Cv Joints

[brandondiem]

The weather is finally warming up and that means it is time to begin the spring maintenece on my RX300. Asside from oil/filter and spark plugs I would like to inspect the CV joints. They started to sporadically click and I was wondering if they are easily serviceable. Any help from you guys is much appreciated.

Thanks

[monarch]

All you do is inspect the rubber boots of the CV joints for tears and grease leakage.

Normally Toyota CV joints last for hundreds of thousands of miles. However, life of he joint is drastically shortened if a boot tear is not caught early and replaced before alot of the grease leaks out or is contaminated with dirt. Boots last 10-15 years or 100,000 -200,000 miles in warm climates like California, but they may crack earlier in cold climates like Boston.

[RX in NC]

Yep, the condition of your rubber boots is critical to your chances for long-term life out of your CV joints. Once the rubber boots crack, the grease they contain escapes and it doesn't take long to ruin your joints at that point. So check the condition of those boots frequently, and replace them when they begin to show surface cracking. New boots are a hell of a lot less expensive than new CV joints and axles....

[brandondiem]

Yep, the condition of your rubber boots is critical to your chances for long-term life out of your CV joints.  Once the rubber boots crack, the grease they contain escapes and it doesn't take long to ruin your joints at that point.  So check the condition of those boots frequently, and replace them when they begin to show surface cracking.  New boots are a hell of a lot less expensive than new CV joints and axles....

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Let me ask your opinion, do you think the clickingis from the cv joints? I hear a slight pop or click when driving slow and turning the wheel. I assumed it was the CV joints. If it is the CV joints and they are making these noises, is it to late to service them or do they need to be replaced? Thanks-

[monarch]

If the rubber boots have not broken your CV joints will still be fine because they don't hardly wear if kept well lubed and free of dirt. So if the boots are not broken then the noise must be coming from something else.

[SKperformance]

Agreed it is very rare to have a clicking CV withouth a broken boot.

Unless a previous owner had the boot replaced and they did a halfassed job of reinstall and contaminated it with water and dirt causing the excess wear inside it.

[RX in NC]

brandondiem,

Your popping and clicking may be caused by the breaking down of the rubber bushings in your front strut mounts. This is a common problem in the RX series which Lexus has addressed through a Technical Service Bulletin. They essentially replace your original poorly-designed rubber bushings with new ones that are shaped to fit more snugly and hold up much longer. A number of owners (myself included) have had this TSB fix performed on our vehicles at no charge by our Lexus service departments. Search this forum using "strut mount rubber bushing failure" or "TSB SU002-99" as key phrases and you should come up with multiple threads covering this topic.

The pops and creaks eminating from your suspension become more noticeable during cold weather but can be annoying during any season. Replacing the rubber bushings in the front strut mounts through TSB SU002-99 absolutely fixes this problem and gets the vehicle quiet again.

[brandondiem]

brandondiem,

Your popping and clicking may be caused by the breaking down of the rubber bushings in your front strut mounts.  This is a common problem in the RX series which Lexus has addressed through a Technical Service Bulletin.  They essentially replace your original poorly-designed rubber bushings with new ones that are shaped to fit more snugly and hold up much longer.  A number of owners (myself included) have had this TSB fix performed on our vehicles at no charge by our Lexus service departments.  Search this forum using "strut mount rubber bushing failure" or "TSB SU002-99" as key phrases and you should come up with multiple threads covering this topic.

The pops and creaks eminating from your suspension become more noticeable during cold weather but can be annoying during any season.  Replacing the rubber bushings in the front strut mounts through TSB SU002-99 absolutely fixes this problem and gets the vehicle quiet again.

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Amazing- I just returned from the local mechanic and he stated the same thing regarding the strut mounts and the TSB. I was going to post it but it looks like you all already know. I have been wasting money on alignments and tires to find out that it is a design flaw. I am tired of paying for their mistakes. I hope this one is covered. Thanks for the help!

[bowtie3]

I hadn't driven my wife's 2000 RX300 for a few weeks until yesterday. When I pulled into the shopping center parking lot I heard this " crunching/creaking " sound coming from the front-end, just like the popping sound talked about on this forum. The car is a FWD with 52,000 miles, Certified Lexus Warranty, and driven like a baby during the 2 years she has owned it. Is there going to be a problem covering this defect under the Certified Warranty when I take it in to the dealer for repairs? Should I mention the TSB # when I bring up the problem?

[RX in NC]

The TSB is your silver bullet and free pass combined. Use it as your platform and don't accept no for an answer.

[brandondiem]

The TSB is your silver bullet and free pass combined.  Use it as your platform and don't accept no for an answer.

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I mentioned the TSB to Lexus customer service, I recieved the - "so it is not covered, your car is out of warranty" line. I am so fed up with paying for this cars design flaws.