NewG

Good evening,

07 LS460 RWD

Today, I was driving and pretty much every warning light came on and I lost all power, and could not restart. Message on the dash said something in regard to the electrical system, as well as almost every other system, I can’t fully remember as I was in panic mode lol.

I do recall hearing a very faint humming sound that i had never heard before. I noticed that it would change with the RPM, no matter what gear I was in. I would also get this random code “p033d” making the car go into a limp mode, so it seemed. I would clear it, and it’d drive just fine only returning after a few 100 miles. Last time that happened, my battery was very weak and threw the same exact code, and had been replaced. Now, the car has 0 power (can’t lock doors or anything) and when I attempt to jump it, I only get a low battery message.

This leads me to think that my alternator has taken a crap on me.

Before I take on the task of replacement, I just wanted to get someone’s take on this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

jmcraney

Is the fan/alternator belt still on?

NewG

yes it is. No cracks or anything, relatively new belt actually.

LeX2K

Get the battery load tested if it passes charge it up and start the car. Measure battery voltage engine running and report back. If you don't have a volt meter one of these will do the job.

NewG

will do, hopefully that’s the case. It’s just odd that everything shut down all of a sudden.

LeX2K

What do the battery posts and terminals look like? Post a picture.

NewG

NewG

I will say that I haven’t had the battery but a few months (I know they can go bad whenever sometimes) but I typically clean my posts and terminals when I clean under my hood. What you see wasn’t there about a month ago.

is it worth mentioning that the front of the alternator looks like it’s burned? And I can’t tell honestly if that’s ever been replaced or not.

LeX2K

Those terminals and posts are in bad shape, unreliable connection waiting to happen especially the negative side. See this post on how to clean them properly
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...l#post11573616

That battery is leaking acid that's why the terminals are corroding.

NewG

so, I bit the bullet and replaced both the battery and alternator. Oriellys said the battery was bad, only at 3.x volts and wouldn’t accept a charge. Cleaned the terminals, popped them both in and voila, she started right up, no whine or anything. The alternator looked to be original (had the Toyota sticker on it) so I assume it definitely was time.

Striker223

Good to know you fixed but you should have confirmed the alt was dead. This time you got lucky lol!

NewG

lol I definitely did get lucky. But now, I have more piece of mind knowing that the alternator is new. And I’ll take that!

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Glad you resolved this to your liking and sharing results here.

NewG

WELLLLLLLLLLLLL

I might’ve jumped the gun. Just got a message “check generator.” “Electrical equipment function is limited.”

Checking all connections now 😕

LeX2K

Parts store alternators to be blunt are trash they either don't work out of the box or fail shortly.