1999 Ls 400 Starter Replacement

[Bulls I]

It appears my starter is going out on a 1999 LS 400. Seems to be quite involved. Whoever put the starer below the intake should be kicked in the nuts. Anyhow, while I've got everything open what else should I replace? I assume you can get to the plugs and wires then too. Suggestions?

[jcrome04]

OEM wires, and NGK long life iridium plugs ;)

good luck with the starter man!

[92Lex]

Intake gasket

[Bulls I]

Double...

[Bulls I]

An update for anyone attempting the repair themselves.

Symptoms:

1 click when trying to start car. Started out infrequently but progressed rapidly.

Preliminary fix:

Cleaned corrosion on battery terminal. Had battery checked (fine). The terminal fix worked for about a month. Thought I was fine but problem came back.

Permanent fix:

Replaced starter (Denso - $188.00 from Carquest / intake gasket approx. $60.00)

Starter replacement steps taken (4.5 hrs total - condensed from other posts to save some time)

1. remove all plastic parts (engine shroud, intake tubes/air cleaner assembly)

2. remove throttle throttle body assembly with accelerator cable still attached. Place on right side of engine bay. During this step you'll loose approx. 1.5 gallons of antifreeze from bottom coolant hose. Unless you drain some originally.

3. Remove cigarette from mought and extinguish.

4. Disconnect fuel supply line to intake. This will be a rubber hose attached to the steel fuel line on the right side of the engine bay.

5. Remove any vaccuum lines and electrical fittings attached to intake including fuel injector clips. These are all unique and don't have to be labeled. They are all easily identified when re-assembling as to where they should connect.

6. Remove intake mainfold assembly. 1 nut on each corner and 3 or 4 bolts on each side. I had to blow these out with compressed air to be able to get a socket on them as they were filled with grime. After loosening them with a socket (they have torx fittings on them too) I grabbed them with a long needle nose pliers to prevent them from being dropped. You don't need to remove anything from the intake manifold itself. Leave the fuel rail attached.

7. Gently ease intake manifold up and rotate 90 degrees and set on the left side of the engine bay.

8. Remove 3 bolts holding the wiring harness on the coolant crossover tube. The back one is difficult, use a wrench.

9. Remove coolant bypass tube.

10. Remove starter bolts and electrical connection. Disconnect the battery 1st if you don't want a small jolt like me.

11. Assemble in reverse order.

The only issue I had in assembly was when I was trying to put the intake back on the back left corner caught the gasket and was pulling it up. I pushed it back (gasket) on the stud with a screwdriver and caressed the manifold back on.

I hope this helps anyone in the future when biting the bullet and replacing the stater. To be honest, it was easier than I had expected. It would have been better if I'd have let the engine cool off before starting. I did this on a Monday night after driving home from work.

Bulls I

[VMF]

do the timing belt with pulleys and water pump while ure there.

[duvanderz]

This is helpful. If I were to undertake this, I'm curious as to whether I need to get underneath the car at all and also what special tools may be required other than socket wrenches.

Thanks,

Vince

An update for anyone attempting the repair themselves.

Symptoms:

1 click when trying to start car. Started out infrequently but progressed rapidly.

Preliminary fix:

Cleaned corrosion on battery terminal. Had battery checked (fine). The terminal fix worked for about a month. Thought I was fine but problem came back.

Permanent fix:

Replaced starter (Denso - $188.00 from Carquest / intake gasket approx. $60.00)

Starter replacement steps taken (4.5 hrs total - condensed from other posts to save some time)

1. remove all plastic parts (engine shroud, intake tubes/air cleaner assembly)

2. remove throttle throttle body assembly with accelerator cable still attached. Place on right side of engine bay. During this step you'll loose approx. 1.5 gallons of antifreeze from bottom coolant hose. Unless you drain some originally.

3. Remove cigarette from mought and extinguish.

4. Disconnect fuel supply line to intake. This will be a rubber hose attached to the steel fuel line on the right side of the engine bay.

5. Remove any vaccuum lines and electrical fittings attached to intake including fuel injector clips. These are all unique and don't have to be labeled. They are all easily identified when re-assembling as to where they should connect.

6. Remove intake mainfold assembly. 1 nut on each corner and 3 or 4 bolts on each side. I had to blow these out with compressed air to be able to get a socket on them as they were filled with grime. After loosening them with a socket (they have torx fittings on them too) I grabbed them with a long needle nose pliers to prevent them from being dropped. You don't need to remove anything from the intake manifold itself. Leave the fuel rail attached.

7. Gently ease intake manifold up and rotate 90 degrees and set on the left side of the engine bay.

8. Remove 3 bolts holding the wiring harness on the coolant crossover tube. The back one is difficult, use a wrench.

9. Remove coolant bypass tube.

10. Remove starter bolts and electrical connection. Disconnect the battery 1st if you don't want a small jolt like me.

11. Assemble in reverse order.

The only issue I had in assembly was when I was trying to put the intake back on the back left corner caught the gasket and was pulling it up. I pushed it back (gasket) on the stud with a screwdriver and caressed the manifold back on.

I hope this helps anyone in the future when biting the bullet and replacing the stater. To be honest, it was easier than I had expected. It would have been better if I'd have let the engine cool off before starting. I did this on a Monday night after driving home from work.

Bulls I

[jasond86]

dude thats freakin awesome, my starter went bad, i came here to find out how to change it, and thanks to this post i didnt even have to search. thanks bulls I

An update for anyone attempting the repair themselves.

Symptoms:

1 click when trying to start car. Started out infrequently but progressed rapidly.

