lexsin4304 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi, i'm new to this site and i recently purchased my first lexus about a month ago. It's a 91 ls400. i was driving down the street and my car began to lose power. The radio cut off and all of the lights began to dim. It also started taking more and more gas power to gain acceleration. Once the car was parked i tried to trouble shoot. i attempted to start iot back up but all it would do is click. I've never had any problems with the car until now. it just came out of nowhere. Is it my battery or possible alternator issues? Can someone help plz. thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.C.O. Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Hi, i'm new to this site and i recently purchased my first lexus about a month ago. It's a 91 ls400. i was driving down the street and my car began to lose power. The radio cut off and all of the lights began to dim. It also started taking more and more gas power to gain acceleration. Once the car was parked i tried to trouble shoot. i attempted to start iot back up but all it would do is click. I've never had any problems with the car until now. it just came out of nowhere. Is it my battery or possible alternator issues? Can someone help plz.thanx Can you jump start it? Any warning lights when it is running? N.C.O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bali26 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 Alternator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blayd Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 If the alternator goes bad I doubt the car will just shut off during driving if it started in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlon08901 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 If the alternator goes bad I doubt the car will just shut off during driving if it started in the first place. Actually! I have a 90 LS400 and my car did shut off during driving and it did turn out to be the alternator. It was last winter....I was driving home from a club. I got stuck on the snow and tried applying gas to get out...I did manage to get out but I noticed that the "battery" light turned on, which I know from experience in previous cars that this meant that there was an electrical problem, usually it meant that the car was using the "battery" as a main source of power. Needless to say, I did manage to drive for about 45mins on the high way and about 5 blocks away from my house I started to notice the light get dimmer and dimmer until about a block away from my house when the car just shut off while I was at a stop sign and did not start again. I tried jump starting it and it did start but as soon as I disconnected the jumper cables it died again. I eventually had to take the battery out of my second car, put it on the Lexus, it started right up, drove it to my house and the next morning I drove it to the mechanic not too far from my house, where he changed the alternator and the car has been running fine ever since. By the way, if you do get the alternator replaced, you may have the power steering pump replaced at that time too. I say this because, I don't know about your car but there was a steering fluid leak in my car which was dripping on top of the alternator and may have been a caused for the alternator to eventually go bad. If you do have such as leak, it is cheaper to do both jobs at once than to replace the alternator and then have to pay extra money for labor for replacing the power steering pump later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexsin4304 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 If the alternator goes bad I doubt the car will just shut off during driving if it started in the first place. Actually! I have a 90 LS400 and my car did shut off during driving and it did turn out to be the alternator. It was last winter....I was driving home from a club. I got stuck on the snow and tried applying gas to get out...I did manage to get out but I noticed that the "battery" light turned on, which I know from experience in previous cars that this meant that there was an electrical problem, usually it meant that the car was using the "battery" as a main source of power. Needless to say, I did manage to drive for about 45mins on the high way and about 5 blocks away from my house I started to notice the light get dimmer and dimmer until about a block away from my house when the car just shut off while I was at a stop sign and did not start again. I tried jump starting it and it did start but as soon as I disconnected the jumper cables it died again. I eventually had to take the battery out of my second car, put it on the Lexus, it started right up, drove it to my house and the next morning I drove it to the mechanic not too far from my house, where he changed the alternator and the car has been running fine ever since. By the way, if you do get the alternator replaced, you may have the power steering pump replaced at that time too. I say this because, I don't know about your car but there was a steering fluid leak in my car which was dripping on top of the alternator and may have been a caused for the alternator to eventually go bad. If you do have such as leak, it is cheaper to do both jobs at once than to replace the alternator and then have to pay extra money for labor for replacing the power steering pump later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexsin4304 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 If the alternator goes bad I doubt the car will just shut off during driving if it started in the first place. Actually! I have a 90 LS400 and my car did shut off during