Recently snagged a 2013 LS460 SWB with 30k miles on the odometer last month. Just recently however I have been facing a rough start-up on the 2nd/3rd time in the same day.

When it's a cold start (i.e. I start it up in the morning after 8-12 hours) works perfectly but I noticed it happens a lot more say, 4 hours from the last shut (heading off for lunch typically), the LS goes a few cranks lasting anywhere from 4-8 seconds before actually starting.

Here's a video to illustrate the symptom:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aeh29ya42sq5eot/VID_20210309_165532.mp4?dl=0

Plan to visit an indie sometime this weekend but just wanted to gather some thoughts if you guys have any ideas what kind of issue this could be?

Thanks.

 

I don’t know specifically about your situation, but to me it’s sounding like you may have some sort of fuel vapor lock. Something could be creating back pressure from the fuel pump and preventing fuel from getting to the engine.

Do a search here because I’ve heard there have been fuel pump issues here. I am too new. Just bought my car 4 months ago.

 

How's the battery? If it's old, I'd have that tested before spending money on further analysis.

 

Good starting point, especially if the battery is slow cranking.

 

Given the low miles it is probably safe to assume it sat for a long time with old gas.

I would assume your fuel injectors are getting stuck partially open. The engine might be flooded with gas after sitting a few hours. After 12 hours enough gas may have drained past the piston rings to allow a normal start. You also might simply have some random stuck closed injectors.

Since it is still starting... You might be able to avoid some costly repairs if you fill up with the best premium gas. At fillup I'd also pour in 2 or 3 bottles of fuel injector cleaner. Given your description I'd do this on the next 2 or 3 fillups. Accelerating hard by pushing the gas pedal to the floor with the mentioned cleaners will help to clean the system out.

Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus, 10 oz

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Chevron-T...B&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Hey, so had the battery checked and reads 12.6v w/load 11.2v. Doesn't seem out of place according to the mech.

 

Great stuff, I'll be sure to do just that and report back.

Spot on with the guess! On 26th Feb 2019, service records show car had 45k KMs (28k miles). Exactly 2 years later 26th Feb 2021, the used car dealer had it serviced (at a local Lexus dealership) before handing it to when the odometer read 48k KMs (30k miles).

So given there's only 2000 miles driven in the span of 2 years, safe to assume it did sit for quite a while with old gas.

​I'll fill it up with v power in the next coming weeks and report back.

 

Any news???

 

i was just going to suggest the same; run a few bottles of techron through it and some good gas - texaco, gulf, chevron or shell 93.

 

Good news, issue went away after the two full refills of shell V-Power. Gotta be honest, was pretty skeptical at first but yeah, surprised the stuff actually works.

 

Thanks again for the help! didn't need the techron but I reckon it would've worked a lot faster.

 

That's great and thanx for the update.

Today's ethanol gases deteriorate after just a few months causing such problems as yours. Fresh gas of any brand usually solves the problem. If a car is going to sit for several months, it's a good idea to add STA-BIL to keep the fuel fresh.