zombie

iTrader: (1)

havent been on the forum in awhile and a problem has risen from the RX. want to see what everyone says before i take it to a mechanic. everytime i try and start the suv, after it has been setting for more then 2 hours, it would click and not start. i would have to turn the key back to off, then wait for 5 seconds, and it will start again. it seems like its getting worse and worse.

i just changed the battery last month with the yellow top duralast battery from autozone. went to autozone today to have the battery and alternator checked and they said they're both running fine.

i dont have an after market stereo system, but i am running hella horns through the battery and plug and play low and fog HID lights.

im thinking it might be the starter, but autozone said they cant check it unless its out of the engine.

thanks!

Lil4X

Sounds like your starter is bad - or more properly the starter solenoid. Any ideas from the experts?

zombie

iTrader: (1)

yup. did a search and found out other members with the same problem replaced their starter. my rx has about 160,000 miles, so im just going to buy a new starter.

thanks for the help Lil4X

code58

Don't know your whole financial situation, Zombie but it's probably just your selenoid contacts and you can buy those. I just did my DIL's recently and the inside of the starter looked like new at 120+ mi. I can't see how the starter will ever wear out on those things. Just the selenoid contacts get burned after a lot of starts.

bob2200

There have been threads in the past about RX300-owners buying just the solenoid contacts from Toyota dealers for just a few dollars.

zombie

iTrader: (1)

is it difficult to remove the starter and change out the solenoids?

lexus114

Yeah you may want to try that first Zombie,Because unless you buy a brand new starter,I have never had any luck with rebuilds.It`s almost like they clean them up,put on a fresh coat of black paint and re-sell them.

Lexmex

Not hard at all to change out solenoids or starter. Recently did that myself when we did the transmission work last December. As I recall somebody else this is quite recently in this forum as well.

zombie

iTrader: (1)

i ended up just buying some solenoids. thanks to everyone on your response.

Vockroth

A few words on solenoids. By reading the post it seams like the solenoid is mounted on the starter like a Chevy. I have dissected these. If this is the case here is how it works. When the solenoid is energized it does 2 things. First it pulls a piston back into it. The other end of the piston pushes out the starter gear to engage with the fly wheel (Standard) or flex plate (Automatic). When the power is extinguished a spring will return the piston to the stand-by position. Second as the piston reaches the end of stroke it pushes a button (Actuator) that closes contacts allowing power to travel to starter motor. This coil has a close tolerance between the coil and the piston. Since it resides under the car dirt can get in between the piston and coil causing the piston to stick. This will give you a wimpy click. If you here a robust click then the piston is probably making full stroke engaging the starter gear and depressing the relay actuator. However if there is crap between the piston and actuator, then you are just compressing crap and actuator is not making full stroke. By hearing this click it is telling you that the single winding of the solenoid is ok. The starter has many windings. One could be bad. If the starter just happens to stop on a bad winding (Open Circuit) the starter will not turn when energized. When the gear on the starter pops out it may physically turn the starter a tad to a good winding. Once that happens the motor will turn by-passing the bad winding, Of course not with full strength.

Give a man a fish that man eats for a day. Teach a man to fish that man eats for a lifetime.

chenxingha

Thank you for the excellent description on the starter. Twenty years ago I replaced one of the contacts in the solenoid on a 1980 Toyota Tercel (my first car). I got the replacement contact part from a local repair shop specialized in starters and generators for 50 cents. That jump started my DIY.

Any body has the part numbers of the contacts? There is no Lexus dealer in my area (the nearst one is more than an hour drive) so I reply on the local Toyota dealer to get parts. They don't have access to Lexus parts listings but they can order parts with part numbers.