driving and it did turn out to be the alternator. It was last winter....I was driving home from a club. I got stuck on the snow and tried applying gas to get out...I did manage to get out but I noticed that the "battery" light turned on, which I know from experience in previous cars that this meant that there was an electrical problem, usually it meant that the car was using the "battery" as a main source of power. Needless to say, I did manage to drive for about 45mins on the high way and about 5 blocks away from my house I started to notice the light get dimmer and dimmer until about a block away from my house when the car just shut off while I was at a stop sign and did not start again. I tried jump starting it and it did start but as soon as I disconnected the jumper cables it died again. I eventually had to take the battery out of my second car, put it on the Lexus, it started right up, drove it to my house and the next morning I drove it to the mechanic not too far from my house, where he changed the alternator and the car has been running fine ever since. By the way, if you do get the alternator replaced, you may have the power steering pump replaced at that time too. I say this because, I don't know about your car but there was a steering fluid leak in my car which was dripping on top of the alternator and may have been a caused for the alternator to eventually go bad. If you do have such as leak, it is cheaper to do both jobs at once than to replace the alternator and then have to pay extra money for labor for replacing the power steering pump later. ty for the response, that may be the case because i do have a power steering leak i think. when i goto get the alternator replaced, i'll just get it replaced. by the way, i just noticed the alternator has it's own fuse, i believe it's blown...could that possibly be a cause also. if so, how do i change it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexsin4304 Posted August 30, 2008 Author Share Posted August 30, 2008 Alternator there is also an alternator fuse that may be blown...could that be an issue u know. if so, i believe it still needs replaced, how do i take it out. i tried but i couldnt get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatingupblacktop Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 If your alt fuse is blown then either the regulator is gone or your battery has developed an internal short and is demanding too much current. Have the entire charging system tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TA in KC Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 The problem you are describing sounds exactly like the one I had earlier this year. The alternator on my 1992 LS was finally destroyed by a power steering pump that had been leaking for over a year...I did not think the leak was near the alternator so I did not bother to fix it. I only needed to top-off the fluid about every 2 weeks anyway. I ended up taking the car to an independent Lexus mechanic and providing my own parts (alternator, power steering pump, and replacement hose). The repair cost about $650. If you get the alternator replaced, you should change the power steering pump also. A remanufactured one with a lifetime warranty only costs about $120. With the age of your car, I can almost be positive that the seals in the pump are worn out and leaking fluid. That's probably why you are having alternator trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
python Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 blayd please let people who have experience in this area make the replies....your car will shut off if the alternator is bad, if the battery has lost its power due to not being charged and the alternator is not putting out then what is going to give the car voltage to the coils?....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatingupblacktop Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 If the alternator goes bad I doubt the car will just shut off during driving if it started in the first place. Blayd, you are somewhat correct. If you're car starts, it means you have a good charge in the battery. Let's assume it has a full charge. If the alt goes right after you start the car, you can continue driving as long as there is sufficient charge in the battery to provide the correct voltage for the ignition system to function. Since the alt is not providing any power, the car is running solely off the battery. As you continue driving, the battery loses charge because there is no source to recharge it. Once the charge gets below the threshold needed for the ignition, the engine will shut off. Pure and simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bali26 Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 Alternator there is also an alternator fuse that may be blown...could that be an issue u know. if so, i believe it still needs replaced, how do i take it out. i tried but i couldnt get it. I doubt its the fuse. Check the fuse box near the battery. I got mine rebuilt for $150 and put it in myself. This is after I had the power steering leak fixed for abour 6 months (but that was the cause, so you need to fix that first). The replacement will be done from below. Take off serpentine belt. Remove one nut from top. get under car. Remove round plastic wire plug from alternator. Remove hold downs for AC pipes. Remove other bolt from bottom. Twist the whole alternator so that you can unscrew the second wire. Carefully maneuver out the alternator. Its a tight squeeze. Kinda like your car having a baby.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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