m1k3yg

I have a new battery, I installed an amp last night, but since it made the lights dim a lot, I disconnected it, now since last night, when I go to start, something in the front clicks repeatedly but the starter doesn't turn over, when I let it click for a couple seconds it can either start or keep clicking away....would I need a new starter or could it be a bad connection somewhere? And I think I should also mention that since I got the car, when I would start it, rarely and very rarely when I went to start it I would hear the gears slip a little and then it would start,

please help a soul in need!

UR2klose

iTrader: (3)

sound like a bad connection. make sure your battery cables are clean/ tight

kene

iTrader: (2)

if you used to hear gears slip a little, it could be the gears within the starter. I'd recommend possibly taking the starter off and having a look at it and its gears(don't remember if the GS300 has a gear reduction or standard starter. If gear reduction try and see the inside of the starter to check those gear too).

Also if you have the car up in the air then also take a look at your "flywheel"(peek at it through the hole where the starter would be[after you've taken off the starter]). If the teeth of the flywheel are all mangled up, then you may want end up having to replace your automatic's "flywheel" [lack of a better term]. But I would not worry about this until after you determine you have a bad starter, have it replaced, and you still cannot start the car properly.





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Also the existing clicking you hear now could be caused by this:
(just my thoughts and brainstorming)

1- your starter gear and automatic transmission's "flywheel" have both partially grinded their gear teeth away.
2- this dust, bits, and pieces of gear teeth have moved into the inside of the starter.
3- now these peices have magnetically attached themselves in between the "field" magnet and the rotating armature(spindle)/shaft that the starter's main gear is connected to.
4- this causes an excessive force of friction inside the starter, greater than the strength of the starter motor itself.
5- this stops the rotation of the starter completely, hence why every time you try to start it up you hear a clicking but there is no cranking over.


For a better understanding of the system:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_motor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Au..._starter_2.JPG

http://www.hi-techperformance.com/im...%20%204723.jpg

http://foreignaffairs.us/gallery/alb.../Dingwheel.jpg


An old fashioned way to remedy this is to get a hammer or something firm/ hard(I've even seen the hard sole of a dress shoe used on a '94 Camry) and hit the starter with it to break free some of the dust/debree from the inside ofthe starter. Then try and start the car.
You dont want to hit it hard enough to put any dents in it! remember that on the immediate other side the starter's thin metal cylindrical housing are large magnets. And if these crack or break your starter may very easily be rendered useless. [It may start if you are lucky but it could have irregularities in the magnetic field of the motor, which will cause a really funky rotational pattern for the starter.]

Otherwise you may need to open u[p the starter and clear it out yourself, or buy a new starter.


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Side Note:
I believe that "clicking away" is a controlled relay circuit that senses the starter/motor is not rotating, and intermittently is sending starting signal pulses to the starter.

Some of the older/other vehicles would just send a constant signal to the starter instead of sending pulse signals, and if not engineered correctly owners may end up burning out a blocked/seized starter(this is if you turn the key and hold it in the "start engine" position in this situation).




Another Side Note:
For the gs300 first gen if you try to start it, and it clicks only once and then not click/turn over anymore, its a good chance its the internal leads for the starter. I've had this happen before. All i did was buy the $40 starter lead kit and the 50$ plunger kit, changed them(cleaned the inside of the starter too) myself and VOILA! i practically had a new starter.



check here for a DIY:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...help-asap.html

http://www.toymods.org.au/forums/tec...er-repair.html
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AJ.STYLEZ

The gear problem I don't now about. But what I do know is that you have take it to auto mechanic to get it checked out. Now about the car system. This happened to me a few weeks ago with my car system. Brought a new car battery. I was re-stalling my system because of sub-woofer amp had blow out... When I finished re-stalling my system. I started up the car and heard the clicking. I knew it was the battery. So I now i'm in the process of buying a power audio battery.. which is more powerful and way better for car systems!!

I think you may need to do the same.

1. A power audio battery.

2. A high Amp Alternator.

I have a 190Amp Alternator installed already. Good luck.

kene

iTrader: (2)

Lol x 2(at myself for not seeing the possible obvious )... like A.J. Styles said above, check your battery first.Have it tested.

One question for you m1k3yg, and A.J.Stylez.

1) Did you have your car amplifier in the constant on position(remote on for amp being supplied from 12v pos. of the amps input power)?

or

2) Are you using the 12v remote signal from the head unit(used for powering the motorized antenna, or turning on amplifiers)?



If you did choice 1[provided the battery is still hooked up] then your amp will be on 24/7 even though the car is off.
If this is the case, you would want to use a 12v supply lead(of sufficient amps) that turns on when the car is on at the least.
The better option is a supply that only turns on when the radio is on.

m1k3yg

The 12 volt positive was connected to the +12 terminal of the battery, the remote, or how I like to call it, 12 volt switched is coming from the one on the head unit, spliced from the 12 volt switched that goes into the head unit. I made sure I disconnected both remote and constant when I decided to have it off because of the dimming, so the battery isn't drained, I thought maybe my terminal on the battery because it does look a bit ghetto rigged, but it wasn't doing it before, it isn't cracked or anything though. I wish my phone's mic worked so I could record it and you could hear the sound, but thankfully it only did the clicking once today and I had to turn the car off a couple times,

cnewingham

iTrader: (3)

i had this same problem with a couple of my supras both with the 7m and 1jz. I replaced starter after starter and through different fixes I found that try and tap the switched power wire to the starter and leave a long lead so that way when it happens again turn your ign to the on switch and pop the hood and touch the end of that wire to the positive on the battery. If it starts then it is a bad connection and you can actually go ahead and splice the wires and turn it into a kill switch where you have to use a push button to start the car.

Hope this makes sense. I have the same issue and that is what I am going to do as soon as I get some free time

AJ.STYLEZ

M1k3yg- is your battery still under warranty?? I say take it back and get a new one. See if the clicking will continue. If it does it may be the battery connectors or the alternator. Your alternator may be fill with oil and dirt. I say take it to a Mechanic to check you gear problem, alternator and battery connectors!! But I still think you will need a audio power battery and a 200 or 250amp alternator for your system anyway!!

m1k3yg

Well the amp is fine now, I connected it to a better ground, and put the gain **** where its supposed to be, it was all the way up before, now it's a tad over regular and I get a nice vibration, no more trunk rattling. For the starter I think im gonna get new terminals, if that doesnt solve it then the starter is the culprit, because the battery is pushing out enough, hasnt been doing the clicking for the past 2 days though

TxLexus400

iTrader: (2)

id go with the battery, even thought the voltage seems good it could have too low of an amperage. check the water in the cells as well.

kene

iTrader: (2)

let us know what you find as you try and remedy the problem.

AJ.STYLEZ

Are you still getting the dimming lights when you have your car and system on?

m1k3yg

No I only get it when i'm idling, it's been idling like at .5 since I bought the car, and evem before I had the system it still did the dimming, and when I press the brake pedal it dims too, even the rear window defroster lol

m1k3yg

Well ladies and gentlemen, a solution was found, battery terminals, make sure they're tight on there, and definetely all the way down, otherwise well you get this issue, I actually feel a little dumb for not checking that before, I left it a little loose because I was connecting and disconnecting the amp a lot

kene

iTrader: (2)

So after tightening, did this solve everything?