How To Remove The Starter Out Of A 96 Ls400?

[Tommy_B]

can anyone give me a link to a good tutorial? ive been looking around but cant really find a good detailed one.

[Tommy_B]

or if someone could write out a tutorial for me, that would be great

[steve2006]

Hi,

I did mine about 6 months ago, it's a good 10 hour job as you have to remove the intake manifold and fuel rails.

I did have a picture tutorial but cannot find it now.

What I would suggest is buy one of the CD ROM manuals on Ebay but as I said it's not an easy job.

[eatingupblacktop]

It's a pita of a job, especially removing the rear bolts.

Here's Lextreme's tutorial:

http://www.lextreme.com/starter.html

Here's a thread with some details on what to expect:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...tarter+problems

[Tommy_B]

It's a pita of a job, especially removing the rear bolts.

Here's Lextreme's tutorial:

http://www.lextreme.com/starter.html

Here's a thread with some details on what to expect:

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...tarter+problems

thanks for that tutorial. :)

[jtbel]

I just replaced my starter a couple months back on my 1997 LS400. Before you remove anything, take a picture of the engine, so that you will know where things go in case you forget. Taking off the throttle body is easy. Taking off the upper chamber is easy. I only unplugged the injector connections, I did not remove the injectors or the rails. Removing the lower chamber is fairly easy. Where it gets more difficult is removing the rear water bypass (bridge). Also, getting to the 2 bolts for the starter. Be sure to check the lower egr pipe for cracks. Use new gaskets so that you don't have to do it twice. I had to do mine twice because the wire connection on top of the thick wire loom over the rear bridge had come loose and was making the idle surge (I did'nt find the problem until after I finished the 2nd time), but the 2nd time was a breeze. Good luck!

[Tommy_B]

thanks for the help, i should be ordering the starter tomorrow.

[90LS400Lexus]

Oh yeah, such a wonderful design from what I have heard. Idiots who decided to put it there.

[AzHotLS]

Idiots? That's been said before.

Yes, getting the rear water bypass off is a bear because of the lower EGR pipe. I gave up and rebuilt mine in place last December. Still going strong.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/3248...n-progress.html

Be patient and take your time...... LOTS of time.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=59858

[90LS400Lexus]

Yep, words of the wise. ;)

Idiots? That's been said before.

[Tommy_B]

oh wow, i talked to one of my buddys that works at a local shop, and he told me they would charge $450 to do the starter, but he would do it on the side for $150 :D :D :D

[AzHotLS]

That's super. I envy you. I wish I had a friend I could have given $150 to to replace mine last December. It's a royal pain. He may be asking for a few (or more) brews after he's done though.

[Tommy_B]

That's super. I envy you. I wish I had a friend I could have given $150 to to replace mine last December. It's a royal pain. He may be asking for a few (or more) brews after he's done though.

lol yeahh.. i told him it wasnt gonna be easy and he said yeh he knew that but he'd still do it for 150

[xndr400]

For those of you who have tackled starter replacement, you're better men than me! I'm putting a few bucks aside for that job, if it ever happens. I can't do that type of job anymore, just dont have the time or the patients.

[billydpowell]

For those of you who have tackled starter replacement, you're better men than me! I'm putting a few bucks aside for that job, if it ever happens. I can't do that type of job anymore, just dont have the time or the patients.

I am a retired mechanic, but I would not even try, of coarse I am 75+ now, and my body says NONONO... and I listen..

I REMEMBER the day I would have...

[RDM]

If you delete the EGR completely and bypass the throttle body coolant passage it makes the removal a ton easier. I've done mine twice now (first rebuild was janky), the first time with it stock it took four hours, second time with that stuff eliminated it took 35 minutes (plus I had the experience). I know a lot of people don't like to delete emissions equipment, but it passes fine without it. My biggest issue was every clip and electrical plug broke apart when touched, so now all my injector plugs are ziptied down to prevent them coming loose. Lexus didn't put much thought into the amount of heat the 1UZ puts out, it cooks anything plastic/rubber under the hood.

If you look at a JDM engine the coolant lines that loop from the back of the engine all the way around through the EGR, idle air, and throttle body aren't used fully, the coolant for the idle air motor comes from one side only, the entire driver side line isn't there. Small thing like that cut down on time because it's that much less stuff to disconnect.

