2014 my. For background, the car was left with the dome lights on and failed to start. My daughter attempted to start it with jumper cables but that failed. I have no idea what happened here, I wasn't called until after they attempted to jump it with her friend's car (small sedan, maybe nissan sentra, whatever it was definitely smaller 4cyl engine). She said it made a really 'funny' sound and didn't start. And then just clicked on subsequent tries. I used a battery jump pack and it started on second try. That was two-three weeks ago and it has been fine since. The car is used every few days and I let it sit as much as 4 days to see if it would start or any weakness. It started fine each time and the starter sounded fine, there have not been slow cranks or any grinding noise etc. The battery is dated June 2020 so as a precaution I went to Advance Auto and did a battery test. The test started with the car off, then on and revving between 2000-3000rpm. The store associate said the battery and alternator tested fine, but the starter had low voltage in the 8-9 volt range. What does this mean? They were trying to sell me a starter, but wouldn't this be a wire issue? How does a starter have low voltage? Wouldn't the voltage match the battery but for resistance in the wire?

Fwiw - the battery terminals did have slight corrosion on the positive terminal but really not a lot. I really only saw it after I removed the wires and completely cleaned the terminals. That was the day after it died. I haven't looked at the starter at all. Just trying to find out where to start. Is it common to get corrosion on the starter?

 

Please clarify that "currently there is a problem or not".
Are you concerned about the statement the tech (sales-person) made?

If there is no problem now, just forget about it or at the most invest in a trickle charger.

There are many explanations to what the sales person said [if indeed he measured the voltage at both ends of the solenoid [battery side and starter side]. If the post were sufficiently secured then my best guess is that the solenoid is acting up. Solenoid is the most failure prone item (based on on use) and it randomly makes the proper connection and at times gives out a resistive connection. Most owners report clicking sound and then it randomly works. Getting a jump randomly works.

Salim

 

After the jump start, I did not think there is any problems or noticed anything strange. As I mentioned, car starts fine and starter sounds normal to me. Frankly I only had the battery tested b/c it is 5y old and I know we are probably need a new one sometime soon. This car is driven by my daughters. Now that they are back from school for the summer, the car will be driven daily and I wanted to make sure the battery was still solid.

 

With the vehicle getting back to being driven daily, you are probably good to go for awhile. As mentioned above, a trickle charger would be a good idea if you have one.

 

thanks everyone. Eyeballing the starter I don't see any corrosion. I put the multimeter on the battery cable terminal on the starter and had same voltage as the battery. Spoke briefly to my mechanic and after some choice words about the auto parts store told me to ignore them.

 

Thank you for sharing and broadcasting the final status.

Another thing about starters is they don't get better on their own.

Salim

 

Get a brand new starter from Lexus.
2810031171 P&N for 2014 RX350 with Vin starts with J. Make sure you correspond with your vin number. Sometimes they go on sale like 15-17% off. Currently its 200$ Shipped and tax free to Houston. YMMV

 

But Try battery first. 5 year old batteries are DUE ASAP. Dont let your alternator and other car electronics suffer with an old battery.