I have a 2008 Element that wont start.
I was having over heating issues and while i was driving home it over heated as i was pulling into the the garage, i had the heater going full blast at the time so it was really hot inside the car. i let the car idle and it stuttered and quit, i started the car but this time it was really hard to start but i got it going and when i let it idle it idled rough and died again and after that it would not stat.
it has 145K on it and so i checked the timing chain, this is a 2.4 and it seemed like i might have jumped a tooth so i took the timing chain cover to verify that it was in time. it was timing was right on, while i had the cove off i changed i decided to change the timing chain.
I checked the fuel pump and it pressurized at 50 PSI when I turned on the key and it pumped also when i cranked the engine over.
I check for spark and and i had spark but it seemed sporadic
I checked both intake and exhaust cam position sensors and seemed to be working.
I am at a loss of what to check next.

 

welcome to the forum. check for any blown fuse, compression check to see if head gasket may have blown when over heated, color of engine oil and level to be proper and not cream color oil. check for fault codes. check for a stuck or fail egr valve. disconnect battery for 5 min, then try to restart. these are just suggestions.

 

Fuel, Air, Spark, Timing, Exhaust, Compression

If over heated then a leak down test might be in order??
Or at the very least a compression test??

 

Sir
Thanks for the suggestions and i did a compression check and all cylinders were good. i did not have a leak down gage so i could not do it the right way but as i was doing my compression check i had a feeling to check the radiator level and there was pressure in the tank telling me that i had a blown head gasket, 3 of the 4 cylinders were leaking into the coolant. so i took apart the head and took it to a machine shop and they checked for cracks and machined the head. luckily there was no damage to the head so it only cost me $80 to clean, check and machine the head flat so in that case i got off easy. while i had the head i replace the timing chain and gears. as for why the car would not start after it over heated! i can only suspect the reason why could have been the new spark plugs that i replaced only 2 months earlier fouled out. because i decided to put all new back in when i put it back together and it started right up! what a load off my mind with trouble shooting the no start. as for the overheating i replace the thermostat and put a new radiator and one of the cooling fans that was not working. that could be one of the reasons why it over heated.
Thanks again for the advice
Daryl

 

Thanks for coming back and posting your finding and the fix.
Great job troubleshooting!
Really appreciate the information.
Will sure help someone else.