legend0121

Has anyone changed a starter of an ls460 before? Any helpful hints? My car died on me yesterday and i strongly feel its the starter. When i push the start button i get a loud click noise.. after playing with it for 20 min it actually started. Battery is good, no codes.. Any ideas?

roadfrog

Certainly sounds like your starter is done. If it is, you have a very large job ahead. A lot of disassembly is required to get to it, including intake, throttle body etc. There are a few posts recently about it.

Good luck!

legend0121

Thanks for the reply.. i have been trying to find a few pic's, can you point me in the right direction?

CJITTY

i have not heard of anyone replacing a starter on their own here on CL In fact, I don't recall someone having one that failed

Pamperme

Did ur car have the engine recall done? I read somewhere that cars that had this done may have not had the starter reattached correctly resulting in a shorten life.

Nospinzone

It's hard to tell from your brief description, but if I had to guess, it is not your starter motor. Generally something mechanical like that either works or it doesn't. It sounds to me more like a faulty connection somewhere, either in your START/STOP switch, or some connection to the starter motor.

I would check those possibilities before doing an expensive starter motor replacement.

roadfrog

I'm surprised nobody here has seen this problem on the forum, but here's a ton of info for you from others with similar symptoms:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-starting.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ont-start.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ease-help.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-engaging.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...w-starter.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...attery-or.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ont-start.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-problems.html

And here is a LS400 DIY that should be similar to our LS and it's about a 6 hour job. From what I've read, you can expect to pay about 1100 dollars to replace the starter.
http://www.lextreme.com/starter.html

legend0121

So!! I was able to change my starter out this weekend. Took me about 2 hours which wasn’t bad. I was able to get a reman starter for $95(Autozone hookup), new exhaust gasket for $25, 8x exhaust nuts, and donut gasket $8 all from the dealer. I can honestly say it was not a hard job. Had to take out a few parts to get to the starter (under the passenger exhaust manifold) but over all, very do able. If anyone need some insight on this please let me know. Also, I have aaccess to Alldata. If some needs the instructions, please let me know.

Thank you all for your input!

Nospinzone

Wow, nice job.

I guess it wasn't all that expensive when you DIY!

legend0121

Not at all!! If I had to pay retail for the the parts it would still be under $300.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Yes, I'd love to see the pics. I thought the starter was located in the center of the V, under the intake components. Your description suggests you found it outside the block under the passenger exhaust (?)

legend0121

Sorry, didnt take any pics. The starter is located under the passenger exhaust.

roadfrog

Well done! This is good news!

bruceko

my starter failed at 110k

wahala101

I'm having this same issue. Can you please share the instructions for diy?
Thanks