Hesitation At Start

[chadmg7]

Hey guys,

Would anyone happen to know what this might indicate? Some mornings when I start my car (in the garage), it starts up but about 2 seconds after starting, the RPMs sort of dip down a little bit and then return to cold idling speed (2,000 to 2,800 RPMs). What does this mean? Could it be the water pump? I have a 97 with 130,000 miles and, I believe, the original water pump. Should the water pump have been replaced by now anyway?

Thanks!

Chad

[Lexusfreak]

Have you already had the timing belt changed? If not, it's overdue & I would change the WP at the same time.

As for your starting problem, it could be a number of things based on your description to dirty injectors, carbon build up in the throttle body, or perhaps a complete 'major' tune up is needed.

[chadmg7]

Hey there,

Thanks for the tips. Yes, the timing belt was changed at the 90k mile maintenance at the Toyo dealership. The throttle body was also cleaned at the same time (90k miles, about 3.5 years ago I would say).

What do you mean by major tune-up? :o

[Lexusfreak]

A 'major' tune up consists of the following...

- Spark plugs (NGK part # BKR6EKPB-11)

- Spark plug wires (if so equipped...somebody will probably chime in on this one way or the other, but the NGK site does list a part #)

- Air Filter

- Fuel Filter

- PCV valve

[chadmg7]

Lexus replaced the spark plugs (I assume they would have replaced the wires if they were present or needed replacing) for about $200 last month. Air filter was replaced at 120k mile maintenance a couple of months ago.

PCV valve and fuel filter I'm not sure about. What function do these two parts provide (aside from the obvious) and do would you happen to know about how much they cost to replace?

Thanks a lot for the info! This is really helpful. :D

[Lexusfreak]

PCV Valve is dirt cheap & takes a couple minutes to replace....more info here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCV_valve

My fuel filter is a lifetime one to the best of my knowledge & is located in the fuel tank.....your I am not 100% sure of, but I think it's under the hood & is less than $100.

[chadmg7]

Thanks for the valuable info!!