jinhanyu

Today, my battery light came on and so did my ABS light. After about 3 hours I felt the A/C power get weaker and weaker. At the same time my power steering seemed to be going and the dash lights were getting dim. Finally, when I parked my car it would not start back up and it would just make clicking sounds. But, my interior lights were still working. I was able to jump start the car and then after about 3 mins it died again. This time when I pressed on the brakes my dash board would flash everytime I pressed the brakes and my RPM tachometer would go up and down with the press of my brake pedals as well. And none of my lights would work. I was able to get a new battery since the one in my car was dead and it started fine. The person at the parts store said it may be my alternator and my car drained the existing battery because it was not receiving any charge. He says my new battery will only last a couple hours max until I fix the alternator. Has this happened to anyone else? Is it really my alternator? Can it not be a loose wire or fuse? Or electrical problem? P.S. Today the weather was around 100 degrees and I was blasting the A/C almost all day.
Anyone know of any good Lexus mechanics in Portland, OR???

Thank you in advance for all your help!!

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

it is either your alternator, or the connection on the ground of your battery. check your cables to ensure they are clean and well mounted. once my negative post wire had came undone and acted just like this. I found it to be a bad connection to the negative side of the battery. had it been the positive side, it wouldn't have been so critical until i turned the car off.

I'd say it is one of the two. alt's are very easy to change and you should be able to pull the old one yourself and take it to someone locally to be rebuild. it will only cost around $100 bucks that way V/S 300 to 450 by using a mechanic.

Good luck! Keep us updated on the problem.

THE_CEO

hey what happend to this issue....was it solved and what seemed to be the problem?

CEO

TGRich

I would lean towards the alternator.

jinhanyu

It was indeed a bad alternator. I replaced it with a Bosch for $310 at a local Japanese Auto Repair Shop. It would have been $410 for a toyota alternator. He told me they were both comparable so I went with the Bosch. I also had him repair my leak which was a bad rear main engine seal which cost another $300. Lexus wanted $1000 to replace the same seal!! The problems are all fixed now and the car runs great. But, I did notice the first gear shift a little less smoother. Sort of jolts a tiny bit. I wonder if this happened when they lifted the tranny to replace the seal???

THE_CEO

i was curious cause i had the same problem ...and it was the alternator...it was rebuilt to OEM specs..good as new...125.00...and about 45 to 50 minutes install...

CEO