[scrisp2]

I started our 2004 Cruiser on Saturday and it started fine, like normal and I moved it to the other side of the driveway.

About 4 hours later I started it again and it idled really rough, almost like it had unburned gas in the cylinder or a bad misfire. I let it run for about 20 seconds and it started smoking really badly, like my old Chevy Vega when it burned oil. :-) I know the smell of oil, raw gas, and antifreeze, but this smoke didn't really have any smell to it.

I got worried and shut the motor off. I let it sit for a minute or two and when I restarted it, voila, it ran fine like nothing was wrong.

I thought maybe the PCV vale had let some oil be sucked in and might need replacing, but not sure.

My father-in-law is an engineer for Chrysler in Auburn Hills, MI and said that he had one that started doing this and it just all of a sudden quit in the middle of the road, on his way to one of the assembly plants. They took it in (it was a company car, not his) and the mechanic said that they have a problem with carbon buildup on these motors and they had to take the head off and clean the carbon. The one that he was driving had around 75,000 miles on it, but said that it started out doing the same thing as mine and then just died.

Mine is a 2004, non turbo, with 57,000 miles and is a bit past the oil change mileage, but only by a 1000 miles or so. It has the original plugs/wires and I need to replace them, I just haven't found the time yet. To me, it almost sounds like and electrical problem, as we have had numerous issues with the motor dying when it gets wet, or sometimes just when it's sitting in the driveway and is first started in the morning. If it's turned off and let to sit for a minute, that usually fixes the problem. <<shrugs>>

Has anyone ever had theirs do this and what was the problem? Could a PCV valve that needs replaced cause this kind of problem? Has anyone ever had the problem with carbon buildup in the motor?

Thanks,
Scott