jdmloyal2

New to the forum i usually just search and read but i've came to a dead end with this one.

I started having problems with my sc400 starting and went through all the usual steps before buying a new starter

I purchased my 92 sc400 in december of 2009 with 150000 miles. Had a rack and pinion leak and bad power steering pump which i purchased both remanufactured and had them replaced at a local import shop and hadn't had anymore problems with it.

My altenator then went out at 187000 miles bought a remanufactured altenator had the same shop perform the work hadn't had anymore problems with the altenator either.

At about 189000 miles the starter would make a winding sound but would not start on the first try would take about 3 attempts to start the vehicle, the colder the worse.

I'am currently a student taking auto tech and my instructor who is a L1 i believe that is the term for a master (correct me if i'm wrong) he goes on to telling me that it is the solenoid in the starter and to just purchase a new one so i buy a new denso starter

Proceed to taking the car in for maintenance at the same local import shop they tell me its a 6 hour job and the shop owner ask me if i have the 2j motor and i tell him no 1uz the starter is under the intake manifold he says "oh yeah very labor intensive" him asking about the 2j kinda made me think twice but i say anyway he's not the tech who usually works on my car so they tell me it will be ready the next day at 3pm.

2 o'clock the shop owner calls me saying your car will not be ready by 3 but it will definitely be ready by 5 when we close i catch a ride arrive by 3:30 and wait until 5 no one comes out or tells me anything for 2.5 hours i finally get a ride from one of my friends after he gets off work and tell the shop owner i'm leaving why is it taking him so long with my car if its only a 6 hour job he goes on to saying "you have a fuel leak coming from one of your lines" i say how did that happen it didnt have one before i brought it to you and he says "your asking me questions i dont have the answer's to and that soon as i find out i'll give you a call and let you know" he calls me a 30 mins later saying "its leaking from your crush washer and that it will be ready by friday afternoon" then proceeds to asking me if i've had problems with my vehicle idling cause i think you had a problem with it before you briught it in i say no my sc idles at 1100 rmp's when cold 1000 rpm's when warm and 750 when in drive he says nothing more about it and says i'll call you tomorrow then.

Friday morning the receptionist calls and tells me they dont have any crush washers in stock and that they called both johnson lexus and both toyota dealers in NC and that they dont have any in stock either nor do any of the local parts stores and that they ordered new crush washers and that they should arrive monday morning and i ask do i have to pay for the crush washers and how did they cause the leak she says "crush washers can be reused we usually reuse them its not something that has to be replaced its not something that we messed up so you have to pay for them" I ask did johnson lexus say you could reuse the old crush washers she says "johnson lexus says you can reuse the old ones"

So i search around on the internet and find out that crush washers are not reuseable and that only new ones should be used when old ones are removed.

And that crush washers are not that hard to find so i kind of came to the conclusion that something else is going on the reason he has had my car from wednesday morning and needs it until monday just to replace a starter but everyone is ASE CERTIFIED !!!!!

so my question would be what kind of problems could come up when removing the intake manifold

socal72

iTrader: (8)

Sounds to me like they knew how to look up the labor hours on it, but soon realized they were in over their heads. And once they they started taking things apart they realized it wasn't something they could handle and needed to buy some time after they tried to figure out the best way to get it back together. Hence the crock they tried feeding you about your crush washers and the idling JMO. The other stuff you had done with those guys were pretty straight forward and easy to replace so they gained your trust and you naturally would go back, but it seems like they are screwing. Maybe this will help you get an idea of whats involved in the removal/installation of your starter. http://www.lextreme.com/starter.html
Hope this helps and good luck with that shop!

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

IMO this sounds very normal. The starter on the 1uz is horrible, it says 6 hrs but its a huge pain. Everything on the intake manifold has to come of. Take a look at the diy. Most of these parts haven't been touches in 189000 miles. When removing these brittle parts there is a good chance stuff will break. 1 crush washer isnt bad and its not their fault really, its the nature of the beast. some people choose a different engine just cause of the 1uz starter, some will even swap motors before attempting to replace the starter.

jdmloyal2

thanks for the link but now he's tellin me i need a banjo bolt and fuel pressure regulator and that someone probably worked on the car before him and mended the fuel injector connectors together and that they bent one of the fule lines but he tells me all of this after he puts the car back together and attempts to start it and it cuts right off

socal72

iTrader: (8)

Oh, I guess i spoke to soon then, I apologize. It just sounded a little iffy to me and some shops are not as trustworthy as they seem. So from what you described it sounds like someone mckey moused from before and it need to be fixed the proper way? Maybe try and print the diagram out for the shop or I could post the procedure from my manual if you like. LMK and GL

jdmloyal2

please send the link and i really think something shady is going on because two techs have walked out on him and he's running the shop by himself i just recently found out that the tech who usually works on my car left early last week also please explain to me what imo, jmo, lmk and gl means

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

imo = in my opinion
jmo = Just my opinion
lmk = let me know
gl = good luck

FYI search can help find all of these things. try a google search (you can test FYI).

socal72

iTrader: (8)

Hmm I hate to say I told you so, so i wont. The link is six posts up if thats what your referring to.