Car goes through multiple cycles before starting up

[JayTee]

Hi Guys,

 

My 2012 Lexus CT200h is playing up when starting for the first time in the day. It's happened over the past couple days after I took it for the weekend on some country roads. I will try my best to explain what's happening, not in order: 

- Sometimes I press the start when green and nothing happens, my foot is on the brake.

- After some tries, the engine light comes on and another light, unsure if it's telling me something there.

- I have to turn it on and off multiple times, then electrics come on, one more restart and then the engine starts up.

 

No idea what it is, I want to say it's a Battery issue? Could I charge the 12V Battery myself? Do I have to take it out to charge or can I keep it in car and charging? Could it be the hybrid Battery or spark plugs? 

[Herbie]

You need to have the OBD codes read then come back to us and tell us what codes are flagged, if any.

OBD codes are the starting place for further diagnostics and they help to point you in the right direction of what to test next.

2 hours ago, JayTee said:

Sometimes I press the start when green and nothing happens, my foot is on the brake.

The normal startup sequence is that you press the brake and then press the 'Start' button. This boots the computers and does a couple of other things, culminating in the hybrid system coming online as indicated by the READY light illuminating green. When the car is in this state it's the equivalent of a conventional car just sat with the engine ticking over and idling nicely. As long as the READY light is green then the hybrid system is working and the next time the 'Start' button is pressed would be to turn the car off.

[Kaptkremmin]

Mine doesn't always start, I press the start button and sometimes nothing happens, but if I put it in drive it sometimes moves forward on Battery power and starts when it needs.

[Spock66]

13 hours ago, Kaptkremmin said:

Mine doesn't always start, I press the start button and sometimes nothing happens, but if I put it in drive it sometimes moves forward on battery power and starts when it needs.

Do you mean the engine does not always start when you press the power button? - that is perfectly normal behaviour for a hybrid.

[Moleman]

2 hours ago, Spock66 said:

Do you mean the engine does not always start when you press the power button? - that is perfectly normal behaviour for a hybrid.

I think Ian knows that.

[Guest]

First step, get it scanned with an OBD code reader which can also read the Lexus specific codes and share. 

Secondly, charging the 12v Battery can't do any harm. You could probably test it with a volt meter in place to see if it's exceptionally low in charge as that would be a tell tale sign of needing to charge it.  

I would remove it from the car to be safe with any heat / sparks - risks like that, won't be difficult to take out. It's a fairly small square Battery if I remember rightly