i posted this, less them a month a go

my car been acting weird, it happen once a month my car dont want to start ,it just giving me one click every time i turn the key, i have to keep on playing with it untill it starts. i went to advanceauto they check my battery, and altinator and there fine, now my gest is the starter . what do you gys think?

so i went to advance autoparts, had my battery check its good, my altinator its good, my starter is good. but it happen to me again this morning, every time i leave my doors or my trunk open this happen, but it will start on the second or third key, seriously what do you think it migth be?

 

I would change the starter first they act like that all the time and it going to set you back about $900.00 with labor

 

Sounds like a starter solenoid issue.

 

starter solenoid what do you mean by that?

 

The starter solenoid is the relay that supplies the voltage and high current to the starter motor; directly from the battery. Is is a part of the starter motor assembly. The large wiring connections need to be clean and tight..(on the starter and battery)

The other side of the coin is the battery negative, or battery ground. It's body connections needs to be clean and tight, since the starter motor carries the highest current draw on the battery. This is the large negative wire connected to the battery.

To throughly inspect the battery wiring, the battery usually needs to be removed from the vehicle.

 

so it doesnt mean that i have to change my starter.

 

If it was the solenoid then NOTHING would happen, no clicking noise. I may be wrong, maybe Toyota starters work different, but I've experienced a bad solenoid with 2 GM and 1 Ford product and they all acted the same, no clicking noise.


Very easy way to check if it is really the solenoid. I'm not sure what the access is like to the starter, can you see it from the top? But if you can, smack the solenoid a couple times with a pipe or something. What happens is the solenoid engages and doesnt disengage, so when you smack it then you help to disengage it again. I learned this little trick from a mechanic and it worked on the 3 cars I had a problem with. On one occasion I just couldnt get around to swapping out the starter/solenoid for 2 weeks and just drove around with a pipe in my car and used it each time it wouldnt start.

 

It's your starter. I had to face the same problem just two weeks after I bought my car. The problem would happen once in awhile until one day, I couldn't get it to start at all. Do you have a GS300 or GS400/430?

 

gs 400 but i dont understand how come advanceauto told me i have a good starter.

 

Because it sounds like an intermittent problem.

 

not true. it clicks sometimes, starts other times when it the solenoid.

the Toyota solenoid is part of starter and you can get new oem Toyota contacts for about $15. it's an easy job, but getting to the starter is usually the hard part, especially if it's a 400 or 430.

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/starter/

 

I too have a GS400. It's a common problem in GS400s. I replaced mine for $600 out the door from a local mechanic shop that specializes in imports. Labor was about 6hrs ($50/hr) so it came out to be $300 for labor. Not a bad price, but expect a lot of shop to charge at least $75/hr. Lexus wants about $600-700 for labor.

The thing is with our starters, one minute they work fine, the next it leaves u stranded. When i got my starter tested, Autozone said the starter was fine also. The next day, I was stranded

Since I have fixed my starter, my car has started every single time. No clicks or anything like that. I'm glad I fixed it.

 

I agree with chuck, it's the solenoid. Its funny how this big problem lies within a $15 part. lol. Though I would just get a new starter, but then again, I like a piece of mind.

 

GSteg -- I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I definitely felt a little responsible for your problems after giving you the "don't settle for anything less than what you really want" speech. Glad to hear things worked out for you.

To the OP, I know nothing about starters (and hope I never have to learn), but what Chuckb's saying makes sense. Assuming your battery connections are tight and clean, if you can get to the starter, it might be worth it to try to replace the solenoid first.

 

Great link!!! Bookmark that link!!!