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ls400 1990 starter work fine last fall then 7months later I went to start the car and the starter would not even make a noise and I did put in a fully charged battery anyone else have this problem
It could be a ground engine to battery, a bad connection some place, a bad ignition switch in the start position, a fuse, the starter solenoid, and since you don't hear a noise
its likely the circuit to the solenoid, you can find that wire and send 12volts to it and see if it makes noise.
Thanks for your time I would be happy if one of your Fixs worked so I will try them in the next few days and give you an update. Also for more info I purchased this car as a parts car for my 1990 LS400 for only 500.00 because the car came with only one key. At the time I bought the car I would have driven it from Lake Tahoe cal to New York and not even opened the hood so in the very near future there will be a lot of great parts to be gotten, but first i need to start the car after It has not been started for 7 months and at the time I put it away the starter worked like new so now you have all the info so let’s keep in touch. Parts are coming soon.
I still cant believe the starter is in the motor on these things.I guess its well protected there but its a bugger to change out. I thought my old Merc starter was a PITA, but this one takes the cake and wont give it back without a fight!!!
I still cant believe the starter is in the motor on these things.I guess its well protected there but its a bugger to change out. I thought my old Merc starter was a PITA, but this one takes the cake and wont give it back without a fight!!!
I feel that it was alot of thinking went into that position.Granted, it is in a bad spot but you don't hear of too many failures. MOST of my other cars throughout my life I needed to change the starter. Some cars multiple times.
i only have one piece of advice for anyone with a bad starter in your ls400. as an ls400 driver its the one part of your car that you dont ever want to see.
i only have one piece of advice for anyone with a bad starter in your ls400. as an ls400 driver its the one part of your car that you dont ever want to see.
-prepare your anus.
Funny. I think I'd rather change the starter then my heater core, again.
But, to each his own.
For debugging, you can check voltage at the starter relay (left side of engine bay, by the coolant overflow tank), and even jumper across it to start the car. There was one point in my '91's life when I had to do that - turn ignition to ON, pop the hood and then go and use a paperclip to jumper across the starter relay to start the car.
In my case back then, it was a weird thing - the starter relay itself was actually OK. I suspected the neutral start switch (the thing that detects shifter position and will only let you start when in P or N). But it ended up being a blown 7.5A fuse (labeled "ST" for starter) down by the driver's left foot. I swapped that fuse and never had any problems ever again. It was also weird in my case because the problem was intermittent for a while and then at one point became permanent. Maybe the fuse was slowly failing for some reason.
It shows that 7.5A fuse in the upper right, and the NSS to the right, and the starter relay nearby as well. By checking voltages when the key is to START, at some point in that circuit, you should be able to find a place that you should be getting 12V but you are not.
Last edited by oldskewel; Jun 13, 2018 at 01:11 PM.
1999 LS 254k miles, original starter had been giving me problems over last two years ( would not start right away when it’s cold in the winter first time in the morning, consequent starts were ok)
I finally got around to change it after reading all the posts here and getting all parts and tools beforehand.
Changed manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, new injectors and spark plugs.
Spent a LOT of time just cleaning... every tube and every bolt...
The intake ports were pretty black and carboned up, I wrapped a waffle towel ( less lint) around two fingers, sprayed carburetor cleaner on the towel and fingered the ***** out of those ports, vacuuming every few minutes too.
Starter
