Rear Bushings And Speedometer Problem

[Micah]

Hi,

I am having 2 seperate issues. I tried shaking the rear of the car and could hear the rear drivers side thumping as I shook the car. Was thinking that this might be causing my rear drifting problem. It doesn't move a lot, but I can feel and hear it when I shake it. (I can hear it even if I shake the front and am not standing near the wheel). I was thinking the it might be those bushings someone on here said it might be, but I jacked the rear of the car up and the bushing seem fine when I shake it. It seems to be moving around the inner part of the hub where the cv joint connects to the wheel. I can feel play there. Is that my bushings or bearing or what?

The other problem is my speedometer. As I have said in the past in some prior threads, I am having shifting issues and think it may be connected somehow to my speedometer issue. I started driving today and noticed that my speed was zero. The car seemed to shift fine at that point, but wasn't getting down on it. All of the sudden, it jumped from 0 to like 35 immediately. I thought I noticed this a couple of times before at very low speeds, but never to this degree. What could cause this and could it cause my car to shift hard? Is there something I can fix/replace/clean easily?

BTW, Love the forum! Finding loads of useful info just by reading and searching old threads.

[lexus082]

My speedo does the same thing when first starting out of the driveway. I will be going 30 mph and the speedo needle will not rise at all. Then it will jump up quickly to the current speed. I think its a problem within the gauge cluster itself. If you have hard shifting, check your transmission fluid level. Also, your transmission fluid should be Toyota T-IV fluid. If you have something else in there it may contribute to abnormal shifting. What do you mean by "shaking" the car? Does this noise occur when driving and if so when is it present while driving?

[Micah]

I don't hear any noise while driving. Just if I shake the wheel itself. I shake the car side to side. I apply force perpendicular to the tire/wheel itself. I'm going to have the toyota place change the fluid hopefully tomorrow. Thanks!

[Micah]

What is a knuckle? I was looking on oelexusparts.com and saw that. The picture shown looks like about where I feel the play in the wheel. What does the knuckle do?

Here's the website I was looking at. It shows the exploded view of the rear suspension components. The part in question is number 2.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...amp;catalogid=1

[lexuspartsgod]

The knuckle is what the bearing and hub (along with a few other components) go into. Once they wear out you will get issues similar to what you are experiencing. The knuckle is part #2 in the picture. It is a common problem with the LS400's. If you need any help with parts let me know.

Later,

SP

[LLS]

Speed sensor or motor in the speedo itself.

[lemaylexus]

Micah, just out of curiosity, did getting new tranny fluid help with your hard shifting? Was this problem ever resolved by other means? I have the same deal on my SC300 but I've been associating this with bad tranny mounts.