Try working on a Ford Contour V6. There is no such thing as an easy job on those. Toss up between manual shifter linkages or the alternator for the hardest job on one of those. They packaged a hell of a lot of gear into a small engine bay designed for a 4 banger so you have to rip out a ton of stuff to get to anything. I got bitten big time by doing a reco on the OEM alternator on my old one which failed straight away, so had to fork out for a new alternator. It was made of Chinesium but it did the job until the bottom end let go about 30,000 miles later. Doing that was a nightmare job

 

My neighbor had a Contour, and now a Fusion, her car is actually pretty old, not really sure, but maybe 2005. Does this mean Ford is reliable? People talk about the N54 twin turbo BMW as being a pita as its 16 hours by the book to replace turbos, apparently the single turbo N55 is much less and we've gotten to the point where folks accept creating the HP/torque with software, not hardware....I remember back in 2008 a guy at the gym parked next to me asking what I planned to do about it since I said I'm keeping this car forever, I said what do you mean, he said I mean they cost $6500 if they go bad. That was then, today they likely cost high 3's, no issues yet........

 

My first Mk2 Mondeo (which is pretty much identical to a Contour) was solid as a rock being a 2L four and that had more miles on it than my second one which was a 2.5L V6, that was forever breaking something, as it was old (1997 with 155,000 miles when it died) and everything was showing its age. I was forever chasing electrical faults in it. My third one was a 2005 Mk3 Mondeo imported from Japan (similar to a Fusion but not the same like a Contour was) but had a factory modified Taurus 3L V6 in it and a 6 speed Getrag manual, and that was an excellent car. Low miles and not a single dent on the body. That thing never skipped a beat. Doing maintenance on it wasn't easy though, it was a horribly messy job to change the oil filter, as it was mounted on the V so it just pissed oil everywhere once you broke the seal. Changing the spark plugs took an hour to do because the inlet manifold has to come off and getting that off on its own was a mission. Still, I regret selling that car every day, as much as I like the LS, it doesn't drive like the Mk3 did. You could throw that around so much better and was very predictable, and for a nose-heavy FWD, it had bugger all understeer because that chassis was so well set up.

Taking the inlet off the 3UZ looks like a walk in the park compared to some of the crap I've wrenched on in the past

 

134K on mine. I'll buy new OEM when I do the timing belt in a few years just to be safe.

Steve

 

I am approaching 216k miles on my 04 LS, and I suspect I either have a starter about to fail completely, or some other issue. The starter has not been replaced in this car.

Symptoms: Full power to all electrical components inside the car, and then the solid click of the starter when the key is turned to ignition. This will happen anywhere from once to 5 or 6 times before the engine will begin to turn over and quickly start. With my daughter turning the key, I can hear the relays kick in, and then the click of the starter.

Trouble shooting: I hooked my battery tester to the battery, car not running, headlights turned to the off position, and got a voltage reading of 12.4V. I have not tried a reading with car running. I will try that when I get home today. I checked battery posts and connectors for corrosion, and there is none. Brushed them all with a wire brush anyway. I have followed the cables from the battery as far as I can see them, and found one area I wanted to ask about. This is behind the intake manifold, by the firewall, and in the area behind where the starter is underneath the manifold. Does this look damaged, and, if so, is this connector relevant to the starting process? (pics below)

I am troubleshooting as much as possible before jumping into the engine and replacing the starter. Just as an FYI, the local Lexus dealer charges $744 OTD for starter, new intake manifold gasket, and coolant replacement. Toyota dealership charging $360 for labor if I supply the parts. Local indy wants $868 for same work..

 

Hard to tell from the pics. Is the connector just dirty or does it look like it's heat damaged? A loose or corroded connection will cause excessive heat and will amplify the issue. Try wiggling that connector while someone else attempts to start the car and see if there is a difference.
The symptoms you describe are typical of starter failure. The Denso starter in my Toyota pickup did the same thing due to worn contacts in the solenoid. It finally failed when the solenoid contacts welded themselves together and the starter ran continuously until the battery was disconnected.
Replacing the starter isn't really a hard job. You don't need to drain the coolant as the heater hoses and throttle body can be left connected and moved it of the way. All you need to do is unplug all the wiring and move it out of the way, disconnect the fuel feed line by the brake booster, and remove the manifold bolts (T50 Torx). Should take maybe an hour for removal.

