jersey1

I HAVE A 95 LS400 AND MY STARTER IS ACTING UP. IS IT EASY OR HARD TO CHANGE AND EXACTLY HOW WOULD I DO IT. AND WHERE SHOULD I GET ONE FROM. PIC WOULD REALLY HELP. THANKS ALOT CL BROS.......

clark

Your starter is located on the center line of the top of your engine block toward the back of the engine under your intake manifold. You will have to remove your intake manifold to replace the starter. Lexus quoted me $934 to replace mine. I haven't done it yet.

I know I can get my starter rebuilt locally for $70. But you are looking at a lot of labor to remove and replace the intake manifold which means quite a few new gaskets. I would recommend as a first step, get a factory repair manual if you want to attempt it yourself.

As long as you have the starter out and intake manifold off, you may want to replace the cam cover gaskets if they are leaking.

Shaffer

I am sorry to report that this can be a costly replacement. The starter can be bought fairly cheap, but it is the labor that is outrageous. Like CLARK mentioned- you have to remove the intake manifold. When the starter went out on my aunts LS400 a few years ago- my uncle had to pay $1500. parts and labor to replace the starter. Like I said- that was a few years ago when the car was newer, so you may be able to get it done cheaper and I think he had it replaced at the Lexus dealer. The only reason it went out was that he had a remote starter installed on the car and something happened to the system that ruined the starter a lot faster than normal wear.

Good luck.

Strida

I don't think it will be that hard. If you are mechanically inclined, with a little bit of patience it can be done. Just buy the repair manual and do it yourself. You will know more about your car and have that satisfying feeling of accomplishment. Make sure you put a label on everything so it will not be hard to put it back together and try to take a picture of it before you start. Replace and clean everything you can while your at it. I have not done this so I'm not sure what to replace( maybe some rubber hoses, coolant lines, fuel lines?) And if your up to it, you can make a tech write up with pictures so that it might be of help to someone else and to you if you will do this again. Do not go to Lexus when it comes to minor maintenace such as this. They will rape you like theres no tomorrow.

rybikowsky

What year is your car? how many miles are on it. The starters that lexus uses are as good as they get. From the questions you asked, I surmise that this is not a job you should undertake.
Every mechanicle thing I buy, I also buy the service manuals. SometimesI buy them before having the product. They can give you a wealth of education. If I were you I would pay someone that knows what they are doing. To check it over and tell you exactly what is wrong. If it is indeed the starter I suggest you do what I havegotten used to doing due to absent mindidness with age. use a digital camera,take way more pictures of the engine than you think you need. every time you remove something take a bunch more pictures. Then when you are starting to put it back together, you have all of those pictures to use as reference material. Good Luck. carpe diem.

tantheman

The starter replacement is a huge job. Starter is located behind intake manifold. You must remove manifold and many cables/pipes. I had an independent I trust perform work. I had starter "completely" rebuilt. Cost was ---rebuild job $100; parts $150;labor--$300. Dealer wanted over $1000. You may want to replace with a new starter as labor is heavy component. My starter would not engage (spin) when ignition key was turned. A short existed in the circuitry. Mileage was around 100K.
Good luck!