njbrazil

I just purchased a 2011 LS460 AWD one owner with 58k miles this past Thursday. I have always wanted a LS, so pretty excited about getting one... After driving it the past 4 days I have experienced two things that concern me.

The first is when I am coming to a stop at slow speed the car will lunge forward as if there is a slick spot on the rotors. This makes coming to a smooth gradual stop somewhat challenging. The front rotors and pads are brand new (dealer replaced them before I bought it), so I can't imagine they are warped. Once the car is completely stopped I feel as if I have to apply a decent amount of pressure to keep the car from lunging forward. The added pressure is just more than I am used to, but might be something I just have to get used to? If this is the way the LS is, then no problem I can get used to it.

The second issue happened just ONCE and I cannot reproduce it. I was driving home from work, which is a 35 minute drive on the highway. As I was exiting off a long exit ramp I was drifting from a speed of around 80mph and eventually came to a stop at a light. While I was waiting for the light to turn green the car shut off without any warning. The car was idling fine and has been idling fine. I was able to restart and drive fine afterwards. Any insight in what could be the cause of this, or if others have experienced this?

Thanks for any insight!

rick3242

Congrats on the new ride. I got my 2010 about 2 years ago with 48K on the odometer and have enjoyed every mile of the 30K I have put on.

My brakes acted similar to yours when I first purchased it. Driving from PA to NC via DC in rush hour was not fun. I changed all the rotors and brakes along with a brake oil change and it was an incredible difference. Then back in spring of this year the brakes started to act a little soft and I changed the brake oil again and they are firm and much better. If you are certain the brakes and rotors are good I would change the brake fluid.

Regarding the stall. I would run a few tanks of premium fuel and add a bottle of seafoam. It has never happened to me but after we purchased my sons ford taurus he had a similar problem. I spoke to a ford mechanic and he suggested that I treat the next two or three tanks with sea foam and he thought the car may have condensation in it. Sure enough we treated it and he put another 25k miles before he sold it with no stalls.

Good Luck and let us know what happens.

LuvmyLS

I’d bring it to your dealer and ask about a zero point calibration. This helped my brakes with a similar issue. I do not think it’s the trans. Could be your brake actuator. Lexus extended the warranty to 10 years on these I believe. you need the warning lights to take advantage of it though. Try this, while stopped and in park, press your brakes hard to the floor with and without the engine running. Do you hear your brakes bark (you’ll know what I mean if it happens) if they do, it’s you brake actuator.

no clue about the stall

njbrazil

Thanks for the help and suggestions everyone.

For the stall issue, I have not had any stalls since and have been driving it 70 miles per day since (commuting to and from work). Have filled up once with premium (which I'm not so sure the dealer put in to begin with, since the mpgs are lower than what I have been getting since the refill).

As for the the brakes, I will give a few of those suggestions a try. I have tried putting the car in neutral while at a complete stop and the brakes feel fine at that point (at least what I would expect). Once in drive, it feels like the car just wants to go, so I need to apply just more than enough pressure than what I feel should be needed. Plus trying to come to a smooth stop takes a steady foot... The back brakes and rotors were not replaced, nor has the brake fluid been replaced. I'm going to ask the dealer to do the back brakes, rotors and replace the brake fluid.

As @FunFact states, transmission is my fear, so let's eliminate a few items first...

njbrazil

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. I will try that out this evening on my way home from work.

Muddy

I agree with FunFact. I have experienced similar problems in another car, long ago. Your symptoms are transmission related. Did using neutral fix the problem?

njbrazil

Yes, it seems when I throw it in neutral while coming to a stop at a decent speed (50-75mph) the stop is more smooth and the pressure I apply to the brake is more reasonable. Now comes the fun part in trying to figure out what is wrong with the transmission, if I can bring it back to the dealer and prove there is a transmission issue, etc. I did not purchase any warranty on the vehicle, which probably was a poor decision. I was relying on that Lexus brand name, my ES330 went well over 200k miles with nothing but oil changes, brakes, rotors, and tires.

It's worth noting that acceleration is smooth, gear shifting is also smooth. Manually shifting through each gear and down shifting has no issues. The car idles consistently between 600 and 700rpms with no spikes or quick changes.

Maybe a flush of the transmission fluid can be the first step.

Outofspec

Just a thought on the stalling. These cars have a documented (in this forum) quirk, with occasional very low idle. It occurs when the AC is off, and the headlights are off as well. It was explained that it’s a function of voltage regulation in the system. Apparently, these cars use a lot of juice to power the vast systems, and when there is a limited load, things go a little haywire. If you search “low idle “ you should find some threads. I have personally experienced the quirk, and my car felt as though it would stall. Maybe yours did? Once I turned my lights on, the idle went up to normal. Go figure?
Good luck!

efthy07

As far as the transmission is concern, it could be something as simple and benign, as "re-flashing" it. When I change my transmission oil, afterwards, it started acting up surging, rough shifting etc. I went back to the dealer where I had the work done at, explained to them what I was experiencing, and they told me that this happens on occasion. They proceeded and "re-flash" the ECU/transmission control module and I haven't had a problem ever since. Smooth shifting, as smooth as can be. And the best part was, they did it for free while I waited for the car to be serviced having a cup of coffee and a muffin while sitting in the dealership's very comfortable lounge by the fireplace (it was winter at that time).

efthy07

As far as the "isolated" stalling issue is concern, because it only happened once, it could of been either an "air pocket" in the fuel line, or perhaps some water condensation due to some "bad gas" that there might of been somewhere in the length of the car's fuel line(s) or in its gas tank. Depending when it was the last time that it was done, (if ever), maybe it's time to change the fuel filter???.......