Starter Motor Burnt

abdallian · January 11, 2010

Hi everyone, This is my first post on this forum and it is a pity it is under such dire circumsatnces. I must say I have benefitted hugely from all the advice that passes around here.

I own a lovely 1998 MKIV LS400 with 120000 and the gorgeous wood pack. My troubles started as the winter set in when my car would occasionally not start. I would turn the ignition and there would only be a click. I knew the Battery was weak and initially put it down to that. Once the car started the subsequent starts would be fine. Twice I had the situation when the starter motor would not disengage. This was obviously disconcerting but seemed to sort itself out. The last it happened was about 6 weeks ago. Anyway I was planning to have the starter motor looked at by someone tomorrow as I had a new Battery installed 2 days ago and the clicking problem 1st thing in the morning persisted. Unfortunately an hour ago I started the car and it started fine however a funny nose was coming from the engine. I turned the ignition to off and the starter motor failed to disengage. Now I tried to disengage by turning the ignition on and off but to no avail to the point that smoke started to bellow from the rear of the engine and the insulation around the negative terminal also melted as it burnt. I could hear the starter motor gradually slow down and fade and presume it is burnt. (Believe me, this was a sad sight for me).

I suppose the question is, is this just the starter motor burnt or have I done some damage to anything else as well, particulary because of the melting of the Battery connection wire. Any idea how much this repair will cost as in the last year I have spent a fortune on brake discs, pads, calipers and even had one of the hub axles replaced and would hate to see the car go. May I have a problem with the ignition also? Since it was dark, I was'nt able to fully assess the damage so will look in the morning but any help will be fully appreciated.

Thanks

abdallian · January 15, 2010

Hi All

Thought I should give an update and also pick everyones brains aswell.

Unfortunately the starter motor was burnt and burnt loads of things around it.

Cost me £500

Anyway since getting the car back the new starter motor is perfect however there is hardly any power in the throttle i.e. I have to really floor the throttle to get some revs going. The check engine light is also on and the gear changes are extremely jerky.

This has obviously got me really worried.

Anyway the mechanic thinks that by getting the codes checked by lexus may just reset the problem.

Has he buggered up the repair?

Any help will be fully appreciated

Thanks

steve2006 · January 15, 2010

Hello,

Welcome to the LOC.

I am sorry to hear of the problems you have with your LS.

Firstly with the wiring loom being damaged was it all checked for damage in the area where the starter motor cables were as there could be other unseen damage to adjacent looms.

You don't have to go to Lexus to get the codes read they are OBDII diagnostics so any reputable garage should be able to do this for you.

As you may be aware the starter motor is positioned under the intake manifold between the engine V and there is a lot of dismantling required just to get to it and there is therefore the possibility of damaging other components during removal, the most common is damage to the knock sensors just to the rear of the starter motor which if damaged would flag up a fault code and may cause the engine to go into "limp home mode" giving you the lack of power you describe and the management light being illuminated.

Getting a diagnostic check will of cause confirm the fault area.

As the garage carried out the starter motor work and you have already paid them insist they take the car back and do the necessary diagnostics and repairs to bring you car back to it's pre work condition, excluding the starter motor of cause.

You also mention the transmission is jerky I had the same problem on mine after replacing the starter myself and found that I had mis adjusted the throttle cable link to the transmission which has to be removed when doing the starter so it may be worth checking this.

I hope you get everything sorted but I would certainly insist the garage sort the problems for you without further expense.

abdallian · January 19, 2010

Thanks Steve2006.

Unfortunately the mechanic at the place I took the car to says he cannot diagnose the problem as he does not have the necessary code readers. He has however offered to repair it once I get the codes from Lexus.

I am off to Lexus Bracknell in the morning and will see what comes up.

Will keep the thread updated.

Thanksfor the tips again

Samar

abdallian · January 21, 2010

Hi

Thought I should update the thread

lexus identified the problem with the throttle body and sensor and asked for £1600 to sort it out (whatever)

anyhow I passed the car back to the mechanic and he cleaned it and problem gone.No engine management light anymore

The gear changes are super smooth and the throttle is more responsive than before.

All in all a satisfactory result.

However on a different problem, the nice lady at Lexus on handing the keys back to me says that she did not want to be a bearer of bad news but according to their records my car had done 179000 miles in 2007 at a routine service. I bought the car in 2008 with 111000 miles on the odometer. Adding what I have done since the car can join the proud 200000 miles club. Now this was a huge shock to me. Prior to buying I used mycarcheck.com to verify the mileage and it gave me 106000 miles in 2006. How somebody could do 73000 miles in a year beats me. Plus for some reason I thought these digital odometers could not be tampered with Anyhow I have to say the car just does not look 200000 miles old. the carpet and the leather (minus small patch of minor scuff on armrest) look immaculate. Anyhow not that I can do much now.

Cheers