My son called me today that his '99 SC300 was making a weird noise whilst running and even after he shut the car off. I told him to come by the office (only a couple miles away), and as he drove into the parking lot smoke began to pour out from beneath the hood. There was a distinct burning electrical and plastic smell. Once I got the hood up and the smoke had clear somewhat, I could see that smoke was coming from the starter. My thinking is that there was perhaps a short in the wiring causing the starter to either keep running, or not shot off properly. Another thought is that the starter solenoid held the plunger against the flywheel causing the whirring noise he had described earlier and subsequently burnt out the starter.

Has anyone run into this problem before? What else should I check before getting a new starter and replacing it?

 

It seems now there is no power to the car at all. Perhaps it burned through a ground wire?

 

Trace the wires back from the starter, i think it connects to the battery and also the wire from the fusebox connects at the same place, so there is a chance you blew some fuses/relays. with no power at all I would start looking in there first.

 

Good idea. As my clothes still wreak of the acrid smelling smoke, it is difficult for me to even focus what it could be. Any recommendations on which brand starter I should go with (ie. Bosch, Denso, other)? O'Reilly's and AutoZone have remanufactured ones for $127.99 (plus core) with lifetime warranty, while Lexus is proudly asking $266.84 for theirs.

 

I used an Autozone starter on my SC400 (I know, I'm a little brave). So far so good.

It might have burned up the fuse too.

Gambler, I didn't realize you were old enough to have a son driving an SC lol

 

the rebuit ones are usually pretty good when it comes to toyota starters. most of the times they just need the contacts at the base of the plunger replaced.
If your starter catches on fire though, yeah it would be safer to go with a replacement.
see what the teeth look like on the gear after you pull it out. hopefully the teeth on the flywheel are still in good shape.

 

Be careful with the AZ ones. One option is remanufactured and the other "GOLD". I was doing some research earlier on their site and came across this. Brand New OE Spec Construction! Nice!

http://www.duralastparts.com/gold.php?page=starters