Hey everyone. I’m new here. This is going to sound stupid but I was just given my first car ever. It’s a 2006 Lexus is350. I’ve had it for a little over a month now and I’m in love with it. 2 weeks ago though the car has died on me. I always make sure everything is off like any interior lights but it’s happened on a few occasions so I switched the battery. All was fine until last night when it did the same thing except this time when my friend came to jump it, it wouldn’t turn on. The tow truck guy said my starter was stuck and told me to hit this and it would start. Sure enough it did but then would die out again if the car was turned off. I checked to see about getting a new starter but I’ve seen videos on how to change it online but I’m confused. The starter from the videos I see is more in the engine where this one you can literally hit it with a long metal stick from the top when the hood is open. Can anyone pleae tell me what this is and if this is all I need to change to fix the problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

thats the oil filter housing

 

Thanks @jizz4jazz Hmmm.. so then that isn't the problem then but it definitely did work. All I did was literally tap it a few times and the car would start back up. how weird.. Do you have any other suggestions of what else it might be or what else I should check for? Thanks again.

 

I'm assuming it's sending a vibration to the starter, but the starter is on bank 2 side or drivers side by the exhaust manifold