Starts all the way n then dies... It's like the initial lockup of the rpm upon starting but when the car goes to find it's idle it ends up dying. Second time around all is fine.....

 

my car has slow crank sometimes... so I replaced the battery, then I replaced the fuel pump. nothing helped, the service writer said they need to do a deep diagnoses (2 hours worth), that's over $200 bucks just to find out what wrong, I said I'm fine with the occasional slow crank, and the service writer said I shouldn't worry bout it too much.

 

I still have warranty on the car.... They won't/shouldn't charge me for this diagnosis.... I need to do some other maintenance as well so they should be ok with keeping the car for a few days and sort things put!!

 

Sounds like it could be a fuel issue - perhaps not enough pressure at first. As suggested by another poster did you try turning the key to on for a full minute or so and then starting? If turning the key to on for a minute makes the problem go away then it may be a fuel pump or fuel pump relay issue. When you turn the key to on, the fuel pump is energized and pressurizes the fuel system, then when the key goes to start position, the starter engages and fuel system should be at full pressure to start and keep the engine going. This is just a guess however as there is so much electronics on cars these days it might be sensor related. Of course you should have checked for dirty filters, MAF, vacuum hoses, etc by this time. I might also suggest you run a container of Techron concentrate fuel cleaner per instructions (note - only use techron labelled "concentrate" not the more dilute stuff avail at Costco and the like).

 

Hey- We had exactly the same problem with our 2004 ls430 at just about the same mileage you have. Turned out the fuel pressure was not being maintained and there was some sort of pressure leak, fuel pump problem etc (can't remember exactly). The car would sometimes take a long time to crank, start, then die. When it was started again, it'd work perfectly. Fortunately the car was CPO so we didn't pay for any of the repairs...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

This sounds good, what was the issue with the car? What was changed? Please let me know so I can go to the dealer with a better case!! Hate fighting with them to have them warranty the work!!

 

Today I turned the ignition and didn't crank for a bit.... The car started and didn't fall on it's face!! This is got to be fuel related issue!!

 

Jabberwock, I'm curious as to what is your background with cars. You seem to know quite a lot (and since we usually agree, you're obviously very smart!) Joking aside, if you don't mind, where did you get your understanding of cars?

 

If the car didn't crank I don't see how that can be a fuel issue. That sounds like a battery or starter issue.

 

Some semantics at play here, I think. It sounds like the OP was saying that it does crank (starter spins the engine over) but it won't start, or it starts and dies.

 

I6Turbo - Thanks for the kind words, I have always loved cars, motorcycles, really all machines in general. That's why I love the LS 430 for me its represents the finest in affordable automotive engineering.

Got my first motorcycle at age 14 and kept it at a friend's house as my parents did not know about it. I had very little money growing up, but I always had a used car, a used motorcycle, or both. To fund the cars/bikes, I was always working one or more part time jobs (at relatively low pay) all thru high school and college. The lack of funds primarily forced me to learn to work on and fix anything I drove as cheaply as possible. I just could not afford to pay for pro service/repair.

Also to make diy auto repair more challenging most of my friends and I never had a garage during this period. I routinely tuned cars, rebuilt carbs, replace Ujoints, alternator, muffler, water pump, etc. all parked on the street and sometimes working in fine Chicago winter weather. Yep it was a definite character building and automotive learning experience.

Now I am in a more reasonable income bracket, but I still look to do some work myself. I am always looking for the best value on anything car related and have worked hard to educate myself on how to accomplish low cost car ownership. Also I have a couple of friends that worked in car business , one as a salesman for a few years, and learned quite a bit from them.

 

LOL Sounds very similar to my background (and how I think today) in many ways. I spent my first 32 years on a farm when I wasn't in school, so the love of machinery was almost a given as was the necessity of DIY. Never had much money, but even if I did I would probably have done my wrenching myself because I always got a lot of satisfaction from it. (For me, there is no automotive experience as rewarding as driving a vehicle that I built, and the more I do -- build and tune the engine, suspension, and make all the other mods -- the more rewarding.) For many years I did almost everything outdoors, or at best, under a farm shed, except for engine builds or other things that took a while and needed to be really clean. In those cases I was able to borrow someone's shop or enclosed garage. Finally managed to build a 38 x 28 shop behind my house when I was about 26, and I thought that was heaven.

 

Hey there fellow supra buddy, are you going to the Texas event this year?

 

Unfortunately, probably not. I've been to Vegas and to TX several times, but not in the last 3 years or so. Every year I have intentions to go, but something knocks me out, especially now that I have two kids. It's a GREAT meet though. I seriously doubt that there's a better performance car enthusiast meet anywhere in terms of quality of the events and performance of the cars. Have you been?

 

Hey- I can't get to the invoice and the online service records don't give any details... from what I remember it was the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump that were replaced. The key thing is to have someone check and see if you're getting a drop in fuel pressure when the car sits (or something like this... I don't know the 'technical' terms). The first try to start the car would boost the pressure in the system and then it would start on the second. I actually noticed the problem early because the car would spend longer and longer cranking before it started (ie a few seconds long). Then the problem got worse and the car took two tries to start.

That said, if your car isn't cranking... I don't think this is your problem.

Good luck.