akmpres

I was hungry, drove to the pizza place, go in, eat, come out, get in the SC…turn the key…. NO START! “WTF?!” I say to myself. Call my pops, I was less than ½ mile from home, he comes out, says the battery needs water… battery needs water? So we hook it up to the jumpers and pour some water into the cells. The battery that we were jumping with, bad too…not enough juice coming from that battery….”I can’t do it captin’ I need mree’ power!” After about ten tries, we leave the Lex and go home. I called AAA for the tow truck guy to come and give me a high power jump, 45min!, I’m waiting for the call now.. I think the battery is just bad, what kind of battery do you guys have in your lex.

Lex Luthor

Michael, having a dead battery doesn't qualify as a Lexus horror story, thanks for playing, parting gifts are in the back........

futuregs

GO with Optima Yellow Top battery.

akmpres

tow truck couldnt get it started, had to have it towed home, the starter ticks but it doesnt turn, all the lights and stuff light up. The tow truck guy said the battery is complety gone, since the water went out of it.... its shot... the search is not working on this forum and i cant do a proper search for a good battery,or i cant properly see if this is more than a battery problem.
i want the highest powered battery, those Optima batterys, can i buy them in the store?

hyperopt

Jumping from a tow truck could not crank your motor? :eek: Hmm...
Measure the voltage drop across the battery ternimals when cranking and post the results would you?

Jmai22

if you connected a battery from another car (jump start it) wouldn't it give you at least 14.4 volts plenty more than enough to start the car. so i say your starter or something else is wrong. especially if all the lights still go on. check for loss ground and power cable and stuff like that.

akmpres

i have it hooked up to a battery charger, the charger indicates the battery has 0% charge, it is slowly climbing, its trying to turn the starter, but the one thing that i dont understand is why all the headlights and interior lights work just fine. Other than it not starting. everything looks fine... any ideas....

akmpres

went out there again, the charger is still saying that the battery is not ready for start, and of course its not starting... every thing looks normal, any hints?


im letting it charge all night ill try it again in the morning.

Goose

It could be your alternator. I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. All I heard was a ticking sound when I turned the key, and I found out later that it was the alternator.

The ticking sound indicates to me that your alternator isn't turning over.

IS200 3SGTE

Well

first always check that your battery has water, always that is what makes it work.

Also make sure the alternator is working if not then the car was running purely off battery power and you destroyed the battery (and possible the starter because it was being starved for juice and burnt out).

forget about the old battery most likely it is dead, go get a new one the most powerful one you can afford (gel cell would be perfect).

also not a horror story if you didn't check up on your battery yourself.

akmpres

I put a brand new battery in, cleaned everything, got in the car, went to start.....nothing...looks like the starter is gone. I have a tow truck on its way, its bringing it to the fix it person...if the starter has to be replaced, ill have the plugs and stuff done while he is down there. and the timing belt and all the other goodies, if im going to drop some cash, might as well just drop it all.

i didnt need that 2 grand anyways.


ill keep you guys posted



but the thing that gets me is that, every time i go to start it, the clock resets. If the starter was bad, why would it cause the clock to reset?

Hermosa

Hehe, its only a horror story if you are going 75MPH downhill on a one lane, curvy mountain road and you lose power. Say goodbye to steering, braking and yourself.

akmpres

Well the car is in the shop, the fix it man, a Lexus/Toyota Mechanic of 13 years tells me that the starter is gone. He has come highly reccomended to me by a good friend. Let's see how he does on my SC, if all goes well, ill let you guys know, and you can PM me if you need his info.

He is charging me as follows
$250 Labor for the starter and plugs, Seals and what ever else he has to do in there.

I think the starter will run me about $250, plugs will be around $6 a pop.

Looking at around $600 for everything. Alot better than the $1300 at the dealership.

That supid 1K that i spent on that extended warranty may save me, since the starter is covered.

Hermosa

I would not count on it.

People, one thing to avoid is a non-Lexus warranty from companies such as Buyer's Choice. Buyer's Choice is the poorest warranty and is not worth the money unless you know something is going to fail on your car. This warranty is an example but they all have rules which make getting repairs done difficult.

For example you pay $1500 for the top warranty. Something goes wrong. They will pay for only certain parts only. Other parts pertaining to the repairs are not covered. Tax and shipping for any part is not covered. Labor for any part that is required but not specifically mentioned by the warranty is not covered. Labor for covered parts maxes out at $60/hr. You are better off not buying the warranty. Do not be fooled with a false sense of security. These warranties are not a good deal. Buying one is as foolish as getting the extended warranty at an electronics shop. The warranty only coveres the tiniest portion of the repair.

Basically, save your money and don't buy the warranty and then dish it the cash if you really need it. Only buy a warranty it if you think something expensive might be wrong with the car and then bargain down the price of the car witht he dealer and then get it repaired with warranty work when failure occurs.

akmpres

That advice is too late for me, never again will i buy those aftermarket warrantys..



but last year when i got the car, i was unaware of this... now i will milk them to get my money back.


http://www.warrantys.com/