Starter Clicking Now Runs Constantly

davidditt · April 21, 2008

I've got a good one. I bought my 1999nLexus RX300 on ebay about four years ago. It has been great but little things keep poping up that have become big things. A couple of years ago my clock quit working, always stays at 1:00. My remote was working really poorly so I purchased an after model key online, it won;t program for some reason. I also got a regular key without the remote stuff and it worked fine, the remote worked as a regular key but no remote stuff.

Next problem the old idles poorly. I had taken it to Pep boys and while it was in the shop I decided to get on this forum just to see. I saw that that problem could be solved by cleaning a sensor so when the PP called and told me it would be 1,200.oo to fix the problem I told him never mind. Brought the car home cleaned the sensor, its been running great the last six months.

Next problem my starter started the clicking thing a couple of months ago, it would start after four or five tries so being a cheap skate I didn;t worry about it. This evening the starter started so well that it wouldn;t stop. The engine started but the starter continued to run. Had to disconnect the battery.

So could all of my problems be related or do I have a bad computer, bad starter and or something else. If it is a starter am I man enough to change it?

Thanks so much for already saving me 1,200.00 already.

wwest · April 21, 2008

I've got a good one. I bought my 1999nLexus RX300 on ebay about four years ago. It has been great but little things keep poping up that have become big things. A couple of years ago my clock quit working, always stays at 1:00. My remote was working really poorly so I purchased an after model key online, it won;t program for some reason. I also got a regular key without the remote stuff and it worked fine, the remote worked as a regular key but no remote stuff.
Next problem the old idles poorly. I had taken it to Pep boys and while it was in the shop I decided to get on this forum just to see. I saw that that problem could be solved by cleaning a sensor so when the PP called and told me it would be 1,200.oo to fix the problem I told him never mind. Brought the car home cleaned the sensor, its been running great the last six months.

Next problem my starter started the clicking thing a couple of months ago, it would start after four or five tries so being a cheap skate I didn;t worry about it. This evening the starter started so well that it wouldn;t stop. The engine started but the starter continued to run. Had to disconnect the battery.

So could all of my problems be related or do I have a bad computer, bad starter and or something else. If it is a starter am I man enough to change it?

Thanks so much for already saving me 1,200.00 already.

"..clicking thing..."

That was your starter solenoid rapidly engaging to pick up the load, HEAVY starter motor load. When the starter relay contacts closed there was too much resistance in the battery supply circuit, the voltage dropped accordingly, and the starter solenoid dropped out. No more heavy load, the voltage rises again....

Repeat the cycle, RAPIDLY, as necessary. Your most likely problem (its SPRINGTIME) was poor/corroded battery post connections.

The bad news is, become, that each and every one of those CLICKS resulted in a very high level of surge current through the solenoid relay contacts and now due to your CHEAPSKATE tactics your solenoid relay contacts have finally WELDED themselves together.

Remove and replace your starter solenoid and be on your way.

But NEXT spring if/when the clicking noise occurs then IMMEDIATELY remove the battery post connections, clear and burnish both the battery posts and the connections. A discharged or failing battery can also produce the clicking noise but apparently not in your case, not THIS time.

lenore · April 21, 2008

This site shows the starter contacts and a solution:

http://www.nationsautoelectric.com/instructions.html

davidditt · April 22, 2008

I just want to thank everyone for the help. I am amazed at how easy it was to change the starter in my RX300. I haven't worked on a car since my 66 Mustang; I've been afraid to with all the fancy computer stuff. Anyway it took my 35 minutes with nothing more than a socket set. Saved me $700.00. Thanks again.