mattsmith

Hi everyone,

I couple months ago I bought a 1998 GS 400. The other day, the car would not start. It cranked, and felt like it fired for a half second, then stopped. Then when I retried right after, it just cranked, and never fired. I left it for a couple days, and it started this morning. But it didn`t start as easily as it normally does (perhaps a third of a second longer of cranking), and when it started, it idled a rougher than it normally does, with the engine producing more vibration as well as a bit louder.

The car has 156k miles. Anyone know what this could be?

Lexus827

when it started did it show the check engine light pull the code if not it could be the vvti oil control value

BCP43002

I would start with the battery and it's connections. Trace the battery wires to make sure you have a good connection on the other end. Do you have good gas?

mattsmith

Thanks for the reply. The engine light had actually gone on about a month earlier, but the engine was running fine so I didn't actually check that, so this could have been related. I don't own a scanner, but it might be worth it to buy one for $100 to see what it says. I'm going to take it on the highway soon, and I'll see how it reacts with that, to see if there are any other symptoms.

The gas is 93, from the place I always go to, so I don't think that's the problem.

Thanks, I appreciate the replies!

denut-L

iTrader: (11)

Clean your maf sensor

GL

mattsmith

The car started great today, idled perfectly, and I took it out for a long drive, took it on the highway, and no problems whatsoever.

Any ideas what it could have been? Perhaps a part like the fuel pump is failing, but hasn`t yet failed?

pinoiryder

iTrader: (5)

maybe MAF sensor..

mattsmith

Great, thanks for the replies. The check engine light went off as well. I'm going to clean the MAF. I will post an update for everyone if the problem returns, which would therefore indicate that the MAF was not the problem.

Thanks again!

mattsmith

So, the original problem returned. Again, first time I cranked it, the engine caught for a very brief moment (half a second?) and during that half a second, it made that horrible sound that starters make when you crank an already running engine. When I cranked it right after, it only cranked (did not catch).

I left it for a couple hours, and then tried it again. Sure enough, the first time I cranked it, it caught for a very fleeting fraction of a second, and right when it was about to cut out, I floored the accelerator. It created a lot of white smoke, and I held it like that for 10 seconds, and then let my foot off the pedal, and the engine kept running.

Any ideas on what it could be? This shows that it has a spark at least.

mattsmith

Bump. Thanks.

AshburnM3

your starter is going out,

starfyrels

iTrader: (2)

Same advice as the other thread..

You should go get the battery swapped out tell them you took it to another store and they charged it for about 30-40 mins and the car started right up, now it doesn't. They'll probably trickle charge it for a bit again but you should just have them replace it.

Have you checked your air filter under the hood, checked the maf sensor/cleaned it? Do that to rule out anything.

Next issue would be to check that you're getting spark -- just remove the spark plugs and check them and reinstall, next up is fuel - when you turn the car to the 'on' position check that the pump is priming/pulling fuel. Next check your fuel sending unit in the trunk behind the upper back pass driver side seat. Make sure that its working by unplugging it and then using a multimeter or some sort of test light. One prong should get constant power when the key is in the on position and another prong should get power only when cranking. Don't crank for 50+ times because that will kill your battery.

You can also check that the pump/sending unit is working by pulling the rear seat and removing the power/sending unit cable and attaching your multimeter or test light to the terminals. I believe the two rear most terminals/prongs need to be constant on one when the car is turned to on and then intermittent power to the other prong when car is cranked.

If your car is running and then dying then you might have alternator issues or grounding issues. Remember the battery is only to start the car not to run the car -- thats what the alternator is for. If your alternator is dying it will cause your battery to drain excessively.

Finally make sure that you have enough gas in the car. My tank was empty because my floater had taken a **** and my car died; killing my fuel pump and fuel sending unit together.

mattsmith

Thanks for your thorough post. I will try all of that, and report back on what the problem was. Thanks again.