I need to replace starter in 02 es300. Where is a good place to get starter, auto zone, advance auto parts? Anyone have pix of the install or advice? Thanks

 

Its a fairly easy job to tackle. Take out the battery, airbox, and a few small items below that and you can gain access to the starter itself. Its held in by 2 14mm bolts. It has one small connector on the front of the starter, and the power cable, held on by a 12mm nut, on the backside.

As far as brand, id try to get a denso sourced starter. I know most don't want to pay dealer prices, but that's the best one ive seen.

A HUGE word of advice, clean your throttle body blade/bore when you have everything torn apart. Since this car has a drive-by-wire system, removing the battery will make the ECU forget the learned value of the throttle body, and the car will not idle when you put it all back together. This can be avoided by simply cleaning the blade/bore of any carbon buildup prior to putting it back together. Then let it relearn the idle, and youre good to go.

 

saw a vid on youtube with a 99 es300. it took me about 2.5 hours to do. not really hard to do. found a starter from advance auto parts for 150 and 20 core.

 

Just order the internal contacts/brushes from Sewells. Very easy to replace them in your existing starter. Just did this on starter and alternator in Daughter's 02 GS300. Can't remember exact price, but around $50 for starter and Alt contacts