jackk Posted January 28, 2013 Posted January 28, 2013 I’ve got the same problem with my 4wd 2001, I had Lexus inspect it when I bought it and nothing came up, that was over two years ago. I’m not sure what I like less, this vibration or the poor turning radius. I’ve put off doing the timing belt, as I’m not certain I want to keep the car. It just turned over 90k. I average 15 MPG, with a lot of city driving. I’m hoping one of you figures this out, or I might be trading mine. It’s the exact same problem, I give it just a bit of gas and it stops, or if I put it in neutral, that’s enough to get the RPM up enough to stop the vibration.
JerseyDan Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Holy smokes. Very interesting discovery just now. I'm sitting in my car waiting for an appointment for work. I noticed the vibration was pulsing, like at a very regular beat. I also happen to have my hazards on. Switched them off and the droning reduced significantly. I have noted before that switching my headlights on could start the droning. I'd say this is point to something with the alternator. Maybe it is a failed bearing in there, and it only causes the problem when it's being out under any load. Someone try this out please
JerseyDan Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Jack, that mileage you're getting is definitely not right. All the maintenance up to date? You should be getting plugs soon. I'd change them now, maybe. Also, cleaning the iacv may hep, as you'd do a lot of idling in city driving. I get 18-24. Probably a little less than half of that is city driving
SHUMIF1 Posted January 30, 2013 Author Posted January 30, 2013 JerseyDan, I tried turning my lights on and off and had the same thing just happen. My idle went down when i put my lights on and off. Hmmmmmm , i remember a mechanic tellin me that if a bering goes bad it could vibrate through the whole car at certain RPMs. im gona put my car on the lift tomorrow and check it out...
TomC Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Sounds like the idle is just too low; don't have a clue how to fix that. Tom
UCF3 Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Guys; I'm still now sure what conditions are being produced when you're idling? The Idle Control Valve would have been my first guess, but you guys are saying it's higher or lower based on some electrics being active. Can you guys record the sounds and the conditions and add it to this forum?
SHUMIF1 Posted February 1, 2013 Author Posted February 1, 2013 i tried recording the sound on my phone but just wasn't clear enough. picture if you sat in your car and you turned your bass all the way up and it was a constant buzz and vibration. for me it's at say on the tach right below 1000 rpms, im guessing it's 750 rpm that's where it vibrates ,anything above or below it stops.
UCF3 Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Is this coming from your dashboard or somewhere in the cockpit of your truck? It kind off sounds like a trim rattle. try removing any loose items from the inside of the RX including inside your glove compartment and center console/armrest. Also, remove your car key from your keychain. Turn-off your radio and the climate control. Now drive the RX around over those famous Jersey roads(rough) and see if you still hear it. If you can isolate the location of the sound. That should give us an idea where to start looking for the problem.
NJerseyDan Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 It will rattle loose trim or keychains, or loose change. I've heard it rattle just about everything in the car at some point. Used to rattle my license plate occasionally, so I put foam strips on the back of it. It's definitely not a loose interior part. Or anything under the dash. It seems to me to come from the engine, but it carries through the whole car. And it's just sitting still, not actually driving o our famous topnotch jersey roads, and circles, and jug handles :) ha -You know you're in jersey when they put up a sign for a pothole, rather than fix the pothole.. Schumif, did you ever check out the alternator?
NJerseyDan Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 I've seen online you can buy bearing kits for a lot of alternators. So. That's good.
UCF3 Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 It will rattle loose trim or keychains, or loose change. I've heard it rattle just about everything in the car at some point. Used to rattle my license plate occasionally, so I put foam strips on the back of it. It's definitely not a loose interior part. Or anything under the dash. It seems to me to come from the engine, but it carries through the whole car. And it's just sitting still, not actually driving o our famous topnotch jersey roads, and circles, and jug handles :) ha -You know you're in jersey when they put up a sign for a pothole, rather than fix the pothole.. Schumif, did you ever check out the alternator? Does it sound or feel like a whooping noise as soon as you start your car?
SHUMIF1 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 i have the same symptoms as JerseyDan, it's something in the engine right by the timing belt covers that makes the whole car vibrate..... JerseyDan- my alt. is kinda noisy. i check the online manual to see if there are bearings available.
SHUMIF1 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Posted February 2, 2013 JerseyDan........i just removed my alt. belt and ran the car and had the same issues, so i would rule out the alt.
NJerseyDan Posted February 6, 2013 Posted February 6, 2013 awww man! that's a bummer. I was really thinking we were on to something there:/
SHUMIF1 Posted February 14, 2013 Author Posted February 14, 2013 JerseyDan- I had my car on a lift and put a prybar between the fron exhaust and the engine and pulled down.. the vibration went away.. you think the cats or some exhaust part is clogged or am i just putting so much preasure to actualy hold the motor from vibrating ? you ever had a ny exhaust work done ?
JerseyDan Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 hmm. interesting. I'd guess you're probably just putting enough pressure to stop the vibration. I've never had exhaust work done. But Lexus replaced my transmission at 90K, so they were definitely all up in there. But have never had anything on the exhaust changed. Also, I'd think the downstream sensor would reflect it if the cat was having any problem. :/ No change with the PS belt, either, huh?
JerseyDan Posted February 16, 2013 Posted February 16, 2013 I just realized I have two user names on this forum. NewJerseyDan, and JerseyDan. Ha. Sorry for the confusion folks.
SHUMIF1 Posted February 16, 2013 Author Posted February 16, 2013 JerseyDan, havent had time to check the PS pump yet, let you know when.
JerseyDan Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e315/DynoDan83/?action=view¤t=file_zpsc7decefd.mp4 video showing the vibration. Just skip ahead to about 1 minute into it. I put my phone on the steering wheel, and then you can really hear the vibration coming through it.
SHUMIF1 Posted February 21, 2013 Author Posted February 21, 2013 That's the same crap with my car ...lol.. todaya was worse than any other day .. i wonder if the cold temp changes the viberation level ?
lenore Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 did you guys check the flex coupling on the exhaust between the engine and the rear catalytic converter? When it fails there is a vibration created that resonates with the vehicle from the exhaust leak.
SHUMIF1 Posted February 22, 2013 Author Posted February 22, 2013 yup. someone had changed it befor i bought the car. i do have a feeling that it is exhaust related.
GeneG2014 Posted February 12, 2014 Posted February 12, 2014 Hi, so did you guys figured where that annoying vibration comes from ? I'm experiencing the same thing on my '99 RX300 :whistles:
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