ChrisStrait Posted March 30, 2003 Posted March 30, 2003 I have a '92 Lexus ES300 that won't start. I need some advice on what to do next. The starter will turn the engine over and try to fire. I very recently replaced a defective battery with a new battery. A friend helped me to verify there is spark by pulling a spark plug with the spark plug wire attached while trying to start the engine. I believe the engine is getting fuel because I can start to smell gas after several repeated attempts to start the car. Some background information on the vehicle. The car has high mileage, over 170K miles. The car has been running quite well in spite of its mileage and hasn't had any problems starting. In January of this year the car stopped running all of a sudden while my wife was driving it on her way to work. The car stranded her on the side of the road until it could be towed home where the car has been parked, unable to start ever since then. I checked all the fuses in the main fuse boxes located under the hood near the battery and found them okay. I appreciate any input, tips, advice or troubleshooting techniques you might suggest.
tralhed Posted May 1, 2003 Posted May 1, 2003 A friend of mine had a similar problem. He found that that distributor rotor had a hole burned in it. He replaced it and it runs great.
ChrisStrait Posted May 12, 2003 Author Posted May 12, 2003 Tralhed was right. I got the car running today I replaced the rotor cap and put a new distributor cap on as well; it started right up! The contacts on the rotor were worn down and burnt out. Plus some of the contacts in the distributor cap were corroded. Tralhed's suggestion was also confirmed by the son of friend who is a senior mechanic at the local Lexus dealership. Now interestingly my stepbrother who is a mechanic at the local Humvee dealership thought the timing belt was broke. I don't think he heard me when I said the spark plugs were getting spark. Thanks to everyone on this board who took the time to opine. One more happy Lexus owner is back on the road.
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