[billydpowell]

If you delete the EGR completely and bypass the throttle body coolant passage it makes the removal a ton easier. I've done mine twice now (first rebuild was janky), the first time with it stock it took four hours, second time with that stuff eliminated it took 35 minutes (plus I had the experience). I know a lot of people don't like to delete emissions equipment, but it passes fine without it. My biggest issue was every clip and electrical plug broke apart when touched, so now all my injector plugs are ziptied down to prevent them coming loose. Lexus didn't put much thought into the amount of heat the 1UZ puts out, it cooks anything plastic/rubber under the hood.

If you look at a JDM engine the coolant lines that loop from the back of the engine all the way around through the EGR, idle air, and throttle body aren't used fully, the coolant for the idle air motor comes from one side only, the entire driver side line isn't there. Small thing like that cut down on time because it's that much less stuff to disconnect.

just how did you go about it?

[jdavis]

This is definitely above my skill level. I was just quoted $700 by a local Toyota dealer to remove the starter and replace the contacts only (6 hrs. labor) on my '98. If the starter needs to be replaced that will be added to the cost. Should a new starter be required, I think that I may ask for a remanufactured one. Due to the complexity of the job and down time if I should attempt it, I'll probably give them the job. I dread it though because I know that most service writers will come up with a dozen more items that need attention. However, I know how to say thanks but no thanks.

[RDM]

I just did mine today for the fourth time. I had a faulty ignition switch that was sticking, causing the solenoid to continue to stay engaged.

As I mentioned above, you can delete a lot of things to make it easier. The full teardown, removal, reinstall, and assembly took me a total of 43 minutes this time from start to finish.

I'll take pictures if there's enough requests, but the two biggest things I did was remove and weld up the entire EGR system, and delete the coolant passages from the rear of the engine. I also took the wiring harness loom out of the plastic 'trays' they sit in and have just wrapped and loomed them with flex loom, though not as heat resistant the rear one removed gives you access to the starter bolts from the top (and I have big hands). I literally unscrewed them by hand once loose.

For the coolant passages, if you follow the OE routing there's a nipple on the rearmost driver side of the engine, part of the coolant 'bridge', an aluminum pipe looking piece that crosses between the cylinder heads. This nipple leads to a hose, then to a small hardline, then to a hose again, and into the EGR valve. From there it follows the same hose -> line -> hose around through the idle motor and back down through the throttle body and finally back into the bridge on the passenger side of the engine. This design is completely retarded. The first time I took mine apart all these hoses disintegrated into powder and the clamps all bent out of round when removed. So that first time I just ran a single piece of hose from the rear to the idle motor on each side, bypassing the EGR and throttle body. The second time I fully welded closed the EGR holes on the plenum and capped the two passenger side ports, the nipple on the idle motor and the nipple on the bridge. This eliminated one full length of hose, making it even cleaner and easier.

This time, I said hell with the entire thing. I nabbed a front and rear coolant bridge off a junk engine and for the rear one I welded both nipples shut. On the front one I welded the hole closed where the ported vacuum switch resides and drilled/tapped a fitting in front of it. This is now the water inlet for the idle motor, I then welded up the outlet side, since it also receives coolant from the water fill plug in front of the thermostat housing. I also pulled out the two M8 studs that secure the idle motor to the plenum and replaced them with bolts, so now I can remove the entire intake manifold while leaving the idle motor in place and not spill a drop of coolant.

With this setup, both intake pieces lift right off without touching any hoses period besides the fuel lines. The starter is then left sitting open from the back side, with only the long coolant pipe going into the heater core to interfere. the EGR pipe is gone and with the wiring moved away there's tons of room to reach behind the block and access the starter bolts.

This is all a bit extreme I agree, but as a mechanic I do anything I can to make things easier for me, plus I love the clean look of the engine without all those silly 90 degree hoses every two inches. I actually look forward to pulling the starter next time I've made it so easy.

[swan55]

"I had a faulty ignition switch that was sticking, causing the solenoid to continue to stay engaged."

I am experiencing a similar situation = the starter motor keeps cranking regardless of whether the key is in the ignition switch or not, and keeps on cranking until I disconnect the battery.

the engine itself will start ok (even though the starter motor is still engaged) - I do not get  "silence"   or  "just a single click"  etc.

My question = how can I test if this is just an ignition switch problem ?

many thanks for any advice.