My 96 LS 400 is intermittently not stating on the first go in the morning when its cold. I the starter clicks once. I may have to try many times, then it fires right up. Bought a new battery. Same results. Had O"Rielly check the starter with a meter, it checked out okay. Sounds like the solenoid to me. I read many posts that stated the same. You can buy a kit to fix solenoid contacts inexpensively.

My question is: After taking the time to remove manifold and all that goes with it to remove starter, is it prudent to repair solenoid or just replace the whole starter ?

 

Common sense will tell you "while you're in there you might as well replace the whole starter"

Unfortunately common sense may not know how deep this rabbit hole is...
Once the manifold is off you have excellent access to the front of the starter where the solenoid is. You can replace the worn plunger and terminals without removing the starter itself. YOU WANT TO DO THIS. Removing the entire starter opens a whole new can of worms. The bolts are on the back side of the engine so the EGR tube AND the water bypass line, it's actually more like a manifold, must be removed. Also the 22 year old heater valve and all related hoses are in your way. These old hoses are brittle and the valve is plastic. If you choose to replace the entire starter assembly you may as well replace all the heater valve hoses because you'll likely damage them in the process. Don't forget gaskets for the water bypass too...
I think the pic below speaks volumes. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

 

Thanks for the response.

Bradland, I am assuming this a picture of the starter removed and the place it mounts? I did some reading last night and concur with the challenges of fully removing the starter because of the heater, EGR and location of mounting bolts. You are saying that the solenoid is accessible before you get into all that mess and is repairable, correct?

I would like to know the the logic in placing the starter inside and under a manifold to begin with! I read a review on Amazon and quote "Replacing the starter on that car is by far the most difficult car repair I have ever done, or heard of."

Thanks for the helpful replies!

 

Here's a pic of the starter completely removed. The mounting holes are hidden behind the pipe and the yellow plastic shroud. You can see the flywheel through the large hole where the assembly mounts.



This is a pretty comprehensive thread- https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-progress.html

 

Another great pic showing the mess you have to get through...

 

Thanks for the great pics!
So in the 1st pic, am I seeing the starter in place with the solenoid removed and/or part of the starter?

I noticed Bradland that you live in AZ...if you are in Tucson anytime feel free to stop by and lend a hand! haha.. the job looks to be a bear!
My car starts 98% of the time just fine, so I am going to take my time before jumping into this.

Thanks again for the useful pics and comments

 

The top pic is the housing that holds all the starter components together. If you are not sure what you are looking at this diagram should help. Having said that, if you are not sure what you are looking at, you might be better off paying a mechanic to do the job. It is not for the faint of heart. I'm trying to provide insight and guidance to an easier path but the job is by no means EASY.
2822672010 - Terminal
2822650060 - Terminal
2823554380 - Magnetic plunger

 

you are a wealth of information. thanks!
I see that after removing the manifold and all that goes with that, you need to dis-assemble the starter to gain access to the solenoid contacts and plunger and replace them and put it all back together. I always tell my kids I can fix anything.. to a point! This might be a job for the shop... my concern there is that they would more than likely want to replace the starter, not just the contacts, and get into the issue of replacing old heater hoses and the like and wrack up a fairly high repair.. I will mull this over until after the holidays..

Thank you for the helpful advice and pictures..

 

+1 on the terminals. I had similar problem starting my '99 LS (shortly after my first TB/WP replacement). Rather than replace the entire starter, I just replaced the terminals (which were part of the starter rebuild kit, as well as brushes and whatever else you will need). So, within days I performed 2 tear downs that required draining the coolant. That was almost 5 years ago!

Do a search - at the time, I found a thread that had instructions for how to replace the starter. They weren't step by step, but they were good enough to get you through it (what do I remove first???)

Starter rebuild kits are available - the one I used was Part #: 2822654412KIT (I bought from Sewell (which no longer sells Lexus parts over the internet)). I think that is a Toyota part number. It was $79 in 2013.