Usual routine this morning except I'm half asleep still when I get in the car. Go to start it and nothing. No clicks pops etc. Just silence so I back off and check that the shifter is in park and try again. This time it tries to start momentarily but then nothing. I figure third time is a charm and it was. Car fires right up.

Is this a death sign from my starter? Battery is newer and I don't have any alternator issues that I have noticed. No battery light in the midst of trying three times (that I noticed at least).

Would the charging system tester from, say, advance auto parts be ideal for testing the cars starter? Recs show it was replaced at 55k and right now I'm at 170k.

TIA

 

"No clicks pops and just silence" means no engagement of the relay nor the solenoid.
The "dead battery", "dead terminal", "dead key cylinder", "dead wiring" or "dead Neutral Safety Switch" might cause that problem.

I don't know my suggestion is effective or not, but why don't you try below. You wouldn't loose anything.

The click sound from the starter relay is just slight and you need to listen carefully opening the hood and the fuse box next to the battery.

Don't you still hear anything with both of them open?
If nothing is heard, check the "Neutral Safety Switch" first. It may not be fully conductive. The reason why this first is that most of no sound problem was caused by that switch according to my experience.

Try shifting between "P" and "N" at least 10 times quickly pushing the release button.
Does this change the situation a lot?
If so, the highest possibility is the failed "Neutral Safety Switch".

There is an easy way to fix this without replacing the switch but the above confirmation is needed to be done first.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will look into this as a contributing factor. I went out and started the car (been sitting four hours) and it started right up.

 

No, there is nothing sold at Advance auto parts that will test your LS400 starter (except for a new battery!)

a great deal of times, corrosion on the terminals, especially the + side underneath the bolt where it connects to the cable a few inches from the battery post is the culprit

 

I just went through all this, very likey it's your starter. It's a ***** to replace and very costly at stealership. Good luck, most likely it your starter

 

Autozone has a tester that supposedly tests your alternator, battery and starter. My starter has been making sounds like its weak. I did not tell them the starter appeared weak either. Its a free test and will not take 5 minutes, and in the process, you can tell if your battery or alternator is bad too. Just because your battery or alternator is fairly new, does not mean their good. ( My starter has been making noises like it is straining to start at times and hesitates also. Other times, it turns over very quickly. It also has a lot of miles on it.

 

think about this as a logical electrical circuit - other than hooking up a battery to the car, and verifying the cable and connections, not much of a test can be done at the auto parts store.

they could do an amperage draw test, but that would only show a bad starter motor with a short or a high draw, which is not the typical way LS400 solenoid contacts fail

an electrically sharp mechanic, equipped with the wiring diagram, could test whether the line powering the solenoid is becoming energized on cranking, but this is beyond the capabilities of Advance Auto Parts, Autozone, O'reilly etc.

I think the following photo and quote from billydpowe (who has had this issue on multiple LS400's) will illustrate the issue:

 

OMG, I'm actually agreeing (at least partially) with something "cowboy" said! A competent repair shop should be able to tell you how many amps your starter is drawing. An abnormally high amp draw is a clear indication that a starter is failing. My original starter was drawing something like 10 times the normal amp draw when I had it replaced earlier this year a little before 165,000 miles. The symptoms were a lot like what you get with a bad battery except if I tried enough times the starter would always eventually spin and start the engine.

I didn't realize how slow the old starter was spinning until after the new one was installed. The new starter obviously spins incredibly faster than the old one.

If you have the skills of former auto repair shop owner billydpowe, you could probably replace the failing starter components yourself if you have the time and tools. I don't have the time and no longer have extra cars to drive while I do work like that.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm gonna try and take it by a shop and see if they can test the amp draw and see where I stand from there. I'd prefer to DIY this and save the $$$ a shop would charge.