Lexicon1

I purchased an SC400 a few months ago.
No prob starting it, but had mothballed it while performing other maintenance items on it before I put it into regular use.
Long story short.
When I went to revive it, it started clicking when I went to start it,
Replaced battery
Re-tightened and cleaned the NEG and POS battery clamp,
but,
It takes around 5 revolutions of the engine before it starts, and it just doesnt seem as "eager" to start as before.
ANY suggestions, I dread it possibly being the starter.
This was a East Coast car and is now on the West coast.
Thanks for any suggestions and details you can share.
How many "cranks" or revolutions does it take for your V8 to start?

Spitfire86

I'd actually be interested in this too, I've only had my SC 400 a couple months and in the morning it sounds like it's straining the starter a lil bit. After it's warmed up started is fine though. I'm scared of that dreaded starter replacement =/ bulletproof engine, but starter located under it? Ouch!

sonyman

Spitfire86, I don't know if your problem is similar to mine, but here is my problem: In the morning, the first start of the day takes a lot of cranking, the rpms fluctuate, and then the car stabilizes. I took my SC400 to Sears to run a battery diagnostic, and they found that my battery is OK, and my alternator is good. They seem to think that my fuel system is the culprit (filter/pump). I am going to have my mechanic check that out for me.

Scott

SC400TT

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like your starter...When the starter starts to go bad, it will be more sluggish at start up. It will worsen over time. Have some one check the amps it is pulling when turning. If it is off by much at all, then you know the problem. If you can't do this replacement yourself, expect to spend at least a grand for a new starter and labor...

Ryan

dough boi

In the morning my sc400 takes a bit to start also, when it's cold about 3 seconds on cranking and it'll fire up, anytime after that, it's almost instantly.

Lexicon1

So, if you turn the key, how many revolutions does it take to get your SC started
One person has actually given an indication of time.
my car takes around 5 cranks
Thanks for any responses to this question

CLRH2O

Mine takes about 5 full revolutions as well. But recently I've been having more trouble even getting the engine to turn over at all - let alone just be sluggish.

There was a thread about the replacement (although not an exact step by step or tutorial) of the V8 starter. And I've got to admit that even as a person who does some fairly serious work to my cars......it sounds like a true horror to undertake.

That thread is located here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223233

MJHSC400

Mine takes a few seconds, like 5 revolutions, around a second and a half when cold...

It's higher compression-- other than that I don't know-- maybe fuel pressure-- maybe old fuel lines that take a second to re-prime-- weak fuel pump-- maybe a fuel pressure test could better diagnose the problem-- I would start worrying when it won't crank at all or really takes a long time like 5 seconds or 10 seconds... Then there's a real problem.

JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

When I first looked at the parts of my ig sys I noted that there were not mag pick ups for each cylinder. There was only a 0 degree magnet on the flywheel. Now it has to give eight signals for spark with 2 revolutions of the crank. I'm not misspeaking here, right? So, if there aren't any pickups it must be clocking the crank and estimating the spark timing. A computer can do that well and precisely. It seemed logical to me that to get a good idea of the timing the computer would need a couple of turns to zero in. This is the smoothest running engine that I have known that does not fire on the first turn.

I swear to God I'm not smoking anything. So much of this car amazes me that I accepted this hypothesis and haven't questioned it for a year. Am I AFU here. How does it work then?

Thank you

John

JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

Lex,

Once that puppy lights it should roar to life. Mine does and yours should too. If it doesn't it is not your starter that is the cause. Once you START, the starter's job is done. If it firing off sluggishly I would suspect your cold start injector or that somehow you are running lean at that point in the run cycle. Start another post with the sluggish start-up as your question. Some expert will tell you exactly what is doing it. Avoid the starter job if you can but when you do do it CLRH20 and I and many others will help you out for sure. Yea tho I walk thru the valley of..... whats that over there? Oh, crap. Do those bolts have to come out?

I made the post that CLRH20 is referring to. The starter R&R is a killer. Obviously it is being done daily but not by anyone that is happy about it. I had two electrical shops in town turn me down flat when I asked for an estimate. One thread here said a grand...well Lex wants $500 for the starter and the shop time is flat-rated for 8.5 hours. Shops charge $90 to $100 per hour and sometimes they add 10% to the flat rate for difficult jobs like this. I think a grand was a light estimate but a call will clear that up. You can buy a re-manufactured starter for $135 and a rebuilt for 165. I know! Go figure. The re-man had a years warranty and the rebuilt had only 30 days. If that thing goes tips up in thirty days after you go through that job I hope for their sake you aren't armed.

MJHSC400

I don't know if anyone else said this, but maybe you should try resetting your ecu-- unplug your negative terminal for an hour--

See if that helps-- I'm going to try it on mine--