DMPesso

Whats up CL, im back again with ANOTHER problem as usual. Well I have a 01 GS430 that I just got with only 94,000 miles and the starter is on its way out. When the car is cooled down it wont start and just makes that one click. If you keep trying to start it 4 or 5 times it will eventually start. When the car is warmed up though it starts fine. My mechanic diagnosed it to be the starter especially since I just put a brand new battery in theres not much else it can be. Now since its the GS430 Lexus decided to put the starter UNDER the intake manifold and my mechanic said he needs to remove the entire manifold and a bunch of other stuff to change the starter. He said $350-$400 is the best he can do for labor. He said thats a good price too because its a really time consuming job. I just want to see if anyone thinks he's overcharging me or if it might be something else besides the starter even though im pretty sure it is the starter. Thanks everyone.

FrankT

He is not over charging you.
It took me about 4 hours, remove, rebuild and replace. new contacts and a plunger, $25.00.

Here is a good thread that details the process, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-problems.html

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

if youve ever done the starter for the 1uz Engine ull know how much of a pain it is.. lol...

takes a lot of work.. and time.

FrankT

Lol, work, it's all relative. Keeping up with maintainance and repairs on our cars can sometimes take a lot of work and time.
I've done 5 UZ starter rebuilds and I enjoy the challenge but I don't think it's a pain.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

i only did the older non VVTI and i hated that thing. hopefully when i do mine for the VVTI engine it wont be as difficult.

DMPesso

Damn that sucks for me, so i guess 350-400 is a good labor price. How long do you think my starter will last before its completely done? Today it only stalled once and then started up. It seems if I let it cool off for a hour it does it but if i let it cool off overnight its not as bad. or maybe if I start the car too many times in one day it stops working for a while.

DMPesso

but you HAVE to remove the intake manifold to get to the starter right?

FrankT

No, a good labor price would be a 12 pack of beer. I just said your not getting over charged at todays shop rates. You can try shopping around independent shops and ask for quotes.

Your starter is failing, your asking when it will fail completely? Who knows, it could be days or months but most likely it will fail when you really need the car to start to get away from hungry zombies.

...yes the intake comes off as one unit.

Chris98GS4

It should last a while. I let mine go about 6 months. I had the starter just didn't wanna pay labor.

And yes you have to take the intake manifold off to get to the starter.

Read this site. There are a few good threads on GS4 starters, with pics and instructions.

alaskadave

Are the 95 sc400 and the LS the same ? V8
My starter just stopped working
No click no noise

Gdwrench35

You posted on a thread from 2011. You would probably have better results just starting a new thread.