Whining Sound At 40+ Mph

[bvenvert]

Well my wife's 2006 Rx is getting up in the mileage at over 80K, and we are noticing a whining sound as you start to build up speed. It starts at about 40 mile per hur and gradually builds as you continue to move up the speedometer. I am wondering if a wheel bearing mightr be going bad. I am going to pull the rear wheels and look at the brakes, but I would be surprised if it was the brakes.

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Any suggestions?

[Jim Clark]

How many miles are on your tires? Some tires can whine a lot as they wear. Check Tirerack and look at the reviews for your tires, particularly the ones with higher mileage. If you see a lot of complaints for excessive noise, that could be your problem.

Checking the brakes is a good idea but I would think if it was a brake problem, the noise would happen while braking.

A bad wheel bearing is a possibility and would get louder with increased speed. But only one person I could find in a search on this site had a wheel bearing problem "allegedly" confirmed by a mechanic.

[bvenvert]

I don't think the tires are the culprit in this case. It sounds like the noise is coming from the driver's side front wheel. The tires have only been through one rotation and I dropped some good coin on the Parada Spec X's, which drive and handle very well.

My son had a wheel bearing go out on his 99 Accord and we replaced the entire hub for about $50.00. He was having the same type of noise from the rear wheel on his car and the noise seemed to build over time and became more noticeable at lower speeds. All very similiar to what we are experiencing.

I haven't seen any information on wheel bearing problems with the Lexus 400h, but I may just be one of the first.

[lenore]

there has been a lot of wheel bearing failures on the Toyota Nation site with the Highlander's. Also some on Club Lexus site. I have noice too, but havent been able to localize it. My RX has 101k miles....Be prepared the bearings are not that cheap on this vehicle, The rears have to be replaced with the hubs...The front can be replaced separately but have to be pressed out....

[bvenvert]

At this point, although I think I could do the wheel bearing myself, other than pressing out the old bearing and pressing in the new one, I may just drop it off at the Lexus Dealer and have them diagnose the issue. I don't have a local dealer, but have used Plaza in St Louis and plan on being down there tomorrow. I hate to pay a dealer to do work I can do myself, but not knowing for sure what may be causing the problem, I don't want to just throw money at it. I also have the rocking motion issue at 70 mph, so I will have Lexus perform that TSB when I have it in the shop.

I will let you now what I find out.

Thanks for your feedback.

[katzjamr]

i thought i had a tire problem by my harmonic hum and vibration starting at 35mph and increasing up to 60mph was diagnosed today as a front right wheel bearing. the tech from the lexus dealer could not pinpoint which side when driving, he knew it was a bearing. they then put it on the lift, and while in gear listened to each one with a stethoscope. While driving we all thought it was the left, it turned out to be the right side, or both but they are doing one at a time. covered under extended warranty, 450.00 per side. since i had an alignment two weeks ago, they are realigning for no extra cost. Les schwab quoted me 250.00 per side, when i took it to the tire store to check on the noise. It is being fixed at the dealer where the warranty service was purchased. I was with the tech when he had it on the lift and he thot he heard an odd transmission noise too!! but he said it might be because the car was not designed to rotate the wheels while up in the air. he will check on that when the bearing is done. trying to get it all done before the warranties run out ;))

[bvenvert]

Well I have an update on my wife's 06. Dropped it off at the dealer last Thursday and had a couple of recalls done along with some analysis in the whinning noise that was haunting us. They ended up replacing the driver's side wheel bearing along with the transaxle fluid, which they said was adding to the noise. We also had them chnage the oil, program a key we bought a while back off ebay, do a four wheel alignment, and escaped for right at $900.00. Here's a breakdown of the charges:

Wheel bearing $377.00

Alignment $159.00

Transaxle Fluid Change $161.00

Oil Change $61.00

Key Programming $63.50

It seems to have fixed the problem. The RX is running like a champ again. Now we will have to deal with the Power Invertor Recall when the parts become available. Just received the notice on that recall in the last week or so. Plan on doing the ISC Reset to see if I can get some better mileage out of the vehicle, but so far it has been great.

[bvenvert]

I wanted to mention that the dealer set us up with a 2011 RX350 as a loaner for a couple of days and my wife and I both agreed that we liked her RX400h better, even with 81K miles on it. The 350 with 12K miles on it had a little better stereo and much better navi, but other than that we wouldn't trade ours for the 350. When my wife picked up her RX, they had sent it through their detail area and her's was looking all clean and shiny at the front of the lot. She was happy to get hers back.

[Wellesley]

Check out the diff - crown and pinion

[Doin it my self]

I was replacing my 2005wheel bearing an found after getting the assembly off the wheel bearing that I had bent the spindle when hammer it off with a ball pin hammer wat option do I have I haven't been able too find a resolution

[lenore]

Just wanted to update, turned out being the front left bearing. Had to pressed out and new one pressed in. (machine shop job) for around $30 plus price of bearing.

[Kazagawa]

Lol that's great, could have been something a lot worse