avalon42

iTrader: (1)

You probably just jinxed yourself...

robinrocki

Did you have a manual to go by......have a friend(mechanic on the big rigs) who is willing to tackle this problem with my car.....or any words of wisdom for him??

Thanks

AzHotLS

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the forum robinrocki. Do a "starter replace" search (back out of this thread and click on the Search this forum link). There are several good threads on the subject with instructions and pictures. It's what I did when I needed to work on mine.

velandia

Thanks to "GRAND LS 4" for his post - it was a great guide on what to expect and what was requried. I just completed the starter replacement on my wife's '99 LS400 and have a few notes that may be helpful in addition to pictures from the OP.

Tool tips:
> you'll need a set of flex ratchets (lots of other posts state this as well)sicker shock warning: a 7 piece metric set flex ratchet (x-beam construction) costs ~$100 . I tried all kinds of other tool combinations, they did not work, there's just not enough room.
> a telescoping magnet tool (to retrieve steel parts) comes in very handy to grab a hold of bolts and nuts. I used it to retrieve and install manifold bolts and nuts as well as to retrieve tools or bolts that had fallen during disassembly/assembly. Upon seeing me use this tool, my wife cristened it "the magic wand"

Specifically on removing the starter:
1. remove the small bolt that holds the wire harness onto the starter ("use magic wand" to retrieve it), then take the wire harness tab, and push it up (10-20mm) on top of the starter. This will give you access to the driver's side starter bolt.
2. use the flex ratchet to remove the bolts. The passenger side bolt will come out easier because you get ~45 degrees of turn per pass - and there are about 20 turns of engagement (I didn't count, but there's *a lot*). On the drivers side bolt I only got ~15 degrees of turn per pass, so the ratcheting on this side seems endless. Once the bolts are free, I'd recommend using "the magic wand" to get the bolts out - you do not want to lose these behind the tranny.
3. only after you get the starter off can you turn it up and over to get at the bolt that holds the (+) terminal on the starter. (I fussed around a bit trying to get this off to try to move the wiring harness so I could access the driver's side starter bolt - dont bother).

Installing the new starter:
follow above steps in reverse. I'd recommend first putting the starter bolts in the hole, and then putting the starter in. You'll have a lot more room. Then put the starter in and start the bolts by hand - you'll barely be able to reach and get the bolts turning (like a guy on a log). Ratched each bolt about 1/3 of the way, then try to push the starter into its final position and keep ratcheting.

BTW, I bought my starter on line from Lexus of Sacramento (local to me) - $208 for the starter + $30 core charge. Prob could have gotten it cheper elsewhere but time was of the essence for me (my wife was driving my 2 kids around in the MR2 - 1 kid at a time ). I ordered on Thurs, picked up Fri, done by Sat morning.

Good luck and big thanks to Club Lexus and its members!!

Toshima

Now im worried just hit 120k on my 98. Great thread

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

Well I killed mine after shorting out my main harness in the wheel for the 3rd time. It fried my starter fuse . Then this week I washed my engine bay to do some work but I forgot to put the plastic shield back over it got water inside where the starter is and it activated and would not shut off the solenoid .Then I tried to bypass the fuse and left it on and the starter just keeps popping a $15 fuse. So for $300 I am letting a lex mechanic change it for me in 6 hours and spend $400 on a new starter from Toyota instead of a rebuilt one.

So let this be a lesson , keep your car running if power washing it (as I did ) . Make sure the cover is on and the water is not sprayed alot on the intake manifold area or it will pool and be like me out $700.

montalbano

My starter (2000 LS400 Mark 4) was replaced at 130000 miles. It cost nearly £900 including labour here in England. It seems the life of an LS400 starter is around 100 - 150,000 miles.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

man I feel lucky, 160k and original starter as far as I know

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

as we all know, some starters are used more than others. so mileage is just a rough estimate, and there are other factors involved like climate, engine/trans condition, battery/alternator life, etc.

in reality mileage is always a rough estimate of the condition of a car. the wear on a motor with 100k miles of driving highway differs massively with 100k of city driving.

clipster

I'm in the middle of this job right now (starter removed, now time for cleaning) on my 98 with 190K

GKLCPA

I have 225K miles on the same starter, so I guess I'm on borrowed time. The bad thing is that once it starts going, you can't even whack it with something to get it going temporarily. I wouldn't think of attempting this DIY. This is the sort of problem best solved by cutting a check.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

my nephew has done 5 starter jobs and on each, it was only the contacts that was bad, have never had a starter that was faulty, just the contacts

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Time flies. Its been exactly 8 years to the week since the job was actually done. Camera phones were still at sub mega pixel at the time

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

wow when'd you come back to life

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Still around...