Seankelso

Hello,

My wife was driving my 2009 Lexus GX470 the other day and it died on her in the middle of the road.

She described it seemed to be struggling for power all the sudden and then shutoff. She said some engine lights came on but she was unsure which ones.

Here is where I am today.

The car will not crank, I have power to everything in the interior. But it will not even try to crank over when I turn the key. I plugged a code reader in and it says Vehicle not detected... can’t even read for codes..

I’ve changed the battery for a fully charged one and also tried jumping it. Battery has plenty of juice. I also checked all the fuses I can find related to the ECU,Ignition, ECT

I’m at a loss for what could have caused this no crank problem. I read online the fusible connector can get burned up and cause similar problems. But I have done anything to cause it to burn out.

Any advice on the matter would be greatly appreciated..

coachstu

Sounds like an alternator issue. Were you having slow starts prior? Dim lights?

Seankelso

No the battery tested with plenty of juice and even with a jump and fresh battery I cannot crank the car. Also That doesn’t explain why I’m not getting any power to the OBD2 port..

jds4u2

My GX did the same thing, died in the middle of a busy intersection, had to have it towed. In my case, it was the alternator, so I agree with Coachstu, it sounds like an alternator issue.

IanB2

An alternator issue won't prevent the engine from cranking with a fully charged batter.

You've got a blown fuse, fusible link, or something of that nature preventing the OBD2 connector from reading, and preventing the engine from cranking. I'd check each and every fuse in every location in the vehicle as a starting point.

Seankelso

I believe it’s the Fusible link. I’ve checked every single fuse related ECU,Ignition,OBD2 ECT. My headache now is trying to find accurate information on how to access this link. There is a few threads on here, but it’s still unclear to me how to disassemble the main engine fuse box. I spent 2 hours tonight trying to get the clips free and removed the top of the box to no avail.. any additional information on the subject would greatly be appreciated!

tz693

Not sure if this helps. Good luck.

jwminzen

Will a motor still crank if the timing belt snaps?

IanB2

The starter will spin...right up until the valves and pistons contact each other. What happens after that is anyone's guess, lol.

Lexus4321

If a code reader cannot read from port, then the ECU is not powered on.
You turned key on for reader, yes?

Check the ECU fuses.

If the power to ECU dies then nothing will work as far as engine control goes. No OBDII, no crank, etc.

Going sluggish then stalled is a bit curious. When the injectors stop turning on the engine basically stalls to off. The description sounds like an ECU fuse that was on its way to fail and was bouncing the ECU power until the fuse just quit.

Anyways, curious to know what the issue was.

For all readers, highly recommended at this point to replace all fuses and all relays (engine bay and panel in dash). GX's are now old enough where little by little the OEM stuff fails.

Edes300

I would check if you have a bad ground. Put multimeter across battery terminals you should get around 12.8 volts or so. Then various ground point. A bad ground would also leave you dead like this.
do you live in a corrosion prone area?