Wind Noise

[foozball]

Hello All,

I would greatly appreciate others input. I recently purchased a 01 gs 300 and the next day I brought the car home I noticed a wind noise inside the cabin, coming from the front passenger area. It starts at approx 40mph and continues. It is ONLY on the front passenger side area. It sounds like a howling noise in that area. It sounds as if a window is cracked open. Upon my own inspection, I noticed a break in the seal of the windshield, so after so many conversations with the dealership, they replaced it. The wind noise may have improved only slightly, but it is still obvious and still annoying. The dealership concludes that it is "normal" wind deflection.

The dealership and lexus just pushed us off, saying that it is the characteristic of the vechile and just live with it. I drove another GS 300 and i didn't see this same problem. Even a camry is better.

thank you for your input.

[foozball]

No one else has this problem with wind noise from front passegner side on a 2001 GS 300?

[GuyTelefunken]

Wow, you have two posts to your name, and you didn't even wait a whole day before complaining the no one replied to your post?

For shame, for shame. :chairshot:

What does this look like? Your personal answer forum?

[jeffepops]

I have an older model GS300 ('93). When it was about 5 years old, both front doors' exterior window frames began warping out of shape -- causing a bad seal and wind noise similar to what you describe. I took the car to my Lexus dealer, who stated that the problem was not covered by the warranty. Lo, and behold, I soon spotted another GS300 with the same problem, and wrote down it's license plate number. I went back to the dealer with this "evidence" of defective manufacturing, and was able to get both window frames replaced at a $200 set labor charge (saving about $500 in parts).

You may have the same problem -- check to see if the window frame is beginning to show signs of a bad fit to the body. If so, you may have the same problem. Good luck.

[SW03ES]

Guy- Please, leave the moderating to us huh? Sometimes newbies need some time to learn the ropes.

Anywho somewhere to look also may simply be the weatherstripping on the passenger door. Try using some silicone dressing (something like Meguiar's Endurance Tire Gel) on the stripping all the way around the door. If that helps then the stripping is probably bad. Not expensive or hard to replace.

The GS is the least aerodynamic car in the Lexus line, and any kind of panel misalignment could cause noise like that. Are you sure it was never in an accident or something. Check out the mirror and the door on both sides, do they appear to fit the same?

[foozball]

Thanks for your input jeffepops, I checked up on the window frame and both sides seem to fit the same way. This may be the problem, but I am not able to recognize it. Perhaps I will drop by another dealership and ask them to take a look at this problem, mentioning the warping issue.

SW03ES, thanks for your input. It is my understanding that the dealership addressed the issue. They claimed that they replaced a total of 4 weatherstrips for the doors on the entire vechile. I will try your suggestion with the gel ASAP.

I am very confident that the car was not involved in an accident. We checked the car fax and searched the service history on the vechile before purchasing. The company claims that it is the wind coming off the mirrors or off the windshield. If this is truly the case, I was expecting to hear the same thing on the driver's side.

Now that I have some suggestions, I will take some time to look at the doors, stripping, and mirrors a little closer.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

[SW03ES]

Try folding in the passenger mirror and see if that makes a difference...

[foozball]

I tried folding the mirror and this seems to change the sound of the wind noise. Is there a fix to this wind noise like problem from mirrors. I've searched he web, and it said to put tape over the crack (where the mirror pivots to fold). This does not seem right for such an expensive car. Also, it seems weird that I only hear it from the right side, and not from the left, since it the same type of mirror on both sides.

I even went to a local dealer and test drove another 01 gs 300 and it seems to have that same hollow type wind noise coming from the front passenger side, but my car seems a little more prominent. I am guessing this type of wind noise doesn't bother other gs owners.

[denvergs300]

I just bought a 1993 GS 300 that has that wind noise your talking about, like the window is cracked open a bit.

Mines is coming from the front drivers side. Just my luck! But I guess you can't expect a perfect car when its 11 years old. I'll have to check the frame and inside seals. It does get annoying when Lexus's are known for their quiet interior driving.

The engine and body is in perfect shape and no record of any accidents. Try a recall search online, might be a manufacturer defect.

[hoppdawg]

My 1993 GS 300 has the same problem on the drivers side! Is there a fix?