larthestar

Es300 would not start today. Few minutes later it did. Drove to another location and it wouldn't start again. Headlights and lights on dashboard all work. No sound when key is turned. Battery is fine. Any help would be appreciated.

hypervish

Welcome to Club Lexus!

Sounds like the starter (likely the contacts) is on it's way out.

PFB

Could also be loose Batery cables on the battery posts. Grab one at a time and see if you can rotate any of the cable connectors by hand.

larthestar

Cleaned the cables and installed a new battery. No change.

larthestar

I am the original owner and it has 206,700 miles. Might be time for a starter replacement. Will check that out.

PFB

Forgot to mention to start it in Neutral, instead of drive. If that does not work, than hit the starter with the end of a broom stick, or tap it lightly with a hammer. Try it several times.

Get a helper to try and start the car hile you hit the tarter.

If it is the starter, hitting it will usually get it going TEMPORERALY. If it starts, you will need to change the starter, but at least you won't need to pay for a tow.

Phil

Oro

Another quick and dirty test to neck-down the problem is to jump the starter across it's terminals.

Take a beefy screwdriver and holding it only by the insulated handle, lay it across both terminals with power to the starter. If it fires right up consistently, it's electrical upstream of the starter. If it acts the same, then the starter itself.

If you do need a new starter, I highly recommend taking the current one you have to a local shop for a rebuild vs. random store-bought one. A LOT of the current crop is made with mis-matched parts in china. If you do need to grab a store bought one to get going fast, make sure it is at least "heche in Mexico" as they have better QC than China. I believe most O'Reilly ones are from Mexico, not sure about other chains' sources.

hypervish

I'll take a look at my pepboys starter (ProStart Platinum New Starter), and let you know where it's made. I replaced mine a few months ago. I kept the original starter though, as the core was only $5. I plan to rebuild it this summer with new contacts, just as a spare. I suspect the pepboys starter won't hold a candle to the longevity of the OE starter.

EDIT: It's made in Malaysia.

larthestar

Took it to Firestone and they couldn't figure it out.
had them tap the starter with a hammer and it started.
I needed a new starter.
Thanks for the replies