I am looking to purchase a 91 LS 400 w/ 210K miles, The owner says it is the starter. when I try to turn over the motor i get a rapid clicking sound, My instincts says it is a bad battery connection. any help?

 

Hi,
99% it will be the starter,easy job to check the battery connections and also check the battery condition but a major project to replace the starter,the copper contacts normally wear out in the starter and these can be purchased to rebuilt the existing starter,the problem is getting it out.
If you plan to do the job yourself look you need a 4 out of 5 skill level or 10 hours of garage labor costs.

 

bring another battery and check the grounds...
if it doesnt fix it.

it's the starter.

 

+1. It will just click...it's the sux. Check the battery terminals too make sure they are making good contact.

PD, are you on the original starter?

 

My guess is that it's NOT the starter, at least not yet.

It's most likely a bad battery or possibly even a bad alternator that is not charging the battery properly.

Check the terminal connections and charge the battery first.

 

yep

 

I thought the same when I 1st saw the problem,rapid clicks are normally a sign of lack of battery current,the starter contact problem usually just gives a single click.
Try another known good battery 1st.

 

Thanks guys, my gut feeling it is the battery, although the battery looked new it seemed to be small in size, it think the current owner must have purchased the incorrect rated battery. I will keep you guys posted.

 

I am not sure if this is the original starter.

 

Life is a beach...not. This morning, turned the key and click. Battery checks fine so this will make #3 in ours. At 153K, very disappointed.

Local repair guy asked how many miles, I told him and he said he sees enough die ~70-80K and for some reason, some have bad luck others not. $600 through him and done in 5 hours. Ugh...

Edit
For the heck of it I called the dealer for his quote.
$1191 before tax. I do get a loaner and would get to enjoy the coffee and pastries though. :P

 

LOL i'm still on the original starter @ ~130k

are you having yours rebuilt or replacing with a warehouse rebuild unit?

 

The last one was a Toyota re-manufactured unit installed by Longo. It was rebuilt stateside, somewhere.

 

My 95 (nearly 160K miles) has a Toyota re-manufactured starter too, but starter replacement was never stated in service records. With Toyota's track record of doing things without recalls, maybe original starters were replaced with re-manufactured ones (during a routine service visit).

 

A week or so back, the negative battery terminal had heavy corrosion deposits. I cleaned it and about 2 days later, it was bad again. Cleaned again and this time I applied a anti-corrosion compound to the post and terminal. Been working ok until the other day when it the starter clicked.

No deposits but the previous deposits had made me suspicious if the neg cable had been damaged. It wasn't visible. In a temporary band aid to see if there was a remote possibility the neg cable was damaged, I fixed up another negative cable and found a fresh ground for it. So far it has been good but we'll see. I don't know where the factory cable runs since it is wrapped into a harness. I lose it once it get's beneath the battery box and main fuse box in the engine compartment.

Any of you know where it begins to branch off and the first initial ground point?

 

@ 210 i think its your starter. mines went out with 180ish k on it. starter is not that hard to get to, just a pain in the *** tho, you'll have to remove your intake manifold to get to the starter.