jwhite125

Hi Everyone,

We recently experienced a few consecutive days of cold weather (finally) here in the Northeast with below freezing temperatures at night. Yesterday we actually had some snow. Unfortunately, when I went to start my car in the morning it didn't start. The lights turned on and a few different dashboard lights turned on including the check "VCS" light, but the car wouldn't start. The engine kept turning over, but wouldn't start. Someone tried to boost my battery, but even after using booster cables for 15 minutes the car didn't start. I ended up buying a new DieHard Gold battery and installed it. However, my car still won't start.

I bought my car used 2 years ago with 22k miles. Currently, it has just under 65k miles. I recently took it into the Lexus dealer for a routine oil change and the dealer mentioned that my battery was low. I never replaced the battery before and believe that the original (Panasonic) battery was still being used.

Any thoughts, advice or suggestions?

Thanks,
JW

oldgrump

When you attempt to start the engine are you getting the momentary "Check Completed" message in the message center? If it hasn't at least "coughed" or "popped" it sounds like there is no fuel pressure and/or no spark. When you push the start/stop button does the red security system light stop flashing? Go through the checks/procedures in your Owner's Manual under "engine will not start", and "engine immobilizer" if you haven't already done so......if still no joy then I'm afraid you'll need expert help.

jwhite125

Thanks for the suggestions. I went back to my car and tried starting it again. Here is what happened:

The "check completed" message did not come on while I tried starting it.

However, the lights that did turn on are: 1) yellow traction control icon 2) red triangle with exclamation point icon 3) yellow engine icon 4) red battery icon and 5) the "check VCS" message.

I noticed that the brake pedal was not going all the way down when I tried starting the car. Therefore, I pushed down on the brake pedal MUCH harder and after a few tries the car turned on. It took about 4 or 5 tries for the car to stay on for more than 3-5 minutes on its own, but it finally did turn on while I had the brake pedal pushed down as far as I could. I let the engine run on its own for 5 minutes and then it died out again. I restarted it and then let it run for another 10-15 minutes applying a little gas intermittently to keep it going.

Afterwards, I drove the car for 2 miles to warm it up. Although the car ran smoothly, I noticed that the yellow engine icon light was still on along with the yellow traction control icon and the "check VCS" message. Another thing I noticed was that after 45 minutes of the car being continuously on, the temperature gauge needle never moved past the first bar after the letter C. The temperature gauge stayed between the letter C and the first bar. I don't know what this all means, but I'm at least glad that I was able to get the car to start.

If anyone is familiar with this type of situation and would care to share his/her insight that would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
JW

mlacomb

Seriously - go get it looked at by someone who knows the car. I can appreciate the fact that you want to get an answer from someone if they've had this same problem. If the yellow engine light is on however, I would be concerned that driving the car in an impaired state could hurt something else.

I wouldn't risk even driving it to the dealership - just get it towed and see what's happening.

jwhite125

Thanks for the suggestions. I made an appointment with the nearest Lexus dealer and will let you know what they say.
-JW

mlacomb

Very cool; will look forward to seeing what was up