2002 gs300 won't stop cranking
 

hey i am new to this don't even know if i am asking for help in the right place but here it goes. i woke up to a dead battery today when i went to jump start the car the minute i put the jumper cables the car started cranking on its own with no key in the ignition. so i then took the jumper cable off went in the car and put the key in the ignition and put it in the on position i then went to jump the car again and again the car started cranking the minute i put the jumper cables on now the car started but still keeps cranking. ok now i took the wire going to the starter off and obviously the car stopped cranking and its still running but i have no dashboard lights but when i put the car in drive the dashboard lights come on and then when i put the car back in park the dashboard lights turn off again and the car shuts off. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!

Welcome to Club Lexus :hello:

I believe your starter solenoid probably went bad, probably cranked all night until the battery died. Now that you put power to it with cables, you're feeding it more juice to continue cranking.

its not the starter because i disconnected it and i have the issue of no dashboard lights until i put the car in drive then when i put it back in park car shuts off

If its not the starter, then why did you have to disconnect it? Possibly disconnecting it is effecting the dash lights.

REPLACE YOUR STARTER...

You are risking a fire...Simple as that.

ok just checked the wire going to the starter and it has constant power going to it so i connected old starter i have i just connected it not installed it but when i connect the battery the starter i connected starts to work with no key in ignition so must be electrical problem but have no idea where to start looking

I believe starter relay cooked N.O. contact closed when they should be open with no key,
Same thing as having the key on.

Dude, Frank T knows what he's talkin about....Just replace your starter. Same thing happened to my 98GS. Replaced the starter and it was good to go!

If you put the transmission in "D", does the starter still crank when you jumper the battery? If not then it must be something giving 12V to the "Starter position on the ignition key wiring.
Here's a breakdown of the connections:

12V to Ignition SW
Ignition SW to "start position"
Start position to starter fuse
starter fuse to P/N Sw
P/N sw to starter relay
starter relay to starter solenoid
starter solenoid to starter motor.

I would check everything up to P/N sw if it doesn't crank by it self when its in "D"

The dash lights turning off is a normal thing that happens when your starting the engine so that's doing the correct thing.

You will have to put your foot on the brake when doing the test as it may have enough torque to move the car, so try do it quickly