Car start and runs fine but if I turn it off and start again it won’t start

[Causestrouble]

I have a 2014 Mitsubishi outlander. Recently I’ve had the spark plugs changed and it’s had all it’s scheduled services. I’m not sure when this problem start because it’s something I normally don’t do. It’s a push start. The car was running and I was letting it warm while I was brushing the snow off. When I got back in the car I accidentally turned the car off, by reaction I pushed it almost immediately. The car wouldn’t turn back over. I tried for 5 min off and on and it finally start but seemed like it wasn’t getting enough gas, so I had to rev it. I figured it was because I was stupid and screwed up the sequence. No issues after that until today. I started the car after it was sitting 3 days. No issues. I backed it into the garage and turned it off. Got out of the car and noticed I needed to go back a few more inches. When I tried to start, same thing. The car was off for at least 2 min. Any idea? V6 AWS 2014 Mitsubishi outlander. Plugs changed less than 500 km ago

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

When you type "wouldn't turn back over" does the starter motor engage and spin the engine, it just fails to start, or does the starter not even spin the engine over?

Are you comfortable under the hood/bonnet enough to know how to check if the SUV is getting fuel or spark? Do you have some starting fluid you could try in the intake when it won't start?

-Rod

[Causestrouble]

Hey Shorod, I am too comfortable for my lack of knowledge which gets my in trouble the majority of time lol. Yes the motor engages, it just doesn’t seem to be getting fuel or has been flooded. When the car finally starts, white smoke comes out the exhaust and you can smell combustion.

[Causestrouble]

Awesome thanks for the advice, I will definitely try this!

[Causestrouble]

I do have a scan tool, I’ve used it but only to see what error code I have

[shorod]

Hmmm, it appears that I somehow typed over one of your messages with my reply rather than responding. I'll see if I'm able to undo that.

-Rod

[shorod]

Due to me screwing up yesterday, this post is a bit out of order. Sorry if it causes confusion. Post #4 above was in response to the following comment.

My first suspicion then would be a coolant temperature sensor that is out of range and causing a really rich conditions. The next time this happens you should try holding the accelerator completely to the floor while trying to start the engine. This will put the vehicle in "clear flood" mode and shut off the fuel injector pulsing. If it starts this way then you can have a pretty high confidence that you're correct and the engine is flooding. Then you get to start the troubleshooting to figure out why. If the engine still acts flooded then you might have a leaky fuel injector that is letting too much fuel past.

Do you have a scan tool that you can use to check the Short Term and Long Term Fuel Trim (STFT and LTFT) values?

-Rod