jimmit

I checked all the fused and they're all fine. I wish that was the problem. I'm afraid it could be the alternator because my PS pump was leaking a couple months ago and I had that replaced. Would the alternator just go out like that out of no where? I have no clue whats going on at all.

sc300vb

do you have ANY power?
what does it sound like when you crank it?
what are any other symptoms?

jimmit

Ya its got full power from the battery. I can open/close windows radio A/C everything. When I turn the key to start it just cranks like normal but instead of turning over the next second it just keeps on cranking w/o turning over. I can record a sound clip but the guy are the dealership said it could be try to start the car from teh battery and not getting enough power. Hes saying that it could be the alternator but hes not sure until he can have a look at it. I cant really think of any other symptoms or anything so I just cant figure this out.

sc300vb

ok guys, my friend came over lastnight who is a toyota/lexus master mechanic, and he diagnosed my car for me. it looks like my plugs and wires were comprimised, he showed me how they are arc'ing every where. what he said was when water got down into my spark plug valley it caused them to arc worse which when it made a ground by arc'ing it burned thru my #5 wire and in turn has dropped a cylinder. hopefully i explained that correctlly.

sc300vb

if it was the alternator u would get a "weak" cranking sound. possibly a starter problem, and it just happened to coincide with ur cleaning?!

jimmit

Ya I mean I didnt spray any water or anything on any parts. I just sprayed some on a little rag and cleaned the bay. I was careful not touching any wires and not letting anything leak into anywhere. The only thing I touched with the damp rag was the battery and other than that it didnt touch anything. The car just happens to not start after I was done cleaning. I dont get a weak crank or anything its all normal except when its supposed to turn it doesnt. The engine shakes and everything like normal but not start.

sc300vb

that means you have no fire. check to make sure the coil wire is connected on both the cap and the coil, pull off the cap look at the rotor, also make sure there is no liquid in the cap if so spray brake cleaner in there and let it evaporate....

jimmit

Hmmmmm.....sounds good but I dont know how to even do that. lol I need like beginer instructions. I really dont mess with opening engine parts so if you can please do a little step by step thing

sc300vb

sorry bro, wish i could help, but i dont know the first thing about the v-8, only the inline 6. just do a search or post a new thread asking for help. it isnt a hard process, a beginner can do it! you'll be allright....lemme know how it goes...

risc4

A lot of you seem very concerned about the wet engine thing. While I agree that it MIGHT cause problems, in most cases I think it won't. I had the absolute worse-case scenario happen to me in March and it turned out ok. I have a 95 SC 400 and somehow the protective plastic undercarriage piece tore loose directly beneath my engine. The left side of it was practically dragging on the ground. Though I had no way to temporarily tie it up, it was ok to drive. I scheduled an appointment at the dealer. Of course Murphy's Law intervened and we got hit with a blizzard before my appointment day. The 400 was outside (no garage). I went out in the AM to brush off the snow/ice in 10*F weather from this 1 ft.+ snowstorm. I started the car, let it warm for about 10 minutes and then pulled out of my driveway. The car died within 20 feet as if the gas had H2O in it or had run out. The battery/ starter seemed fine. I couldn't get it to restart. Puzzled, I opened the hood and found that it was COMPLETELY packed with snow. Every inch of the engine bay --- and I mean EVERY inch --- was stuffed with snow which had apparently blown in from underneath the car thanks to the broken piece of plastic. I brushed/ scooped out as much as I could, but it still wouldn't start. So I gambled (everything was already soaked and frozen) and carefully poured warm water in the (usually) open spots near the fan, on each side of the block, etc. to loosen and remove more snow and ice. It then started right up. I let it run for about 20 minutes, and then started driving. It ran perfectly after that. Aside from the few pesky cosmetic annoyances that many of us have in common, these cars seem indestructible. I'm at 150k, owned it for 2 yrs. and love it more and more each day....I just wish there was a turbo or supercharger for the 400 (sigh)!!!!!

strongsail

It's good news that your car ran OK after the snow melted out of the engine bay! I just replaced plug wires on my SC4 this weekend, and I was impressed with the design of the seals that keep water out of the high-tension wiring. And all the connectors I looked at under the hood contained water seals.

I know how your underside engine cover got torn - mine is damaged the same way - I watched the lube rack guy (at a Lexus dealer, no less) take off the fasteners on the left side of the cover and bend it out of the way to get to the oil filter. Mine has a crack running fore-and-aft right where he bent it. I will have to replace mine soon too. So, that's the cause of the crack: LAZINESS. What would it take, 3 extra minutes with the power screwdriver to remove the cover completely when doing an oil change? Sheesh!

London Bill

Once again I have my illusions shattered, I thought EVERYONE knows that water and electricity dont mix, ever opened up your bonnet after driving in the rain and wondered why it is still fairly dry in the engine bay? because the manufacturers do everything they can to prevent water getting into the electrics.

If you have to "Pressure Wash" you engine bay take some preventative steps, get the engine warmed up first (NOT HOT), disconnect the battery, spray all the electrical items, leads, connectors with WD40 or similar, cover up the fuse box and other electrical items with plastic wrap (cling film?), apply degreaser (I use Gunk, it stinks a bit but really does the job).

Do not spray water directly onto electrical items like Coils, ECU's, Distributor Caps, Plug Leads, Alarms, clean these items with degreaser and a cloth, in most cases the WD40 will do a good cleaning job.

Blow off excess water with an airline, remove the temp plastic covers from the electrics, remove the spark plug covers (inline 6cly models are almost certain to need this, the V8's are more protected) and ensure the plugs wells are dried out as well as plug leads (or coils for the JDM models), spray the ignition leads/coils again with WD40 as this will prevent moisture condensating on the leads as the engine bay starts drying out.

Re-connect the battery and start the car, even with this amount of care it may be "lumpy" but should clear of misfires with 10-15mins of easy driving, dont try to "rev through" any flat spots or misfires, just give it enough gas to keep the engine revs steady, as the engine devlops more heat it should disperse any water you have overlooked. Once you think it's running correctly shut it down and re-apply WD40 on the plugs/leads/coils after 15-20 mins of cooling - Never spray WD40 or anything similar on a hot engine, it is likely to ignite.

Genuine "high pressure steam cleaning" is capable of taking off paintwork and should be used with caution.

LivnLavish

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jimmit
the dealership said it could be try to start the car from teh battery and not getting enough power. Hes saying that it could be the alternator


having just gone through the whole power steering pump/alternator problem I have to beleive that that is your primary suspect. when my alternator went out my car would do exactly what yours is.I jumped started it and it started up fine. charged it via my friends batt for a moment and attempted to drive home. on the way it started turning everything off and then cut off at the next stop sign... now, you can have it checked at your local alternator shop(shouild find one in the yellow pages) and it's easy to pull from the bottom so long as you have jackstands or a lift. took me about 30 min to pull and had it rebuilt sameday for $179.00 at a local alternator shop. hope this helps.

jimmit

I found out it was the main fuse which is funny because I checked all the fused and they all seemed fine. I guess there was a fuse I forgot to check. Is there some main fuse I dont know where it is. I had them do it since I already got it towed there. They asked if I tried to jump the car with the terminals backwards but I didnt try jumping the car till after it stopped working. I have no idea how I blew the main fuse but thats what ended up happening.