Slick Lex Coupe

My SC300 won't start. The battery is not dead. I still have stereo, lights, etc. When I turn the ignition it just clicks. I had a friend try to start my car while I had the hood up and there is a just a loud "click", but the car doesn't even begin to turn over. Any ideas on what it is before I start taking things out to check them out? Any help appreciated.

lisarayesman

I HAD THAT PROBLEM ONE MONTH AGO ON MY 93 SC400
IT WAS MY ALTERNATOR....TAKE A LOOK AT THAT FIRST IT MAY BE YOUR PROBLEM

quick

That's easy. It's probably your starter contacts.

You can get the contacts from Toyota for $15. Then you just need to pull the starter motor and replace them.

How many miles on your car? over 100k?

quick

He said his battery powers his electronics just fine, so it's not his alternator. The alternator charges the battery.

If it was the alternator the battery would eventually drain and his electronics wouldn't work with the car off.

Hope that makes sense.

Fantius

Has your alarm been going off? That disables the ignition until you get out of the car, lock the doors, and then unlock the doors.

lisarayesman

i did'nt say it was his alternator i said it "may be" his alternator
because i had this same problem last month on my car and it wa my alternator.... so i'm just telling him my experience

quick

No sweat. Don't get in a huff.

There's no way that it can be his alternator from the symptoms that he describes though.

Hope that helps.

lisarayesman

THATS AIIGHT I DIDNT MEAN FOR IT TO SOUND THAT WAY

ChrisSC300

Its your starter. The EXACT same thing happened to me. Everything works, but it just makes a single click sound when you try and start the car. Dont keep trying to start it because if you do the car may not turn off after that and you will burn up your sylenoid (exact same thing happened to me). Just get it towed to the lex dealership. They had mine fixed by the following day for around 500. Good luck man.

awj

I've got the exact same problem right now. Tried to start the car yesterday. No, No. Starter huh. That's what I figured. I don't want to tow the freagin thing though. The nearest dealer is 50 miles away. Any way I can jump the contacts and get it started so I can drive it up there? Good info fellas.

Slick Lex Coupe

Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to reply but I was doing a bunch of stuff for school. So it sounds like the starter is the culprit. I'll get on that as soon as the weather clears up. I'm not going to have the dealer do it though. Anyone know how much a starter costs? Thanks for all the help.

ChrisSC300

I'm lookin at my receipt from when i had it changed out. The Starter was 384.50. Labor was 94 (must of only taken an hour). And 10 for the tools they used. Plus Tax for a grand total of $522.05 .

quick

You guys want to pay $500 when it's $15 in parts?

Ok. Go ahead and waste your money.

You don't need to replace the starter, just two contacts inside that are about the size of pennies. $15 in parts from your dealer I bet.

The work takes 1 hour. That's it. Good god.

Slick Lex Coupe

Sweet, once the crappy weather clears up I'll check it all out. The question is will the dealer sell me just the solenoid. They will probably try to make me buy the whole starter. When the little piece of platic broke on the windown regulator I had to pay $110 in parts for a whole regulator, motor and all even though mine was fine. If they won't sell me the solenoid, I'll try a Toyota dealer. I'll just tell them that I've got an NA Supra.

quick

I just called Lexus of Portland... they sure charge more for these than on a Toyota.

Anyway, you can get them seperately, and they're $24.19 each.
Part numbers are: 28226-74070 and 28226-76070 (that's for the 93 SC3... not sure if other years are different but I highly doubt it).

So, in short -- total cost (if you get the $$$ Lexus parts) $50 and at most a couple hours of wrenching if it's the contacts.

Hope that helps everyone.