Clunk Noise And Vibration On Ls 400

[Tony G]

I have a lovely Black on Black 1998 LS400 with 127K with 2 puzzling problems.

I have this clunk noise that comes through my steering wheel whenever I go over a pothole, ridge or very rough surface at low speeds. At first I could feel small road cracks or indentations and thought my shocks/suspension were worn and took the car to the dealer for diagnosis. They told me I had bad tires, of which they (the dealer) had installed when I bought the vehicle used at 97K. I installed new tires (Goodyear Assurance ComforTred) and had alignment done of which has improved the ride, but the clunk noise and vibration is still evident. What could be the problem??

Secondly, I have a dull humming sound from the rear (I suspect the diffrential), that appears in cold weather, especially when driving at at about 40 to 50 miles per hour. This humming sound subsides when the vehicle warms up, but when I come to a complete stop ie. on a red light, I can hear the humm noise and feel a slight vibration through the gear shifter. Again, what could be the problem?

Thank you in advance for your advise.

:(

[bicol-ini]

hi welcome, do a search on suspension this clunk topic had been discuss a lot of times

[Tony G]

hi welcome, do a search on suspension this clunk topic had been discuss a lot of times

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Thank you, I will do that.

[nc211]

Tony, if you need a good indi mechanic in the area to avoid the dealership, contact premium imports down on wake forest ave by snoopy's hotdogs. They do great work and fair prices. stay away from johnson...you'll pay waaaaayyyy toooo much!! Also, great place for an alignment and balance is bayleaf texaco on north 6 forks. they got the hunter machines.

you might have muffler issues for that drooning noise. my 95 is showing the same thing, and i've serviced the differential already.

[Tony G]

Tony, if you need a good indi mechanic in the area to avoid the dealership, contact premium imports down on wake forest ave by snoopy's hotdogs. They do great work and fair prices. stay away from johnson...you'll pay waaaaayyyy toooo much!! Also, great place for an alignment and balance is bayleaf texaco on north 6 forks. they got the hunter machines.

you might have muffler issues for that drooning noise. my 95 is showing the same thing, and i've serviced the differential already.

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Thank you, your response has come at the most opportune time. I have been going to Johnson for service and my pocket is feeling the hit. I had my break work done at Old Raleigh Imports, Hwy 70 recently and they tried to sell me repairs I don't need. They are off my list. I'm desparately in need of an inexpensive but good mechanic, and I will definitley checkout Premium Imports. I also saw Phil's Toy Store in Cary ( http://www.philstoystore.com/ ) while driving around one afternoon.

[nc211]

The toy store was recommended to me as well from a parts counter guy at the napa auto parts store on glenwood ave, north of crabtree behind chicfilet. There is a guy in my office building with a 92 LS and he recommended the one on wake forest. I took mine down there a few weeks ago and had the rear lower control arms, upper control arms, struts, strut rods and differential bushings all replaced, plus 4 wheel alignment for under $650 +/-. I had the parts already, they just did the labor. Mine is going down there in a day or so for brake pads put on the front. They're installing the pads I bought "$50" and turning rotors for $100. About the only reason I take mine to the dealership now a days is for the alignment and wheel balance. Bay leaf has the same equipment, and they did a pretty good job (9 out of 10). But the dealer seems to know how to tweak it perfectly. If you go to the premium imports, tell them the black 95 LS400 with all the rear suspension work done sent you. The owner is named Steve. There is an older lady there too, she's very nice and will remember me as well. They were the only place I found that blended hourly charges on the parts. Instead of saying "the book says 3.2 hours for this part, 4.5 for that" they said "I have to take part one off anyway to change out part two." The alignment wasn't very good though, but that's the car, not the shop's fault. These things are tough to get that right. And, they're not swamped under either...meaning you won't have to wait 2 weeks to get in.

*Moderator: Sorry if I'm promoting...just trying to pass on the local knowledge to a Lexus friend.

[Tony G]

Thank you for the info. I will pay the fellows a visit this week... I need this problem taken care of as soon as possible as the car does not drive like it should. It's no longer fun to drive. I will keep you posted.

[nc211]

Tony, are you aware of the online sources we use to buy parts? We buy oem parts, then take them to the shop and have them put them on. It's a great way to save a ton of money and have genuine lexus parts. Check out:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...=20&catalogid=2

This is for my model year, but you can drill down to your model year as well. To give an example: Johnson charges $85 for front brake pads only. Here, you get them for $50. Same part, just a lot cheaper. Your suspension issue will cost nearly twice as much in parts alone if you buy from Johnson.

[Tony G]

This is great news. I'm on a short vacation, I will order all the parts I need so I can have them ready by the time I get back. I just read your thread where you talked about replaceing the steering rack cushions "grommets". I will go ahead and do that as that sounded like my problem. Thank you nc211.

[nc211]

No problem amigo, any time.

You've got the classic "clunk" symptom we all have faced. I don't think there is an LS400 out there that has not, or will not, have that problem. It's those rubber bushings in the control arms that go out and cause this. I bet your front strut rods and front lower control arms are in need of replacement. They are usually the first two parts to go out, and give you that clunk noise. Your rear strut rods have something called a carrier bushing, they go out too before most other parts. You can now buy a repair kit from Johnson for $50 +/-, and then take it to indi mechanic to fix. If you look under your back wheel, you'll see a metal rod that is attached forward of the wheel, and attaches to the lower, back part of your wheel hub. It's that bushing where it connects to the hub that gives out first. It's an easy fix, Steve at premium knows what to do I'm sure.

However, I would save yourself the money at premium for alignments and balances. They don't have the right equipment. They did mine, and it sucked. Almost everywhere except for the dealer around here can't align and balance this car right. But he can do everything else.