Car Died After Changing Battery.

[calean007]

Tonight my wife's car died after a new battery was put in yesterday. She was driving along and then it died. alternator? If so, it it hard to replace on a 1992 LS 400?

[kcpth]

i would definitely say it's the alternator. But if your not sure, you can always go to autozone, napa, advanced auto parts, even super walmart will have this instrument that tests the battery and alternator. Its a long rectangular piece with a black and red needle.

I've never changed the alternator myself, but i presume it's not a beginners DIY... probably for the more advanced. It's not going to be a cheap repair too. Hopefully someone else can guide u through the details on that aspect.

Good luck and hope you can get your car started B)

[92Lex]

Yes, go get the alternator checked out.

No, it's not a hard job....I'll walk you through it with pictures too if you decide to change your alternator....let me know.

[lexus lover]

i have a 93 LS400 got a brand new alternator cheap at advance autos. Put it in myself it's something i did before on other cars. Its still an easy job for anybody.I think i paid $175-$200 some where in that range was $300 but but give theam your old one the will take money of the final price. One thing i almost did wrong DONT run a new alternator on a died or low battery. Make sure you have a good battery the place you buy your alternator from can charge the battery for you for free.

[calean007]

I had to have it towed last night which was a *BLEEP*er, but it didn't cost me anything thankfully. When I got there the car was running but as soon as I removed the battery jumpers, car died. Definitely the alternator. Problem is that I don't have the proper tools or really and most importantly the time. I dropped it off at our garage we use and looks like the serpatine belt needs replacing too as it's starting to crack. That's about $50 I'm told.

I have no idea with labor what this piece of crap is going to cost. It's at a local garage independently.

[silvermate]

yeah its def. your alternator, i agree

labor nowadays is never cheap.........they will probably charge u around 300 dollars for labor on that job.........but you did the right thing by taking it to an independant shop instead of the Lexus Stealer..

if you could just take one day of the weekend to do it you would save a heck of a lot of money, i've never done it on the LEx but i have on others and it doesn't appear to be very difficult.....but i understand time is always an issue now....with everyone. <_<

Plus like 92Lex said will help you out with some pointers, he is very good and very thorough :D

the serpentine belt takes about 15mins to change out, you def. should do that yourself. but i guess if its in the shop they could just do it.........

what alot of people don't know is that independent shops mark up the parts they get as much as 30% and we don't even realize it.........if you are taking it in to the shop i definately would reccomend you buy your own parts for the mechanic to use, anything to save a little money on it is definately a plus

[calean007]

Well, it's going to cost 577.00 for everything. The part everywhere was over 300.00. dammit...

[kcpth]

the problem with buying your own part is, you have to hunt for a mechanic who will want to install it for you. They don't like to do only labor work for some reason. Well the reason is... they make money like what silvermate said... off the parts.

Where did you check for the parts? Where did you get it from? Did you check irontoad or americanlexusparts? I don't know the price off the top of my head. But if you get it there... they r brand new OEM parts... n they r usually cheaper. But u can also get a remanufactured piece for cheaper.

[flanker271]

The part everywhere was over 300.00

This price is for an remanufactured altnernator right? I've had bad luck with remanufactured alternators. My alternator failed 1 year ago, a shop replaced it with a NAPA remanufactured alternator ($350.00) and is supposed to come with a 5 year warranty. The d@mn thing failed 2 weeks after installation, during which the entire two weeks my engine idled 200 rpm lower than usual, at 450. I got a refund from that shop on everything. Everything...including labour.

My local Toyota dealer installed a new 100 amp Toyota Tundra heavy duty alternator ($400.00). It's been almost a year now, and everything runs smooth and quiet. I might had a bad luck with my particular NAPA remanufactured alternator, but don't take the chances. A new OEM alternator don't cost that much more.

[VMF]

what do you mean it died?

did engine suddenly stopped or you got the battery light on the dash first and then all the lights dimmed and then radio stopped working and then transmission stopped shifting? this all signs of either bad alternator or bad battery, your new battert might be bad. the only time when your engine would stop suddenly is due to the disconnection of the plug from the battery. that might fry your ECM is well, please check everytyhing b4 making assumptions about bad alternator.