Michael3.2

My name's Michael and I would really appreciate some help if anybody out there is willing and able. I'm in need of some good advice. I have a 2002 TL, which has had an issue for a while now with a crank but no start situation. This has been going on for about 3 or 4 months... And I am not a mechanic...

At first it seemed completely random. Most of the time it would start up just fine. But then every once and a while, it struggled to turn over. Come to notice it was usually when I was out running errands with a lot of stopping and going, and by about the 5th or 6th errand it would crank but it would not turn over. The way that I have gotten around this was by giving it a lot of gas, putting it into gear, and as it spit and sputtered (trying to die), once I got it to start rolling forward, it began to start running just fine.

I changed the EGR valve about 2 months ago, which turned off my check engine light, and I changed the spark plugs. All of my coils seemed to be working, although I did have some oil leaking into my coil chambers (two of them), but I fixed that with some high temp gasket maker, and I had a friend help me do it since I don't know what I'm doing.

Those small repairs seemed to cure my problems, but only for about two weeks. Then it started again. And I began to notice a pattern that if I only used the car once or twice that day, like back and forth to work, then there was never any problem. But if I was out and about running around, then after a while the struggle to turn over was sure to happen again.

Recently, it started to seem like it was beginning to happen more and more often, and a little more harshly each time. I decided to try some SeaFoam, and I think that I made it mad..... That same night, which was last night, I spent almost an hour in a Best Buy parking lot trying to get it started. I almost had to call a tow truck. And when I finally did get it going the engine light was back on. P1676 which is defined as FPTDR (Frame-To-Powertrain Torque Down Request) Signal Line Failure... Also a misfire code in every chamber except chamber 3... But here's another thing... today the codes just went away without me clearing it or doing anything. My engine light is off now. Which is kind of strange.

If anybody has any idea what this could be, please share. I've heard crankshaft sensor, and I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that it's not the ECU. Anyway, regardless, I have a little bit of extra cash right now, and I'd like to get it fixed if I can.

Thank you for reading. Much obliged.