Clunking Noise In Front-end

[CaliRich]

Hello all,

I just bought my first Lexus which is a 2003 GS430 and I couldn't love it more! Everything about the car is perfect but there's a "clunking" noise that occurs when I shift into reverse and then again when the car is shifted into drive and starts to move forward. It doesn't make this noise when the car is being shifted and engaging into the gear but rather when it starts to move which leads me to believe that it is in the front-end and not the transmission.

Before I bought the car I read a few reviews that mentioned this noise but no one made it sound like a major problem. Also, I test drove a couple cars exactly like mine and they both made that noise. It doesn't seem to affect the steering or the overall ride but I would like to get it corrected if possible.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? Any possible solutions would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Russ0054]

Hello all,

I just bought my first Lexus which is a 2003 GS430 and I couldn't love it more! Everything about the car is perfect but there's a "clunking" noise that occurs when I shift into reverse and then again when the car is shifted into drive and starts to move forward. It doesn't make this noise when the car is being shifted and engaging into the gear but rather when it starts to move which leads me to believe that it is in the front-end and not the transmission.

Before I bought the car I read a few reviews that mentioned this noise but no one made it sound like a major problem. Also, I test drove a couple cars exactly like mine and they both made that noise. It doesn't seem to affect the steering or the overall ride but I would like to get it corrected if possible.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? Any possible solutions would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

It's the calipers on the brakes. They "crack" or "clunk" when direction is changes after the brakes have been applied. I tried to get the dealer to fix it, but they said all they could do was lube the calipers which would be a temporary fix.

[Benjamin Tang]

Hello all,

I just bought my first Lexus which is a 2003 GS430 and I couldn't love it more! Everything about the car is perfect but there's a "clunking" noise that occurs when I shift into reverse and then again when the car is shifted into drive and starts to move forward. It doesn't make this noise when the car is being shifted and engaging into the gear but rather when it starts to move which leads me to believe that it is in the front-end and not the transmission.

Before I bought the car I read a few reviews that mentioned this noise but no one made it sound like a major problem. Also, I test drove a couple cars exactly like mine and they both made that noise. It doesn't seem to affect the steering or the overall ride but I would like to get it corrected if possible.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? Any possible solutions would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

for me, it was the rear brakes that made noise when shifting between drive and reverse. i was told it was the pads shifting in the calipers.

[CaliRich]

Thank you for your reply!

That sounds fairly minor. Were you told that new calipers would do the same thing and has this caused you any serious problems?

Thanks again!

[Benjamin Tang]

Thank you for your reply!

That sounds fairly minor. Were you told that new calipers would do the same thing and has this caused you any serious problems?

Thanks again!

it's more an issue with the design of the brake pad backing plates sitting too loose within the caliper brackets, rather than the calipers themselves. like calirich stated, if the problem is the pads, the usual solution is cleaning as much crap and gunk out of them, and then reinstall with lots of anti-seize. i've even tried aftermarket pads, but the backing plates are the exact same size as oem (obviously), so the noise never went away...