PickupStix

I THINK the starter's going bad but I want to check with you all to make sure. The weird part about the starter is that it actually has zero problems starting up from a cold start - it's usually warm starts where I do quick runs where I can hear the starter struggling. I recently had the battery for my car replaced so I get a feeling the starter just needs to be changed as from what I've seen, it's still the OEM starter in there from 20+ years ago.

I don't hear a grinding/clicking noise, it just sounds like it's struggling to crank, like it's hesitating, kinda like when your car refuses to start because you drained the battery. I'm suspecting it might be something to do with the solenoid, but I don't know, when I took my car to the mechanic to have its CEL checked out he said he could "tell" the starter was going bad because it was kinda struggling.

If it is a bad starter though, I don't have the time to replace it myself. I know the part itself is pretty cheap, especially a remanufactured one or an aftermarket one, but I'm wondering how many hours of labor we're talking about with this fix? From the many posts I read, changing the starter is one of the bigger pains in the butt for this car as it requires you to basically move a lot of stuff out of the way to get to the top part of the engine where it's at.

I'm reading here around 6-8 hours of labor, but I need to know so I don't get bull**** quotes from mechanics about this. Also, anything else I should have them check for since they took the time to get in there? When I was having issues with my CEL coming on the mechanic told me that my exhaust manifold needed to be cleaned out, and in order to do that it would be a good idea to have the exhaust manifold cleaned and also have the starter changed at the same time.

I see some people here mentioning getting head gaskets changed or checked out after they got to the starter, would that add a lot to the labor for the mechanic?

And before I even have that checked out, could it be something a bit more simple that's causing the starter to struggle to start up like that? I don't hear any grinding or scratching or squealing noises when I start it up.

UNCNOR

iTrader: (1)

When you change the starter be sure to check the EGR pipe.Toyota part number for my 97LS was 25601-50060 "pipe sub-assy" Pricing was $165.00 from the dealer,$129.00 from ebay,and if you have time $65.00 delivered from Amayama.com.I noticed a considerable performance gain with the new pipe.Good luck.

jaaa

+1 on this advice. I changed out my starter in August and went right back in right after to change the lower EGR pipe. It would take almost no extra effort to replace the EGR pipe while you have it all apart. The amount of things you have to take apart is almost exactly equal for either part. I did both myself, but I had Toyota say that it would cost around $1000 to replace the starter.

peterls

I just had this done on my car.

I don't know about EGR pipe as usually if that breaks you can hear it - your car will sound like trash. But I would most definitely replace the knock sensors and knock sensor connector wires. I don't know exactly why, but I swear my car is running even better with new knock sensors in place (it was running fine before, but now it seems to have a bit more pep to it).
The labor "by the book" is 5 or maybe 5.5 hrs. My mechanic charged me 550 for the job, including knock sensors. He charges $100 per hour. The owner has the exact same car as mine (another 1990 LS400) and is a certified Toyota master technician, a Japanese fellow who really knows these cars. I just wish it was him who worked on my car, but the other guy did a nice job too.
Look for DENSO knock sensors as those are OEM. I got mine on E-bay for $70 ea. but later found even better deals - for $50 ea. Since Denso is OEM for these, there is no difference whether you buy Denso or Toyota or Lexus (except the price). Knock sensors are microphones, but that means they must have some kind of membrane in them, which after 26 years must have deteriorated somewhat at least. Plus I don't want to have to go in there ever again. The car will be junked before that happens.
Unfortunately my mechanic did not put the plastic shield around the knock sensor wires - i hope it is not too hot in there... and also unfortunately, those connector wires are not available any more. We should really see if there is a company out there wiling to make these for us 1st gen owners. As soon as you try to pull out those plugs, they will brake because they become brittle after sitting in a hot place for quarter century.

So, that's that in a nutshell.

Oh, one more thing: before my starter failed, it was drawing tons of amps from the battery, so it destroyed the battery in the process as well. I was not too happy with that old battery anyway, and replaced it with my favorite - BOSCH which was on special at Pep Boys (got it for only $100.00 !) , but be warned that you may have a battery problem if you don't replace the starter soon. My battery was only three years old when it died completely.

edit: I bought my starter from Amazon - Denso remanufactured one, from Denso as the seller. However, when we opened it (it arrived in original Denso box) it said "remanufactured in Mexico". I was not too happy about that... fingers crossed.

PickupStix

You all rock, thanks for the info. I'd figure since they're already in there I'd have them swap out some of the "why not?" parts.

My car is due for a timing belt replacement, transmission replacement, and rack and pinion replacement - I'm a bit of a newbie to this whole thing but if they tore the thing apart to get to the starter, could I get them to fix one of these things while they're in there?

Does say a lot about Lexuses that they were able to survive that long with OEM parts, eh?

jaaa

If the are reasonable at all, they should be able to put a new EGR pipe on for almost no labor. Wouldn't take 5 minutes to put a new pipe on. If they let you buy the parts, I think I bought mine on Amazon for around $100. Well worth the cost, while it's opened up. If your pipe is original, I bet it already has cracks.

peterls

To replace the starter, they have to remove the intake manifold with everything on it (real pros know how to do it WITHOUT removing anything from the manifold - they leave the injectors, and all else right on it to save time). As you can imagine, intake is on the top of the engine; the timing belt is on the front of the engine, completely different location (it is just behind the drive belt, which you can see if you take a peek behind your radiator). Your transmission is, obviously, on the bottom of the car, below your shifter... so that has nothing to do with the starter replacement either. And rack and pinion is also in a different location... so no - the only thing that you really should do, even if they tell you not to - is to replace the knock sensors and connectors for them (if you can find them). I know at least two guys who replaced the starter but did not touch the knock sensors, and within a year those failed too. While some say they can replace knock sensors without taking the intake manifold off, why not do it comfortably while you are in there anyway, right?

Hiroshi12

iTrader: (1)

Knock sensors and EGR pipe, eh? This thread has me thinking to go back and check the paperwork from my starter replacement at Toyota 2 years ago. I didn't think about these parts and not sure if they even mentioned it at the time.

PickupStix

You learn something new every day, eh? You'd figure if all that labor is done getting that far into the engine they'd suggest those fixes to save you the trouble of having the thing torn apart again but you know how things go.

Thank you to the rest of you for your responses.

Fixman

Bored in the wrong thread.