Preliminary fix:

Cleaned corrosion on battery terminal. Had battery checked (fine). The terminal fix worked for about a month. Thought I was fine but problem came back.

Permanent fix:

Replaced starter (Denso - $188.00 from Carquest / intake gasket approx. $60.00)

Starter replacement steps taken (4.5 hrs total - condensed from other posts to save some time)

1. remove all plastic parts (engine shroud, intake tubes/air cleaner assembly)

2. remove throttle throttle body assembly with accelerator cable still attached. Place on right side of engine bay. During this step you'll loose approx. 1.5 gallons of antifreeze from bottom coolant hose. Unless you drain some originally.

3. Remove cigarette from mought and extinguish.

4. Disconnect fuel supply line to intake. This will be a rubber hose attached to the steel fuel line on the right side of the engine bay.

5. Remove any vaccuum lines and electrical fittings attached to intake including fuel injector clips. These are all unique and don't have to be labeled. They are all easily identified when re-assembling as to where they should connect.

6. Remove intake mainfold assembly. 1 nut on each corner and 3 or 4 bolts on each side. I had to blow these out with compressed air to be able to get a socket on them as they were filled with grime. After loosening them with a socket (they have torx fittings on them too) I grabbed them with a long needle nose pliers to prevent them from being dropped. You don't need to remove anything from the intake manifold itself. Leave the fuel rail attached.

7. Gently ease intake manifold up and rotate 90 degrees and set on the left side of the engine bay.

8. Remove 3 bolts holding the wiring harness on the coolant crossover tube. The back one is difficult, use a wrench.

9. Remove coolant bypass tube.

10. Remove starter bolts and electrical connection. Disconnect the battery 1st if you don't want a small jolt like me.

11. Assemble in reverse order.

The only issue I had in assembly was when I was trying to put the intake back on the back left corner caught the gasket and was pulling it up. I pushed it back (gasket) on the stud with a screwdriver and caressed the manifold back on.

I hope this helps anyone in the future when biting the bullet and replacing the stater. To be honest, it was easier than I had expected. It would have been better if I'd have let the engine cool off before starting. I did this on a Monday night after driving home from work.

Bulls I

[Bulls I]

You don't need to get underneath the car and about the only special tool would be a swivel socket adapter. Flare wrenches are nice for the fuel fitting too but not totally necessary.

[McSwine]

Whoever put the starer below the intake should be kicked in the nuts.

Sorry I can't help with your question, but I agree with this completely.

[Elsupremo]

General question, I am a strong believer when it comes to cars in "If it aint broke, don't fix it" so I need to find out why would it be a good thing to change the intake gasket, or the timing belt or the sparkplugs for that matter on a car with 120Kms on it that is running fine? :(

[Bulls I]

I probably didn't need to change the intake gasket but I did since:

a. I bought one

b. Wasn't sure if I'd end up damaging the old one getting it off

There are a lot of components to remove when replacing the starter so it'd be best to do them all at once if financially feasible. My timing belt has already been changed and I didn't replace the plugs or wires out of sheer laziness.

[SW03ES]

General question, I am a strong believer when it comes to cars in "If it aint broke, don't fix it" so I need to find out why would it be a good thing to change the intake gasket, or the timing belt or the sparkplugs for that matter on a car with 120Kms on it that is running fine? :(

Because the engine in your generation LS is an interference engine. Lexus specifies a change interval of 100,000 miles. If the timing belt should break...your engine will be destroyed. Its just not worth the risk.

As for the sparkplugs...they degrade over time and at 100k miles you're not getting optimum spark, the gap is all off, and that hurts your performance and fuel economy.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" is fine, but the car is a machine and needs to be maintained. Why do you change oil? Why not wait for the oil to gell and seize the engine up before you replace it? The car will run fine on 15,000 mile old oil probably...but that doesn't mean its good for the engine.

[eatingupblacktop]

General question, I am a strong believer when it comes to cars in "If it aint broke, don't fix it" so I need to find out why would it be a good thing to change the intake gasket, or the timing belt or the sparkplugs for that matter on a car with 120Kms on it that is running fine? :(

In addition to what Bulls 1 and SW have said, I would add that replacing gaskets is good maintenance practice anytime you need to remove one to service something. Heat weakens and deteriorates all gaskets in time. In the process of removing an old stuck on gasket, you inevitably compromise it's integrity, even without any obvious sign, and chance future failure if you re-use it. The cost of having to go back in to replace it later is much greater than the cost of replacing it with a new one from the start.

[nattybread]

General question, I am a strong believer when it comes to cars in "If it aint broke, don't fix it" so I need to find out why would it be a good thing to change the intake gasket, or the timing belt or the sparkplugs for that matter on a car with 120Kms on it that is running fine? :(

In addition to what Bulls 1 and SW have said, I would add that replacing gaskets is good maintenance practice anytime you need to remove one to service something. Heat weakens and deteriorates all gaskets in time. In the process of removing an old stuck on gasket, you inevitably compromise it's integrity, even without any obvious sign, and chance future failure if you re-use it. The cost of having to go back in to replace it later is much greater than the cost of replacing it with a new one from the start.

how do i remover those two 14mm bolts behind the starter?

[AzHotLS]

This thread on the other forum should help.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/324890-95-ls400-starter-dead-diy-replacement-in-progress.html

However, if you read my posts starting at 35, you'll see that I didn't remove them. My starter is still going strong without removing the starter completely, just replacing the contacts and plunger. While not recommended by most, I'm sure, it is something to consider.