I am seeing some strange behavior in my '01 GS430. When the car is cold and I head down the road to the first stop I will be going slow and take my foot off the gas pedal. When I do this it feels like the car has lost all power and I really have to push on the pedal to get anything out of it. I can push the pedal down about an inch without the tach even moving.

As it warms up it gets a little better and when I punch it's always there but it's that in-town driving that really is getting to be a pain. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Patrick

 

Welcome to Club Lexus. It appears like you're suffering from the same hesitation or lag that a lot of GS400/430 owners (me included) have complained about. It's a common issue blamed on the GS4's fly-by-wire throttle system. Rather than regurgitate all the comments, do a search for "GS430 hesitation" or "GS430 lag" and you'll get a lot of reading material. I've me to the conclusion that the only way to avoid the hesitation is to drive the car as if you're stealing it. It's hell on gas mileage, though. Enjoy, and again, welcome to CL.

 

I think you may have a different problem. My 01GS430 is not like that. It lets off the gas a little bit between shifts when you are taking it easy, but that's it.

Did something recently change,or has it always felt like that?

 

I bought the car back in May with 54k on it and it's always been like that. As I read through some threads I don't think my problem is the little "hesitation" that people are talking about.

Let me give you an example, I just pulled into the garage and as I came up the driveway (my drive is a little up hill) I waited until the garage went up and when I went to accelarate again I could push the pedal about one inch before the car would move from a dead stop.

Any thoughts?

Patrick

 

Try reseting the ecu. Pull out the fuse under hood on passenger side called ecu-b. Leave it out for a half hour. Then put it back and drive.You will have to reset clock,radio,seat memory.

If that doesn't work I would have the dealer put it on their computer.

 

just curious, when it's like that, do you have your AC on or off?

 

You know, now that you mention it the air is most likely on but I wasn't really paying attention. I will try it out today. Is there something I should know about the A/C and performance? Thanks.

Patrick

 

I have experienced the hesitation on two GS 300's and one GS430. I am thrilled my (GS300) does not do it. There is no excuse for mine not to do it and for someone else's to do it. Lexus needs to find the answer. I passed up a great deal on a GS430 because of the hesitation. There are hundreds of thousands of vehicles out there that are drive by wire and do not exhibit this characteristic. For example the tahoes, envoys, corvettes, trailblazers, my GS300 do not do it.

 

well without the AC on, some GS has the low idling problem and the car might get hesitant. not sure if that's the case though

 

did u try reset ecu yet?

 

Ya, I did reset the ecu and that seemed to help at lower speeds but here is what's going on now. This seems to happen right around 40 MPH and what it will do is pretty much cut out. It's almost feels like a govenor or restrictor kicks in. When this happens I will have to almost push the pedal down the the floor to pick up speed. It's happened in both 3rd and 4th gear so far. I think I may have to pay the dealer a visit and see what their computer comes up with. Maybe something is clogged?