1999 Gs400 - Engine Starts, But Kills Right Away

[Callidus]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here, but I've been lurking for a while now. I just bought a 1999 GS400 in September and have loved it. It's got 150k on it but everyone I talked to said the same thing about Lexus' long-term reliability. I'll just say up front that when it comes to the inner workings of cars I am a complete neophyte.

I'm starting to have a few problems with it and I'm fairly sure they are all related. About a month after I got it, I started noticing that every once in a while the radio would kill when I was at idle. The sound and the lights on it would just go out, then after giving it some gas the radio would pop back on. I didn't think a whole lot of it and put it on my "I need to get that checked out" list.

It has been bitter cold here lately (I live in Wisconsin) and now I'm having some problems getting the car to start. It looks like the clamp that attaches to the negative post on the battery is slightly too large to tightly clamp down on the post. I have it screwed together as tightly as it will go, however I can still twist and pull the connector off with very little effort. So, I'm thinking the battery might not be receiving a good connection which is preventing it from charging properly as well.

Now today, I went to start it and it just clicked. I figured the battery might be dead from the cold and the connection problem so I hooked up an electric jumper and it fired right up. However, after idling for a few moments it dies. I've tried starting it and giving it gas as well and it still dies within a few moments of being started.

Could all of this be caused by the simple battery issue, or do I have more problems at hand?

Any thoughts/ help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Scott

[eatingupblacktop]

Welcome to the club. You're going to have to replace the connector to ensure a proper fit. Have your batt and alt load tested. Simple and cheap.

[Callidus]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice! I'm going to replace the connector just as soon as it stops dumping snow on us here. We're going on three straight days of snow now. Definitely getting a little old.

[eatingupblacktop]

You're going to have to replace the connector to ensure a proper fit.

I meant "repair the connection" in the above post. Don't know how much a new connector costs. If it's original to the car, they're prob more expensive than using an adapter instead. If there's nothing wrong with the connector, I wouldn't change it. If you have a smaller/undersized batt, check that it doesn't have a plastic cover over top that allows it to be secured in position. This cover will push the connector up on the post resulting in a loose fit. Also, if the batt is shot, you could get a new one, properly sized and with terminals that will fit your connector. Don't know if you have an unusual batt because those connectors should accomodate most batt terminals.

[Callidus]

I checked online and it looks like the replacement connectors are really cheap. I sort of assumed that the connectors should accommodate any battery, but I wasn't sure if it was possible that the negative post on the battery could be under-sized. The battery looks like it is a generic value-type brand, so I suppose it's a definite possibility. The previous owner never drove the car in the winter, so I'm not entirely sure how old the battery even is (the date markers on the battery don't look like they were marked). I think I'll probably just try picking up a replacement battery and connector and see what I get.

I'm pretty sure that replacing one or both of those will solve the starting issue, but I'll be really interested to see if it has any effect on the radio/idle issue.

[Callidus]

I wound up replacing the battery and the connector made a nice snug fit, so it looks like the problem with the loose connection was in fact due to the old battery. I'm not sure how the negative post got worn down so much.

Since replacing the battery I haven't seen the problem with the radio cutting out at idle again either, although I haven't driven a whole lot due to the holidays spent at home.

Thanks again for all the advice!

[sakataj]

I wound up replacing the battery and the connector made a nice snug fit, so it looks like the problem with the loose connection was in fact due to the old battery. I'm not sure how the negative post got worn down so much.

Since replacing the battery I haven't seen the problem with the radio cutting out at idle again either, although I haven't driven a whole lot due to the holidays spent at home.

Thanks again for all the advice!

congrats on a nice,cheap, easy fix

:D