Lexus SC430 :: On Start-up Thump / Whirring And Will Not Turn Over
Nov 15, 2015
SC430 with 104k miles on it
Went to start her up today. As I began to turn it over--nearly immediately--I heard what can only be described as a thump followed by whirring. (I'd like to believe the thump was related but cannot be certain). Tried to start again, only very briefly, and all I could hear is that "whirring". It will not turn over and I'm hoping that neither attempt damaged anything.
If I had to guess, I'd say the timing belt snapped immediately as the starter was beginning to turn over the engine. Is there a relatively quick way to diagnosis this without potentially damaging the engine any further? An access port/hole or cover I can see through or remove to determine if the belt is snapped? What else could it be? Starter solenoid failure? That would certainly be easier to diagnose.
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I hope I didn't just happen to notice this today if it has been going on for any length of time now. I started up our '05 this morning and she's definitely whirring at idle. I do not recall hearing this sound at all recently and we've been on a couple lengthy trips with it. Fluid levels all appear normal.
Had my wife start it up too and she agreed that the whirring was not there previously. What are the most likely candidates into which I should look first? It' not high pitched, but a steady muted whir of the type I might expect to hear when two gears spin while making contact.
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So, last night I was driving with radio off and a "whirring/fan" sound was audible in the rear of my 2002 SC430 - a sound that I have never heard. The sound seemed to resonate from the driver side, access panel (which I believe holds fuses and other systems for roof). After the vehicle was stopped and restarted the sound continued. Now today, I insert the key into the ignition - no sound; turn to accessory - sound is audible; started vehicle and did not hear sound. Second time I repeated and sound was heard; started and did not hear sound, Third time I repeated and no sound heard in accessory start position. What the heck is this? Any diagram of the trunk and what components are housed in the center bay? Does this vehicle have any auto-leveling function that activates?
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I have had my '02 SC since 2007 and frequently when I turn the key to start, I hear an instantaneous "electronic click" sound. I have ignored it and no service person has ever mentioned it, nor have I requested a Lexus diagnosis.
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The last couple of days when I started the car it didn't turn over immediately as it normally does. Now when I turn the key the dash symbols all come on; radio, lights, etc work fine. I hear a strange close sound like lite weight metal fluttering which continues as long as the key is turned to start. But nothing beyond that.
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I have a 97 Civic. I ran errands all day today, my last stop was the grocery store. When I came out, my car wouldn't start. When I turned the key, I didn't hear a "click" like a dead battery, it whirred until I turned the key completely in the ignition then it died. I turned on the radio and it was reset to 87 and the clock said 1:00. So obviously, something completely died in the car to reset my radio. I got a jump but that didn't work. My car still wouldn't start even though my headlights and radio turn on. I'm taking a mechanic with me. The gentleman that gave me the jump said it's probably my alternator or starter, do you think it could be something easy like a little blown fuse?
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Is it possible to turn off antenna when CD is on?
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Turn key
Click
Headlights do not dim at all
No crank
This has happened three times now, about a month to six weeks apart. Eventually it starts exactly like normal. I can't put my finger on exactly what I did between "not crank" and "crank like normal" but it wasn't anything significant, that's for sure.
Tonight I cleaned the battery terminals, but they actually looked very good. Looking back, I should have checked how tight they were before taking the cable off, but I didn't. Not sure whether a loose cable could explain these symptoms.
I was thinking this was starter or solenoid? Any other diagnosis consistent with the symptoms?
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When start my car and turn on the lights, its on for a few moments and they flicker, and then the driver side turns off. I toggle the switch off and on, and they fire right back up, but few moments later its off again. After about 10 minutes of doing that, they usually stay on, but once I make a quick stop (at store or bank for example) and turn off the headlights, the issue starts again and I usually cant get them to stay on after that unless I park the car for a few hours, and go through the 10 mins of screwing around with them again. Sometimes it will cause the passenger side to turn off as well, or sometimes even both!
