Cold Start

[Raven]

Hi Guys,

I have owned my '98 LS400 for a week now, and love it. I'm in the UK, but your forum seems a lot richer on technical knowledge, so I thought I post my question here. When trying to start my car first thing in the morning, it is difficult- if I crank it, it fires after a couple of seconds, but after only a second, it dies again. It doesn't really tick over at this point, just fires and dies. Sometimes it repeats this performance 2 or 3 times, and finally it seems to catch itself *just* before the revs reach zero again, and climbs to an idle of 600rpm (which I would expect to be the idle speed for a WARM engine). But sometimes, after the initial fire and die, it will crank for a long time without firing. In these cases, I have to press the gas pedal whilst cranking to get it to fire, which results in a bad smell from the exhaust (unburnt fuel coming throught the cats I suppose). On the phone to a (apparently lexus 'specialist') garage, they mentioned 'starter contacts', and 6-8 hours work at £45 per hour!

Does this sound familiar? I've read other posts about the cold start injector, do you think that could be my problem? And does anyone have any experience of the 'starter contacts'?

If you guys can help me diagnose the problem, I'd like to try to fix it myself, so any links to relevant tutorials would be appreciated.

I'd also like to buy a manual. Several posts in this site refer to manuals, could someone tell me where to source one? I have relatives in the USA so I could order one to their address and ask them to ship it over.

Thanks in advance guys,

Rob

[nc211]

Hi Guys,

I have owned my '98 LS400 for a week now, and love it. I'm in the UK, but your forum seems a lot richer on technical knowledge, so I thought I post my question here. When trying to start my car first thing in the morning, it is difficult- if I crank it, it fires after a couple of seconds, but after only a second, it dies again. It doesn't really tick over at this point, just fires and dies. Sometimes it repeats this performance 2 or 3 times, and finally it seems to catch itself *just* before the revs reach zero again, and climbs to an idle of 600rpm (which I would expect to be the idle speed for a WARM engine). But sometimes, after the initial fire and die, it will crank for a long time without firing. In these cases, I have to press the gas pedal whilst cranking to get it to fire, which results in a bad smell from the exhaust (unburnt fuel coming throught the cats I suppose). On the phone to a (apparently lexus 'specialist') garage, they mentioned 'starter contacts', and 6-8 hours work at £45 per hour!

Does this sound familiar? I've read other posts about the cold start injector, do you think that could be my problem? And does anyone have any experience of the 'starter contacts'?

If you guys can help me diagnose the problem, I'd like to try to fix it myself, so any links to relevant tutorials would be appreciated.

I'd also like to buy a manual. Several posts in this site refer to manuals, could someone tell me where to source one? I have relatives in the USA so I could order one to their address and ask them to ship it over.

Thanks in advance guys,

Rob

How many miles do you have on it??

The starter contacts would only be a problem if the starter did not engage at all....he's b/s'n you. I bet he knows that's one of the most expensive repair jobs "labor wise" and trying to get you to pay up.

It sounds like a case of bad fuel, bad fuel filter or air flow problem. Have you looked at your air filter lately??? You might have a bad spark plug issue too. Or...it could be your throttle position sensor (TPS). But not your starter.....

[Raven]

Thanks for the reply,

I have a receipt from the previous owner showing new air filter and plugs just last month (although apparently it was done by a buddy of his, so the hand-written receipt could be fake). Will check the state of the air filter to verify this.

I should mention that the car runs like a dream after it starts, very powerful. No fuel starvation or lack of power that might ordinarily indicate fuel or air filter. Worth a check though, I'll have a look.

Thanks for the advice about the starter contacts! Do you know how I can check my TPS?

It has 130k on the clock.

Thanks a lot!