 

instead of turning the ignition on and off to try to start, just keep holding it. If it eventually starts, that is the contactor inside the starter going out.

 

208k original no issues

 

It looks to be dirt buildup rather than heat damage.

Based on the quotes I've gotten, I plan to do this myself, and allow an entire day for picture taking, wire/hose marking, documentation, etc.

WRT the throttle body, I removed and cleaned it several years ago, and do not remember draining any coolant in the process. Are you saying to leave it connected to the manifold, and simply set the manifold,TB to the side while working on the starter? I don;t mind draining the coolant, but if it isn't necessary, I won't.

 

600,000 K on a LS400 with no inlet manifold removal , shame it got hit and totaled , it now lives on the top of a two cat stack at the wreckers .
Current LS430 has 186,000 k and the wife's IS250 has 320,000 K on it .

 

I would leave as much attached as possible. Leave the throttle body on the manifold and leave the fuel rails and injectors on the manifold. You shouldn't need to do to much labeling as there isn't much slack in the wiring harness and you'll be leaving it in place. There are 10mm bolts around the manifold that hold the harness in place that you will need to remove to get enough slack in the wiring to get the manifold out. Have a buddy help you lift out the manifold when it is ready. It's a little heavy and it must come up pretty high so the vacuum accumulator clears the block. There are several pics of the intake and starter in my thread here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ad-gasket.html

 

I tried this method and on attempts where engine did not start, this did not work. It simply didn't start up. I was hoping it would do as you described, and I would at least have a better idea of what is happening.

Great write-up on your work. I, too, have had two instances where my coolant level has drained down to the reservoir being empty. Time between occurrences was about 2 years. From the videos I have watched, I see where they left the fuel rails attached and injectors in (although injector wires were removed).

I hooked the battery charger up this AM, and battery percentage was at 88%. 12.4V-12.5V col, 11.9V with lights on, and down to 11.4V on turning of the key. Dropped to 12.3V at one point. Amazingly, the car started on the first attempt this morning. However, subsequent attempts produced similar results from this past weekend. I did a jump start from another vehicle, and had more success starting the car, but not every time. I currently have my charger hooked to the battery, and will check it again this afternoon.

 

The symptoms you described - "solid click of the starter when the key is turned to ignition" but the engine does not crank. After 5 or 6 times, the starter will crank the engine and quickly start it. This sounds like the starter solenoid is worn enough that it failed to provided a good contact to send sufficient power/amperage to turn over the engine. Please take a look at Post #8 on the discussion below...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...lin-ls430.html

 

rkw, thank you for the link. It looks as if I may need to order the new contacts and replace them in the old solenoid. In addition, I may order the remanufactured Denso from Rock Auto and install it rather than relying on the rebuilt solenoid. Reason being, with all the work to get to it, I would rather have one I know is in working order than having to take it all apart again if the repaired solenoid doesn't fix the problem. At the very least, I'll have an extra starter laying around.

 

Hey guys,

Wanted to chime in here and say that I'm experiencing the same issue. Bought my 06 premium package LS430 in mid-November 2019, and never had an issue starting. It's got a hair over 110,000 miles now.

I took it into Mungenast Lexus of St. Louis for an oil change and a fuel filter additive earlier today. Immediately following the return of my car, it wouldn't start. Dealer thought it was my smartkey, so replaced battery and it worked. I then drove 30 minutes to a friend's house and stopped the engine, then restarted it to check. It wouldn't start. Turning the key from ON to START only resulted in a click.

I kept trying to start it for the next 30-60 minutes with no luck. I called a tow truck to have them tow my LS back to the dealer, and when the tow guy tried it, he said he turned the starter 50 times in quick succession, but it eventually started up.

I brought it back to the dealer, who turned the key and started it with no issues. I then tried it 3-4 more times, and it started beautifully. Dealer told me that the starter is like a needle, and I seem to have developed a dead spot in the needle's path. Continuously cranking the starter moves the needle out of the dead spot and it works, but the dead spot may grow.

Have any of you experienced this? (all or nothing starter behavior). I'm not sure if the dealer bumped something in the engine bay while doing an oil change. Seeing as how I've never had the starter fail in my almost 2 months of owning the car. What could it be???