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Intermittent no-start condition

My 2000 LS with 86 K miles has had 3 widely spaced occurrences of no-start, where the starter bendix drive engages but the starter does not turn over the engine. Playing with the ignition switch and bumping the starter eventually gets the starter to engage. Battery voltage is 12.8 volts when this happens, didn't have an ammeter with me to check draw.

The third time this happened was this past Friday. Feeling lazy, I took the car to the very friendly local Lexus dealer, agreed to the $110 diagnostic charge, and went to their customer waiting area with HD TV, coffee, juice, rolls, and 3 computers to check e-mail. 20 minutes later, the service advisor comes to me and says that the car started for the technician perfectly every time, gave me an RX 330 to drive so that they could let my car cold soak. The service advisor did not want to recommend replacing the starter without the technician experiencing the no-start condition.

I digress, but the RX 330 is a very nice vehicle. It forded foot-deep water on flooded streets on Friday evening, hauled 400 pounds of water softener salt and groceries on Saturday, made it up the hill to a climbing tower at camp on a muddy rutted path on Sunday, and transported me to work on Monday and Tuesday. I'm thinking that this is more practical for me than a sedan.

My car kept starting normally on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday so I finally went and picked it up. Since I have never heard of a starter getting better, I figure it will bite the bullet either in the dead of winter or on a rainy day when I'm driving clients around.

F.Y.I., the starter is located in the valley between the cylinder banks, and access to the starter requires removal of the intake manifold, and I assume all of the paraphernalia related to the intake. Flat rate time is over 5 hours to R&R the starter.

I've pretty much decided what I'm going to do about the car, but I'm curious what others would do: A) spring $1,000 to have the dealership replace the starter, or B) buy a starter, get down and dirty, and put all those air tools gathering dust in the tool box to good use. If going with choice B), is it worth it for a cheapskate with a little bit of automotive knowledge to spend $10 for on line access to the factory repair manual or is it better to save the $10 bucks and wing it?

Reply to
Ray O
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It's hard for me to believe someone with all this automotive knowledge would let a little starter problem beat them! I would expect you to tear the guts out of that car to chase down a rattle if it came down to that.

I am not familiar with the Avalon but I was able to change the starter on my Camry 4 and I have very little experience doing mechanical work. I would say the automotive gods are dealing out mechanical problems to us proportionate to our mechanical knowledge.

Get out there and change the starter and then call up Art to see if he wants to buy another Avalon now that he regrets getting rid of his other one!

Reply to
badgolferman

I guess that is a Lexus, but the sentiment remains the same.

Reply to
badgolferman

Vote (D): Obtain an el-cheapo second-hand starter from somewhere and try that. If it works, have Christmas early and buy yourself a new starter (or repair what seems broken if you can identify it during an educational strip-down).

Reply to
Andrew Stephenson

I actually thought of that, but the technician said that he has seen starters on these cars go. Knowing how consistently these cars are built, a junk yard starter is very likely to have the same problem. I am not keen on undertaking the task twice ;-)

Reply to
Ray O

The starter on the Camry is on the side of the engine that faces the front of the car so it is very easy to get to, probably a 15 minute job.

The starter on the LS is in the middle of the engine, underneath the intake manifold, so that has to come off to get to the starter. Flat rate time is

5 hours!
Reply to
Ray O

Something tells me you need to get 'down and dirty'.

I'd pay the ten bucks and hope you don't need it....LOL

Reply to
Scott in Florida

That's the way I'm leaning!

Reply to
Ray O

I TOLD them not to let Ford do the design work, but Nooooo... ;-)

Seriously, who the put it THERE? That is some seriously retarded design, starters wear out and fail semi-regularly.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

Take pictures and either share them on the web or email them to us....

It is ok to send the pics of the blood that you KNOW will happen, too....LOL

Reply to
Scott in Florida

I suppose that would be OK as long as there is no sound to let people know what I'm saying as the project progresses!

Reply to
Ray O

I've been thinking about why the starter would be placed where it is so difficult to reach. The designers were trying to lower the coefficient of drag, as evidenced by a big plastic shield under the engine and a fairly smooth undercarriage. IIRC, there were commercials that showed the car in a wind tunnel that demonstrated how even the undercarriage was aerodynamic. Perhaps placing the starter in a more conventional position would have intruded on the wheel wells?

Reply to
Ray O

I doubt you would find any virgin ears......

LOL

Reply to
Scott in Florida

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