Help! Is It My Alternater

[an ly]

Hi, i have a 98 ls 400 just last week went out to start car, would not start, at first thought i might have left something on and plus battery is about 4 years old, so went ahead and replaced new battery, the car start up right away, 2 days later went to start again, would not start, so took battery back and got new battery because i thought it might be a bad battery, car start up right away, then tried to start it again 3 days later, does not start.

Is it my alternater? How do You know if the alternater is bad. something is draining the battery, and i made sure nothing was on when i close doors. please help? thanks

An

[ko90ls]

sorry cant tell on 98 LS since the alternator was moved to a diff location the the 90-94. sounds like your starter? when you get a new battery do you check the old one? is it still good?

to me it sounds like the starter is not getting enuff volts or the solenoid is not being activated except with a new battery?

but dont take my word for it check GrandLS4's thread about the 98 LS starter and symptoms

Go Here: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&hl=starter

[gabep]

Take the car to your local Kragen or Autozone. They will test it for you.

[larryp]

Take the car to your local Kragen or Autozone. They will test it for you.

I agree. More than likely it's the alternator - especially when new batteries fix the problem.

[alsalih]

It's your starter, it will be fine for a few days and then give you a no start suddenly. If you open and close the hood the shock from that will allow it to work ok for a few days. Let me guess you have between 110K to 120K miles on your car? It almost always occurs at this mileage on the 98+ for some reason.

[an ly]

hi all, thanks for all the info. it turns out that the alternator was bad or weak, took it to autozone, reading was low. Thanks Gabep and larryP

Alsalih, you are right, i had to replace starter in the summer time and it did had those symptoms, car now has 130K. still smooth as Silk.