Patsum

Hey all

I am just sharing my experience for those that have a situation like mine

I have a 2002 ES300 with 174K and it has run quite well. always started and never left me stranded. A week ago it started to take a few more seconds to turn the car over like my battery was weak or going dead.

I charged my battery for a day and then forgot about the issue until the next day. It still sounded like the battery was going dead even though My Dash lights and electronics and headlights all worked 100% without dimming when starting.

Later that night I went to the car and turned the key and the dash lights came on and then then final key turn but nothing. no start. no noise. no clicks. nothing.

I thought the battery was shot so I called AAA and they brought me a new battery.

This didn't solve ANYTHING!

I still heard ZERO clicks from the starter. no noise at all. it didn't turn over and acted like the starter was getting zero power

I got a new starter fuse and replaced that!. No go.. same problem...

come the next day I have the car towed and low and behold... at 174,XXX miles.. my starter kicked the bucket with VERY little to no warning.

Doing a little research..this happens on 2002-2003 ES300's and camrys more often than not.

It cost $350 for a new starter and installation...

Kind of disappointing. Just wanted to share

hypervish

Disappointing... I think not. It lasted 10 years and 174,000 miles. LOL

It was probably just the starter contacts, which cost $5.

Patsum

I did ask my mech to check the contacts. no go.

10 years isn't really impressive to me in this day and age for a starter.

I had a 1991 LS400 that rocked original everything except belts and fluids and filters and battery with zero leaks or electrical problems or faults. ran like a charm up until it was totaled a month back. now THAT impressed me.

my vehicles I own that haven't needed a starter yet...

Chrysler T&C 1997 with 280,000 miles (trannys are a piece of ****)
Volvo 850 turbo 1996 with 210,000
Honda accord 1989 with 340,000
Toyota avalon 1996 with 270,000
Lexus RX 300 with 180,000

Yes the ES 300 has been damn reliable, but this one part faulting out really bothers me. I could chalk it up to a number of things including abuse, age, weather, frequency of use and quality of initial product.

I am a happy ES owner do not get me wrong. I just wanted to share the experience as I Googled and a few posts came up with my exact situation but no answer

pauloil

you should do a voltage drop test on your cables under load, or your new starter might burn out like the old one did. or the alt. bad cables wreck havoc on components

http://www.aa1car.com/library/voltage_drop_testing.htm

Patsum

absolutely will do this

thank you

hypervish

I do agree that it's a short life of a starter that should have lasted longer, but nothing to complain about. Not that you were. lol

I am surprised that it wasn't the contacts though because that's usually what goes wrong. I've only had to replace one starter, and that was in the Grand Caravan. But, I wasn't shocked that it needed replacing early in it's life, it is a Dodge after all. lol I definitely agree about the T&C having crappy transmissions, I'm on my fourth one, and even that's slipping. Not to mention all of the replacements I installed were Mopar Units straight from Chrysler.