Quick easy question..........When I go to start my 04 ........LS430.........135k miles on her.........she starts right up and purs like a kitten......however when crankin that big ole V8 I notice she does turn over a couple of times before she starts........like this fine example da da da da vroooooooom
...........vs da da vrooooooooom like some of my other car experiences...........can u guys give a listen to your flagships and let me know?

My engine runs very smooth....I have no idea if the ole gal wants or needs any throttle body work or plugs......hard to believe she could run better.

Thanks

 

Sounds normal....

 

Older battery starting to get a little weak is usual culprit for slow start. Replace with fresh full sized battery and it should start instantly.

 

My old worn battery would probably take just over a second to start my car when it was 50 degrees or so.

My new, awesome battery (diehard platinum) turns it on almost instantly when its above 50 degrees. It takes around a second to start it when it's freezing, and it takes a little over a second to start it around 0 degrees. But these cars should start pretty fast if they have a good battery.

 

Yep Jabberwock is correct... Cutting up with jpv7774, I was waiting for him to respond back to my reply.
jpv7774, throw a battery charger on it, then start vehicle and you will see the difference as it should start instantly

 

fairly new battery on mine and takes about a second of crank this morning at sub 20* weather.

 

That is correct. My battery was starting to die and it kept getting harder and harder to start it on the first try. After I put in a new battery it starts up right away.

 

One thing you can do to ease the strain on your starter and extend its life is turn the key to the furthest position just before it engages the starter, wait 2 seconds, and then turn it over.

This turns on the fuel pump (you can sometimes hear it running before the car starts) and allows the injectors to have pressure before it engages the starter. When turning the key in one quick motion, sometimes it takes the fuel a while to get full pressure to the injectors and the starter has to crank longer.

 

yeah basically until the pinging stops. i did this when i had my STi so the pump had kicked on first.

 

Good info here. Temperature and how long the car was sitting since the last start seems to play a factor. I pretty much always engage the starter for about 1 second. She will fire up more quickly based on conditions but it is better to engage the starter just a little longer vs too short and the car does not start. Cold starts and startups in general is when most of the wear happens to the engine. I have a friend who always tries to bump start my car if I let him drive. Of course it does not start when he does that. I no longer let him start the car... lol

 

Hmmm...
I question the pressurized fuel theory somewhat but do not dispute it. I do agree the fuel pump is activated once the key is turned to the on/acc position. However my findings of late today indicate that the fuel in the fuel rail stays pressurized from the last operation. If not, there is possibly a leak down in the fuel system or a weak / faulty component. I could be totally wrong as I'm not a mechanic and thats why I utilize this priceless forum to seek knowledge, otherwise I find myself often lost, confused and bewildered

Here is why I believe the system stays pressurized at least for a certain length of time.....
LS430 had been sitting for two days w/o being started or key in ignition. I pulled the green relay labeled ( f pmp ) to perform a cylinder compression test thinking that the fuel pump had to be activated to pressurize the fuel system. I installed the cylinder compression tool and turned the key over.. To my surprize, the car started running..

 

Hmm. This is an interesting thread.

Having just acquired mine, I'm getting used to it. Big adjustments from a turbo diesel truck.

I have noticed mine is "long" to crank. Several engine revolutions, and even then, it doesn't always catch before I let off the "key". I've had this happen a couple times.

One of my best friends has an '01 Tundra with a similar engine to ours. Everytime I borrow that truck, I have noticed the same thing. It takes a long time to crank.

I thought it may be something about how the ECM gets all of it's signals. The 4.0L inline 6 from Jeep/Chrysler was notoriously long to crank as well (I've owned a lot of Jeeps).

I'll keep watch of mine. My battery isn't new, but it's not old...

It's going down into the teens here tonight, I'll know in the morning how good the battery is. ;-)

 

Don't be afraid to hold that starter down until you know the engine has started. It's better for the car vs multiple cold starts.

 

I just think some of the pressure is lost over time as the fuel drains back into the tank and there's also a return line that goes back into the fuel tank for the excess fuel during operation. If there's only been a short amount of time between the last time the car was running, it's really not going to do much.

In my experience at least, there's really no question though on a cold start. If the car has been sitting a while and I let the fuel pump "energize" first for a few seconds, it takes less cranks on the starter to fire up.

 

with mine it seems as though it almost starts more instantly and revs higher when outside in the winter. yet in the garage it probably turns 3 or 4 times before starting.