jcollis217

at first car starts ok, drive somewhere and stop engine. try to start again no power at all. a little time later it starts. what could my problem be? oh this a 1997 ls 400.

Gene01

When you turn the key to "START" and it does not start, do you get:
1. nothing at all
2. click
3. starter motor turns but not the engine
4. engine turns over, but does not start
5. something else?

jcollis217

When I turn key everything stops, no lights, no sounds just a dead instrument panel. I wait for a minute with car door open and I get a beep and car door light, lights up I turn the key everything goes dead. About 30 minutes or so the car door lights, lights up, I turn key and it cranks up. It does this intermittently. It may go a day or two before it happens again.

Yamae

Sounds like a poor battery connection to me.
Have you ever checked the battery terminals lately?

deanshark

Mine did pretty much the same thing and it was a bad connection on the alternator due to the leaking power steering fluid. It sure sounds like a bad connection somewhere. I would try the battery terminals first. It could be as easy as just tightening the ground cable on the battery. But....usually with the LS400 nothing is easy.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

+1. Check the battery posts, if these are clean and there are no visible signs of corrosion on the cables, the battery would be the next suspect. The battery's I've had don't tend to go more than 4-5 years before they go south.

jcollis217

Cleaned positive and negative posts, hadn't had the problem since. Thanks for all the replys

LScowboyLS

if the problem happens again, replace the positive terminal with the one at the Toyota dealership, about $15, and they go out at this age.