gdave

so my mechanic has told me i need a new alternator dispite most CL members saying my alternator shoudnt have went down the tubes with my audio system and i said the same thing but he checked battery, fine, alternator, fine but it wont HOLD the charge BUT I HAVE HEARD OF WIRES NEXT TO THE TRUNK HINGE BECOMING BROKEN FROM YEARS OF OPENING AND CLOSING THE TRUNK.....THESE WIRES GO TO THE COMPUTER AND COULD BE CAUSING MY COMPUTER TO DASH TO READ IMPROPERLY.TRUE? MY MECHANIC SAID THAT THE COMPUTER RUNS 24/7 BECAUSE OF MY ALARM EVEN WHEN THE CAR IS SITTNG.......THOSE WERE MY MECHANICS WORDS. im trying to avoid this $300 dollar expense, when cash flow is at a minimum at this point.ANY INPUT IS GREATLY WELCOMED.

PK_Celsior

iTrader: (18)

your mechanic is right for the LS400 your ECM will be constantly running. It controls both your air/fuel ratio and your alarm. i never knew there was a wire next to the trunk hinge that can break????? replacing the computer is not cheap either :/. i got a reman from lexus dealership came up to 1k blahhh. its usually 2k but i have a UCF20

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/bulbout.html

gdave

yes, puredrifter this is where ive heard it before and i cecked the other day and pulled on a bunch of wires by the trunk hinge on the drivers side and they were all fine and secure. is there any on the passenger side i should check before i have the repair?

gdave

i also heard that under the PS problems with this car the alternator is one too?

TheBigGuy

have u tried changing the battery? might sound like a common sense suggestion but my 96 LS400 was not holding a charge either.. Battery and alternator checked out good but sometimes it just wouldnt start (unless i jump started it).. Seemed like something was draining the battery both when the engine was on and off

So what did i do??
i swapped batteries with my beater honda accord (800 CCA compared to the 730 CCA battery that was in the lexus) and the lexus started right up. Problem was pretty much gone while the Accord got all the problems with the Lexus battery. Had to jump start the accord to get it started, battery would not hold a charge and would flat-out in 15 minutes, etc etc...

after 3 problem-free days of running the Lexus with the Accord battery. I decided to buy a brand new battery for the lexus and put the regular battery back into the accord. the accord started right away with no problems and my lexus has been problem free with the new battery

This all happened this week btw.. hope this helps a bit

gdave

thanks BigGuy but my mechanic did all the test's and my battery is fine its great.im mad this has to happen now when money is tight but i thought of it like this my car is 18 years old and has 163xxx miles on it and after all that i guess its just that time

TheBigGuy

^^^ thats what i told myself for 2 weeks before swapping the battery..
"Battery checked out fine, it shouldnt be the battery".. BUT, it was the battery..

PS: (assuming that you are getting the same problems i had..)

It worked for me, just thought u should give it a try.. Have a friend swap batteries with you real quick and see if that cures the problem. if that doesnt help, then start looking for other solutions