Car won't start!!

[a.Lpha]

UPDATE: I lent the car to a friend, and it's actually fine, people decided to just call me and tell me the car wont start. after a lengthy phone conversation of trying to trouble shoot a problem that wasn't real, I posted on my know everything forum, and found none of this was necessary!

 

[a.Lpha]

We need a delete option on this forum!

Well, as I can't delete old posts, I'm just gonna keep stacking 'em. (Admins should let people delete their older posts and this thread would be nice and neat!)

Turns out the car actually wasn't starting and it was a fluke that when i showed up it turned over first shot. This morning i went out to the car to try and start it and same problem as before, it will turn over and over and over, but NOTHING, no start, and as i said above, the crank position sensor was cleaned, but nothing is happening now!

 

[stevechumo]

Did you try to bypass the starter just to test if the starter is ok?

 

[a.Lpha]

Did you try to bypass the starter just to test if the starter is ok?

I don't know how to bypass the starter I'm afraid, but would the Crank pos sensor have anything to do with this?

 

[stevechumo]

I don't know how to bypass the starter I'm afraid, but would the Crank pos sensor have anything to do with this?

Lextreme has a section http://www.lextreme.com/dx-starter.html

That's for LS so the starter relay color may look different from the SC. But it'll say start relay so you can still know where to start.

 

[spf_lexus]

Testing the starter is cake if its out of the car. Just jump pos and neg to your battery terminals and it should energize. The starter wont be hurt by this type of test.


I was lucky when mine went out because it would throw about a hundred sparks every tim I turned it over. Just peered into the engine V and it was a yellow light show

 

[spf_lexus]

http://www.lextreme.com/lexuecc2.pdf (bottom left relay)

 

[a.Lpha]

I tried to start her up today, and perfect first try, WHAT GIVES!? I drove her about 200km today and no problem what-so-ever.

 

[sideshow]

do u have an alarm fitted to the car

alarms ar ethe worst fking invention ever
any car with starting issues like u say i head straight to the alarm and rip it out

but anyway if it doesnt u really need to do abit of testing and i guess yr not that clued up cause this has taken afew months to solve

you need to have a fuel pressure gauge and a timing light always connected to yr car
i know its a hassle but if u really want to find the prob then u need to do this

fuel press gauge and timing light is the easiest test for fuel and spark

now if u have fuel and if u have spark and it still dont start u most probably have a mechanical problem but normally a mechanical prob is always there not intermitent

so before u go round testing evry fking thing do this test
cleaning a crank sensor is very very rarely going to fix the prob
i think it was a fluke that it started

anyway for a car to crank all the time and only start sometimes its 99% a power problem
or a sensor problem
if there is no codes on ecu then its probably a power problem

so go check these 2 things out and it will narrow yr problem greatly

 

[a.Lpha]

I'm the epitome of amateur when it comes to actually working under the hood. Everything I know i've learnt from this forum. It's taken an exceptionally long time because the problem keeps disappearing then briefly resurfacing, not to mention this is one of three cars I drive so it doesn't get exceptionally heavy use. It's been a beautiful sunny day so i've tested everything: pressure is okay, i get a spark (it jumps) and there's air, but the car has been starting perfectly all day as well, so the tests we're a trial in futility.

A few lights went on upstairs when you mentioned the alarm, I had an old jag that had a similar problem (wouldn't crank at all though) and as soon as the alarm was removed she ran again. I'll see if i can trouble shoot that next, but firstly I'm going to enjoy the sun and wash and wax the cars. I love a sunny Saturday off!

 

[spf_lexus]

a.Lpha


My starter would work when it wanted to. I would get an instant start, or absolutely nothing (no clicking sounds whatsoever). I could sit there and turn, turn, turn with nothing. And then 5 minutes of waiting later it would fire right up w/o any explanation. If its an original starter with im guessing 200k on it, it's probably a good idea to swap it out so it doesnt start its retirement when your away from home

 

[a.Lpha]

The starter is only about 5 years old, so it should still be okay, but i'll check it out anyways. I was also wondering if wet distributor caps could have had anything to do with this?