Sc400 Alternator Interchangeble With Other Makes?

[rushin2]

Does anyone know if they interchange with others? I think mine died yesterday and I have to buy one now. It charged up from my buddy's car and when it got home, I tried to start it up and it only makes clicking noises (the battery is dead).

sucks... :cries:

[Calvin L]

Clicking noises when you attempt to start the engine right? It could be the starter, try a mechanic for professional advice first.

[Paul Boz]

Tap the starter with a small hammer then try to crank it. if it turns over then you have a bad starter, not a bad alternator.

[SirSam]

Alternator! I had the same problem on my Talon, I replaced the starter with new one twice, new battery twice, new battery cables and terminals, and new spark plugs, after which started the car fine for a few weeks then had the same problem again repeatedly. Only other option would be ignition(or bad wiring/ground). After all that it turns out it was my alternator. Look at your alternator and see if it is dirty or greasy, also see if you are missing your under engine skid guards to keep road debris out. But first try like he said tapping the starter;)

[velocita]

LOL, I think it would be more than difficult to tap on the starter on a 1UZFE with a hammer!

[rushin2]

Alternator! I had the same problem on my Talon, I replaced the starter with new one twice, new battery twice, new battery cables and terminals, and new spark plugs, after which started the car fine for a few weeks then had the same problem again repeatedly. Only other option would be ignition(or bad wiring/ground). After all that it turns out it was my alternator. Look at your alternator and see if it is dirty or greasy, also see if you are missing your under engine skid guards to keep road debris out. But first try like he said tapping the starter;)

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Holy sh.t!!!

I just got back home while on the way stopped by a Lexus dealer. The guy at a parts department said that the alternator could go bad, but before I bought the new alternator recommended to buy the set of brushes for it. He said that some greese, crap might get into my alternator it might just acting out.

I got home, my neighbor came over with his tester. I charged up my battery a bit. Put in my baby and I didn't bother tightenning up the contacts on the battery. It freaking clicked, but did not start. I went and cleaned up my contacts and it started right up. In my garage we checked out the voltage on a battery when car didn't work, it was at 12.6 or so. When we started up, it went up to 14.4. So, the alternator worked!!! I tried a few times and it started and kept charging the battery.

I'm thinking... I should clean up the contacts on the battery, take the alternator off and clean it up as well and just for hell of it to replace the brushes.

by the way... the other half (there are two parts obviously) underneath the car covering from road dirt was not there!!! So, there is a bunch of gunk underneath my baby...

so... if the alternator fed my battery while it was running... I have some hope it is still good, but might be acting out... or contacts on it, or contacts on the battery...

what you think?

Does electrical system run on alternator when car is working or can I disconnect the battery when the car is running like on older ones?

[TMaxxTim]

I know you can't disconnect the battery and keep it running. I've had loose battery cables while I'm driving and the whole car dies. You can run on a weak battery though.

[rushin2]

ok... folks... now i'm completely lost... and angry...

just took her to a gas station after cleaning stuff up... ran fine... a gas station only about 15 blocks away. after pumping some gas i got i started her up and she f..king died!!! i started up only with pressing a gas pedal a few times, so after rpms went down to 1k or so i took off and she kept driving with some hesitation. As soon as I got home, she worked fine... WTF?!

At a gas station it cranked just fine... except the dying part...

I am too *BLEEP*ed off right now... The battery seems to be fine, alternator seems to be working ok around my house and in my garage...

it's not even funny to me anymore... i'm losing sense of humor now...

She worked great before I changed a filter on the her and rewired cornering lights while throwing the hot wire to them from my parking lights (but either one of these wouldn't affect anything that is going on with my baby right now)... I already put original filter back on her... i'm losing my mind... i'm ready to set her on fire...

[SirSam]

Well from my experience if you disconnect the battery cables while the car is running and it doesnt shut off, it means the alternator is working, if its shuts off the alternator is bad. But sometimes if it just needs cleaning it will stay running, so either way, yea its a pain.

[kcpth]

I'm not sure if you want to put the wires back while the car is running though... from what i read in either the LS or ES forum... that can create a spike in the car's electrical system and possibly fry something if your not lucky. But i'm no electrician... so i can't independently confirm it.

But it looks to me that the SC400's Alt is the same wit the LS400. Well just by eyeballing my car n my sis's b/f's car... they look the same considering they r using the same engine n all. There are several differences between the two under the hood.

Oh wait, they are the same. Cause i just remembered... one of my favorite DIY site for the LS works just the same with my sis's b/f and i remember that they have a link to rebuild the SC and LS's alt.

The website is:

www.lexls.com

It's a great DIY'er site... n he's a cool member of LOC too. SOme of the DIY will work for the SC cause i'm starting to work on the SC too.

Good luck with your problem. Do check the mechanic... they have a machine to safely check if the problem is the Alt or Battery. I know in my car... my Alt was giving me a problem b/c my Power Steering was leaking and it was leaking right on top of my alt. I forgot how the it looks under the hood of an SC, but you might want to check that you have nothing leaking on ur Alt.

I hope i helped. What other symptoms are you experiencing other than the car not starting up sometimes and dying? Do you drive your car everyday? Has it been sitting for a while? What did you do to your car before the problem occurred? What filter did you change?