Stange Starting Issue With '92 Lexus Sc400

[iLexusSC400]

Alright y'all my beloved '92 Lexus SC400 is having a bit of a problem and I need some help! Its left me stranded once every week for the past two weeks (almost a full week in-between each time). It started at Pizza Hut, I took my mom there on a Wednesday night to dine in, the Lexus has been running just fine, well after about an hour we get done eating, payed, and walked to the Lexus, and went to crank it, it was spinning and turning over and everything BUT wouldn't crank up. I called my brother to come and get us, it took him almost an hour and in the mean time I tried once or twice every 10 minutes and just kept spinning and turning over but no fire. Finally after almost an hour my brother got to Pizza Hut, as he was getting out of his truck I went to try to start the Lexus so he could hear what it was doing, and..... it cranked right over like nothing was wrong with it.

Well I had a quarter of a tank of gas so I took it down the street and filled the gas all the way (premium of course), and got it home just fine! Well almost a week later, the next Tuesday to be exact, I went to McDonald's for breakfast, I was in there for about 20-30 minutes (keep in mind the week before I was in Pizza Hut for an hour and waited on my brother for another hour before the car cranked like nothing was wrong with it), went to the Lexus.... and it was just spinning and turning over and over with plenty of juice, but no fire, wouldn't crank. Got my mom to pick me up, I went home and called one of my mechanics and told him what it was doing. About 2 hours later I was about to call a tow truck, but then thought about it and instead I had my mom take me back to McDonald's (keep in mine I said two hours later) and the sucker cranked right up like nothing was ever wrong.

Took it to my mechanic and he had it for a week and a half trying to get it to do it to him, he started it in many different time intervals and he couldn't replicate the problem. I picked it up three days ago, this past Tuesday, and finally took it out for a good spin earlier tonight (Friday) after giving it a good wash as the past three days i've just been periodically cranking it and letting it run and shutting it off and going back out just to try to replicate the problem like my mechanic, and after riding it for a little while earlier, it just starts right up and purrs like a kitten.

Can anyone help me with this problem has any SC400 owners experienced this? Thanks everyone, any advice is greatly appreciated!

[jordanchen]

okay man i'll give you my input from personal experience. i have a 93 Sc4 and i had problems like this at first. My first instinct was to put a ground strap in it becuase i figured that the starter couldnt be going bad because the car still started 99% of the time. After the car refused to start for several hours i decided i would research the problem. The starter on that car tends to have a lag, meaning it draws extra energy from the car to start, resulting in failed starts from time to time. The only solid recommendation i can give you is to take your car to auto zone and have them run a diagnostic on your starter, alternator and battery. Most likely the starter will be the problem and you will have to replace it. The part is roughly $125 and the price of installation varies unless you plan on doing it yourself. I urge you to stay away from the dealership because they charge anywher from $1000 to $2000 for this job. Hope this was of some help.

[iLexusSC400]

Thanks man I appreciate the reply. What do you mean by a ground strap?

[jordanchen]

the 92- 96 series of the car didn't come pre-grounded. what i did with mine was get a ground wire from auto zone, its like 3 bucks and you attach one side to the negative side of the battery and the other to something metal under the hood. i would mount it somewhere on the engine because most of the metal parts are coated with paint. this is usually a simple fix,and hopefully will fix your problem.

[carbophat]

I can almost assure you it's your Fuel Pump ECU. Do the paper clip mod and let us know

[Dr. Drake]

What do you mean by paper clip mod?

[sky's the limit]

I have a 1993 SC400 and was having the same problem with my car. My grandfather tested the battery acid level and saw that it was low. We replaced the old battery with an interstate and starts without a problem. Before spending a lot of cash on a starter see if it's a problem with the battery. It could be the problem and a hell of a lot cheaper than replacing the starter. My 2 cents hope it helps.

- craig