping off the open cylinder, we took picks to the valve areas to scoop out all of the big deposits. Once we got the majority out, we used carb/intake cleaner and brushes to the valves, repeatedly scrubbing, filling, scrubbing, and vacuuming them out. After getting them clean, we manually rotated the engine (by the crank) to close the open cylinder. We may have rotated it further than we need to, but one of the cylinders suddenly filled with gas. Wasn't expecting that to happen....

After cleaning the last set of intake valves, and the manifold (and EGR tube), we re-assembled everything. Also put in a new air filter.

Now, the car won't crank. We swapped batteries. Nothing. Checked fuses. All good ("Engine B" ECM fuse in particular is fine). There are ZERO check engine codes. We can hear the relays clicking, but the starter doesn't even attempt to engage or spin. Even if the starter has in issue it should still run, right? We tried to pop the clutch. Nothing. With the car rolling, the engine rotates, and we can hear the cylinders moving air, but there is no noticeable attempt to fire. There's no issue with the car's security system. Both of my keys work and the light on the dash turns off almost immediately.

The check engine light and a few others on the instrument cluster are on, but as would be expected when you turn the key to "On" but don't start the engine. After a few moments the CEL begins to blink, but then it goes solid again. Still no codes.....


I have no idea what to do besides get it towed from my driveway. Does anyone have any ideas?

[SSinstaller]

Check the ground at the HPFP(it's the coil ground). It will stop the motor from running even if you try and push start it, but wont prevent cranking.
Check for battery voltage at the starter, and for voltage at the solenoid when you try to crank it. It should be easy enough to figure out once you know where you're not getting power.

[dirttraxx]

Didn't get a chance to check the voltages at the starter/solenoid. Unfortunately, since we tried to push start it the car left the warmth of the garage (it's snowing out).

Did disconnect battery leads and hold them together to drain any residual voltage. Reconnected them to the battery, but nothing different happened.

With the car in the "on" position, we can't detect any movement from the throttle body.
Shouldn't the assembly still react to pedal input?

[SSinstaller]

I've never checked, but I wouldn't expect it to do anything unless the motor is actually running.

[dirttraxx]

Does anyone have page 01-038-17 from the FSM? Just got the biggest slap in the face from a 10 year old pdf. It's the "car won't crank" troubleshooting page

Edit: My pdf for some reason has a blank page where 01-038-17 should be. The surrounding -16 and -18 pages are both there...

[SSinstaller]

[dirttraxx]

Got the car running. Just had to rotate the crank to top-dead-center. The CKP sensor doesn't throw any error codes, but it won't let the car run or start. :|

[dirttraxx]

Almost 4 days later of normal operation, and it won't start when I'm trying to leave work.
Disconnected and reconnected battery. Nothing. Rotated the crank again to TDC. Nothing.
I have no idea except for maybe a bad crankshaft position sensor? I hate to buy one and have it not be the problem though.