2017 Lincoln MKZ.. will not start

2017 Lincoln MKZ / 150k miles / Push start requires foot on brake / New battery (5 days)

My evap purge valve has needed changing for quite sometime now. When driving, sometimes it would create a vacuum in my gas tank that would pull on the metal flap inside the filler neck. This would cause a loud sucking sound.. until I stuck a screw driver inside the neck to release the vacuum.

I was filling up my car with gas this evening.. which would require me to rev it a couple of times, to prevent the engine from shutting off. This time.. I did something I never do.. I topped the gas off after the pump made its first click/cut off. Then I reved the engine a little before driving a couple hundred feet away to park and take a call. The engine was still running and not doing anything strange. A couple minutes later.. it started to shake like it was getting ready to cut off.. and then it cut off.

I tried to crank the engine a couple more times, but it wouldn't start. The cranking actually started to fade out and then stopped altogether. I went around to the front of the car and some white smoke started to creep out the from under the hood. I lifted it quickly and it looked like It was coming from the oil filler port.. which I then opened. There was a burning smell left, like maybe plastic and some metal.

Now when trying to start the engine.. I get clicks and no cranking at all. First it was louder clicks that got softer, and now faint.

Just to be sure.. I tried jumping the battery with a portable charger. I'm pretty sure the battery is fine.

I tried the screwdriver on the starter trick.. I got some sparks and some noise, but nothing like the engine trying to crank.

Any ideas?

Posted Sep 30, 2026, 3:31 AM UTC

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