I'm not sure whether it's the battery or starter, but if the car has been sitting for several hours and I go to crank it, it won't crank at first, then it will a little but won't turn over, then finally it starts. I took it to Advanced Auto and the test came out as "Good Battery." The battery terminals are also corroded and I had to clean them last week. I'm hoping it's just the battery, any suggestions?

 

If my terminals aren't getting a good connection it will do that. Try buying some new ones if sanding it down didn't work.

 

Ist off take the cables off the battery.Get some good sand paper and make the battery posts shine.Then take the sand paper and do inside you battery cable connections.Make them shine and hook back up.If this doesn't fix the problem then look at your battery next and then starter.

 

Thanks, I'll try just that! Good looking out guys!

 

could be corroded connector on the starter. What do you mean by it wont' crank? The engine won't turn over? Or the starter won't engage with the flywheel? What kind of car/how many miles?

If you turn the key and your battery has enough voltage to engage the starter with the flywheel and turn your engine over then there's really nothing wrong with the ignition system. If your engine cranks but doesn't run, then there's a spark/fuel problem.

 

Well, I'm sitting at school after leaving the Lexus dealership where my SC300 is at right now. The car actually acted worse for them than it did for me. Apparently the starter is really F'd up. It continues to start even after the engine has turned over and for the guy today, it continued to try to start even after he removed the key from the ignition. Very strange. So it is most likely the starter that just needs to be replaced. Sucks. On the bright side, they gave me the newer model RX330 (beautiful vehicle, so comfortable and drives/handles amazingly for an SUV) to use as a loaner. God I love being a Lexus owner! So just to recap the symptoms in case anyone else ever has this problem...

-Turning the key, it clicks once but no cranking.
-Or it keeps cranking, but engine does not turn over.
-No dimming of lights or any other power/voltage related problems.
-In my case, a loud clicking/rattling noise long after the engine has started.

Diagnosis as of right now, the starter is a piece of ******! hehe. Thanks guys for your help and input.

 

i've got the same problem now and then........and i do think it's the starter.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...hlight=starter

Had the same problem.
It's the contacts inside the starter.
As first my car would just click instead of starting.
I took apart the starter and sanded down the conacts a bit.
It worked for 2 weeks and then one day my car made a weird sound when I turned it on, so i turned it off, took out the key, and it was still cranking over (pretty scary huh? )
What causes this is the solenoid gets baked onto the contacts and is delivering a constant +12V to the starter, bypassing the starter relay.

All you gotta do is change the starter contacts to new ones.
My car has been fine for 2 months now with new contacts.

Good Luck

~Alan