Rx300 Noise And Vibration

[lenore]

My wifes RX300 AWD has been experiencing a low drone and rumble between 50 and 70 mph. When the tranny is put in neutral it is still there. The tires were rotated and balance (Michelin cross terrain) but the noise is still there, you can feel it somewhat through the steering wheel. Any ideas before I start investigating the front end? The car has 131kmiles on it and the drone goes up and down in pitch. The transmission is very smooth and no noise below 50 mph. Could it be axle shafts, bearings, or what else. Anybody have any ideas or related experience at this mileage?

[lenore]

I am still looking for ideas, if you have some experience with front end noise share your experience. thanks everybody.

[LEXIRX330]

I am still looking for ideas, if you have some experience with front end noise share your experience. thanks everybody.

I am sure that they checked the air pressure in your tires? You still may want to re check. I have got my car back with each tire off by 4 or 5 psi...???

[lenore]

I am still looking for ideas, if you have some experience with front end noise share your experience. thanks everybody.

I am sure that they checked the air pressure in your tires? You still may want to re check. I have got my car back with each tire off by 4 or 5 psi...???

I will check that,

[RX in NC]

Check the exhaust system as well. My wife's RX300 had a gasket go bad about a month ago and the vehicle began sounding like a go-cart, particularly at higher speeds. The gasket was located in the spring-loaded connection just in front of the catalytic converter.

Keep us posted once you determine where the sound is coming from.

[lenore]

thanks RX I remember you giving that info, I checked mine and there doesnt appear to be any exhaust leak, but I didnt start it and move my hand around that area to see if I could feel any exhaust leak. Hope you and yours are well and having a great holiday season. Tom

[RX_4_surfin]

It could be one of your front wheel bearings. You can check that by rotating the wheels by hand with the car up on a jack. If you feel any grating or grinding doing that, you want to get them checked out. I never trust dealers or mechanics to give me the straight answer on something like this, unless its a close family member or something. But I'm not a trusting guy.

Sorry, I just saw that you mentioned bearings. That's what I would look closer at. Especially with that mileage. It could be that when the tires were changed, it bumped a wheel bearing out of alignment and now you notice it. I wouldn't think that's the tire shop's fault at 130k miles (only 30 thousand miles would be another story), but you never know.

[mschluns]

It could be one of your front wheel bearings. You can check that by rotating the wheels by hand with the car up on a jack. If you feel any grating or grinding doing that, you want to get them checked out. I never trust dealers or mechanics to give me the straight answer on something like this, unless its a close family member or something. But I'm not a trusting guy.

Sorry, I just saw that you mentioned bearings. That's what I would look closer at. Especially with that mileage. It could be that when the tires were changed, it bumped a wheel bearing out of alignment and now you notice it. I wouldn't think that's the tire shop's fault at 130k miles (only 30 thousand miles would be another story), but you never know.

sound like front wheel bearing to me, toyota shop can put listening sensors on sensitive areas and listen for trouble , thats how they found my bearing going bad,

[tmastres]

My wifes RX300 AWD has been experiencing a low drone and rumble between 50 and 70 mph. When the tranny is put in neutral it is still there. The tires were rotated and balance (Michelin cross terrain) but the noise is still there, you can feel it somewhat through the steering wheel. Any ideas before I start investigating the front end? The car has 131kmiles on it and the drone goes up and down in pitch. The transmission is very smooth and no noise below 50 mph. Could it be axle shafts, bearings, or what else. Anybody have any ideas or related experience at this mileage?

Hey Lenore,

Did you ever solve this ?

I've got something similar going on. between 40 and 60mph I get a vibration that seems like its coming from the front of the vehicle (hard to be sure though) IT actually sounds like someone replaced my regular tires with big mudders and I'm getting that brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr tire/road noise vibration. I've had all the wheels off, checked pressures and rotated the tires but its still there, exactly the same. Weird thing is that parked the RX for 3 weeks while on vacation and really dont remember the noise/viration before I parked it but as soon as I drove it for the first time when we got back I thought wow, what the heck is this? This sounds fairly similar to your problem and I was wondering if you ever found out what it was.

Lenore or anyone=, I'd be interested in hearing some thoughts, Thanks!

[lenore]

No I have not resolved the problem, the car now has 145k miles and the sound is no louder and the vibration is still intermitant. Wish i had money to throw at it but things are a little tight right now. I suspect next will be suspension parts or the center bearing support going to the rear differential (AWD) I changed the left drive shaft up front but that was not it...Weird noise and vibration and changes with the weather, worse when it is cold....maybe rubber getting stiff????

[tmastres]

I just noticed something else odd (other than the viration itself). I noticed that the vibration disappears if the wheels are turned to the right. I noticed this going through a bend in the road at about 45 mph and as soon as I turned the wheel right a few degrees the vibration stopped and then returned immediately upon straightening out. Go figure.

[lenore]

That sounds like drive shaft problem. The joints are loose...When you turn the wheel right the right hand drive shaft is compressed and the left hand drive shaft is expanded, expecially if the bearing carriers are worn...Just wanted to tell you though that when I changed my left drive shaft it had some play when I rocked the wheel and held the inner most point next to the transaxle, but it did not fix the problem. By the way I got the Drive shaft from NAPA for under $100 with a lifetime guarantee..

[tmastres]

That sounds like drive shaft problem. The joints are loose...When you turn the wheel right the right hand drive shaft is compressed and the left hand drive shaft is expanded, expecially if the bearing carriers are worn...Just wanted to tell you though that when I changed my left drive shaft it had some play when I rocked the wheel and held the inner most point next to the transaxle, but it did not fix the problem. By the way I got the Drive shaft from NAPA for under $100 with a lifetime guarantee..

Thanks for the tip, it'll give me a place to start. The odd thing is that it just started up seemingly out of nowhere. Oh well whaddaya gonna do. Thanks!

[Miss Tr0u813ss]

My 2000 lexus rx 300 2wd is making real bad noise I just changed the passenger side and I still haven't gotten the wheel alignment done yet but I can't drive regular  when I press on the gas it doesn't go it sounds like a rattle noise slash kinda like a 50cc motorcycle and the cars gas is being ate up really quick and the coolant is running out fast