RA40

iTrader: (6)

One of the other Lexus forums there was a similar post. The neg cable is integrated into the harness so any fixing will be a splice job unfortunately. My local guy says it can be a combination issue but in my instance, he's quite confident it will be the starter.

#3 goes in tomorrow. Not a car killer but this has made me very unhappy. If there are any seals or gaskets back there, they will get done too. If I keep this car till 210K miles, we'll see if the starter goes again.

OrlandoMR

I have a similar problem but only a one click sound. I would post a new thread but I don't know how. I hope someone can help. I was trying to ground out the green neg wire to disable my factory alarm. I found a green wire in the kick panel and i grounded it. I went to start the cart and I got sparks flying from near the battery and the car wouldn't start. I un hooked everything that I did, checked all the fuses, locked unlocked the doors with the key, un hooked the battery and pretty much every other starter kill procedure I could find. I just bought the car last week spent all my money on changing the title and taxes and new tag. I am so frustrated. any help would be greatly appreciated. I just can understand how grounding that wire can kill my starter...

randal

It didn't kill your starter(directly). It killed the drive circuity and logic that, in turn, provides power to your starter. I think you have learned that you must be careful when playing with the wires. Why you grounded a green wire in the kick panel is a mystery to me. If you must experiment in this way, the "safe" route is to ALWAYS ground the wire through a 12V lightbulb, such as a spare brakelight bulb. That way, if you do get the wrong wire, the light will just glow and you will limit the current to anything up the line.

If sparks flew, then lots of Amps flowed and most likely a fuse went. Perhaps a fusible link. Did you check those? BTW, what year and model is your car?

Oh yeah....welcome to the forum!

OrlandoMR

Thanks Randal.

I have a 91 lexus Ls 400. I checked the fuses and they seem ok. I am going to check it again. I read on the internet that if you ground out that green wire in the kick panel it will disable the factory alarm. The alarm was randomly going off. So basically I don't know what else to do. I hope I don't have to get a new starter but I really don't know what else to do. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Thanks in advance!!

So I checked all the fuses again and the starter relay. I pulled the starter relay and tried to turn the key and got NO click. I put the starter relay back in and i got a click again. I pulled the starter fuse from under the drivers side fuse box (7.5) got NO click. Put the starter fuse back in still got the click but no turn over ...... Is it safe to say its my starter now? Can I rule out immobilization? If it is the starter does anyone have a PDF on how to install a new one? I know a little bit and my cousin used to work on Humvees in the army and he said he would try it. I just don't have the cash to pay more than half what I paid for the car to fix it. Any information or service quotes for this type of work would be awesome. I really love this car headache and all I just want to get her back on the road again.

randal

You need to do a bit more investigation before tearing into the starter. The starter is located in the engine block valley beneath the intake manifold and not easy to get to. Its a lot of work.

Now the question is what kind of single click are you getting? If it is a fairly quiet click such as the contacts pulling in on the relay then you may have a 12v supply problem to the starter. If however, the click sounds more like a metallic clunk (I know...its hard to tell or describe) then its your starter solenoid within the starter itself. Being a '91 it could very well be that you are due for a starter replacement and have just discovered the reason the car was for sale at such a great price!

As for the alarm going off randomly. That is usually a switch such as the hood or trunk or door that makes the alarm system think an intrusion is occurring. You might lock it all up and go around pressing/pulling on the hood, trunk, etc to see if you can find a "hair trigger"switch.

BTW, your "sparks flying" comment has me thinking you should carefully clean the battery cables and connections to the battery posts first. Its easy and worth the effort. Could all of this be just a bad connection? Doubtful or you would be getting multiple clicks... but worth a try any way.

LScowboyLS

if it turns out that you end up having to do the starter, make DANG SURE you replace that knock sensor(s) that is down there right near it, you sure don't want to do this pain in the a$$ job again in 6 months for a sensor that is located right where you were!

OrlandoMR

Thanks for the info Cowboy. I will report back my findings in a few days.

OrlandoMR

Randal Your are my Effin hero. I checked all my connections on my battery again and I did indeed have a loose connection, so Randal that you so much for your info!

Now if anyone wants to help me with this alarm situation. its randomly going off. I would like to just disable it all together. I know its a taboo thing so if anyone has any info PM me. Thanks again gents!

RossHald

is there an external starter relay on a 2000 LS 400