I really need to fix this, along with my front parking lights in the bumper and the rear side bumper lights as well. I also have to take care of my license plate lights, which the harness does not even seem to be there behind the left lens, and the right one is missing.
I want to fix them, but if I take apart the fixtures, I want to polish the inside of the lens. and do any other mods at that time. I want to stick with the HID's, but maybe get some different bulbs for the low beam, that funky yellowish light that runs during the day, and the fog lights. I am not going to mess around with the LED's for a while. I had halogens in my last car that I had to update to HID to get good light, and these SC lights are even better since they are auto leveling, and turn with the car for the most part as well.
Does this sound like the bulbs? I heard of people online changing the bulbs and still having this issue. I thought it could be ballasts, but I am a newbie to the HID lighting so I am not sure. There are youtube vids up with this issue on the SC and ES models also I believe, so this is a known problem that pops up for everyone at one point during ownership.
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So everything in my car has no memory issues but my clock always says 1:00 ... when I start the car....
I have tried another control unit (the climate control, nav screen, etc buttons) where the clock is located to see if I had a bad unit and it still did the same thing.
I have a brand new battery from Lexus and everything else in the car seems to be fine....this was an issue before I bought the new battery.
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I have a 2007 and I've just developed my first problem since I purchased the car new in 2007. While driving, my headlight(s) will turn off by themselves.
Sometimes it's the right one, sometimes it's the left one, and sometimes they will both stop working. Turning the headlight switch off and then on brings them back to life.
What part in the headlight system is causing this?
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I get a rubbing sound in my steering column when it retracts when the key turns off. Only does it a couple times a year.
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My navigation door will not open, and when I turn the radio on, it looks like it is playing - but no sound comes from speakers.
From digging around here, it looks like this could be a fuse problem - but both of these at the same time? Are they the same fuse? Are the fuses I would need to replace in the passenger side or under the hood?
BTW... it was pretty comical getting to the fuse thing in the passenger foot well - I am just over 5 feet tall, so it was easier to do it head down, feet near the headrest of the seat!
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I am stationed in Europe at the moment and my wife has been driving my car.
She last drove it a week ago and when she got in to drive last night it would not start - Not even a "click". Interior lights worked, radio etc.
Could be the battery of course with not enough voltage threshold to even engage starter solenoid.
But I was looking for other things she could check before I come back in 3 weeks. I will deal with a battery replacement then if required.
She confirmed car is in "park".
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Just disconnected battery to give a full charge because car sat for the winter and hood was propped open which killed the battery. Meanwhile I reconnected the battery and only the lights will come on. The car will not start with key in ignition. Don't know if there is a security issue or just what.
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When starting your SC on let's say a day where the temperature is 35 - 55 degrees, what is your initial idle RPM?
Next, how long does it take to settle down to a lower RPM and what is lower RPM when the car is still in Park?
Lastly, can tapping the gas pedal after initial start-up bring the idle RPM down while the car is in Park?
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When I start my 2003 SC430 I hear this screeching noise. It sounds like it is coming out of the dash but it may be under the hood because my neighbor heard it outside the car.
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I have a 2003 430 with 110K miles. Car would not start this morning. It cranks so it appears the battery and starter are fine. Battery was changed last winter. I had the timing belt changed at 80k. Its been a great car with very little problems.
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I replaced my headlight today, was really hard but I got it done. To my surprise, when I went to start my car it turned over then died. A gas smelled followed with a slight hissing. I also worked on my intake today because there was a leak, but I don't see how that's related? Maybe a fuel pump relay? She doesn't seem like she is getting fuel and dies!
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I had to replace the ECU on my 2002 sc430. Although the original ECU was malfunctioningthe car started and was drivable (but the speedometer and odometer did not work, nor did the power steering). Following installing a used ECU, the car will now not start. I reset the ECU following the directions posted by others in this forum (both the gas pedal method and removing the fuses), but that has not fixed the problem. Do I need to have the dealer sync the key to the new ECU?
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Having issues starting the car when it's cold. Sometimes it takes me 2 or 3 tries to crank the car.
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