Osteoman

I traded my 2008 ES 350 for a 2012 ES 350 in May. Love my car. However, I have had a rapid ticking noise from the B pillar on driver's side since new. It hasn't been bad in the summer here in Texas (Hot!) but now that its cooling off its getting louder, and more frequent. It seems to get worse when temps are cooler. So I took it to my local Lexus dealership and they added felt into B Pillar. Problem not solved. Took it back a week later and they replaced the B Pillar. Problem exactly the same, no change.

The sound seems like metal on metal to me and the sound is present when the car is cooler and improves as I drive in the sun. Ie. worse in AM when cooler. Doesn't seem to matter what the temp is inside the car. I therefore think it may be in the metal of the car under the B Pillar. When they changed the B Pillar, this metal area wouldn't have been affected.

How do I know it's coming from that area? Because I can put my ear to the opening the seatbelt comes out and it's very noticeable that its right there. Pressure on this area doesn't seem to matter.

Please help, it's driving me nuts and the dealership is trying well. I can't fault them there.

Any thoughts? Any similar issues?

mlacomb

Have you opened the hood to see if you're getting the engine tick? Mine is loud when it's cold and under strain (low rpms, attempting to accelerate at all) and almost goes away when the engine is fully warmed.

One of the things you can also check is the rubber stoppers (as I like to call them, I forget what they're really called) on the bottom of the car. They're supposed to be installed prior to delivery, but some have found them to be missing or incorrectly installed. Missing a key one of these would cause the sound to travel from the engine compartment up the pillar.

Osteoman

Hmmmm. I am familiar with the engine tick as it was noticeable in my 08. Havn't really noticed it in this car but will check those stoppers. I remember reading something about those in the forums somewher. Will try to locate that information and check. Thank you for the idea. It's driving me mad. I don't think it's related tho that but worth checking. The tick is fairly constant on. 40 min commute I'd it's cooler outside. I thought the engine tick resolved after engine got warm?

mlacomb

Mine gets much better during driving; however after warmed up in drive stopped at a drive thru, I can hear it. If I put it in neutral/park, it goes away. Just a slight tick - tick - tick. Nothing quite as loud as the cold acceleration knockin' but I can still hear it with the windows up if I'm paying attention.

Osteoman

Well I have now taken the car in for a third time to the dealer. Got a call from them a couple days later saying they couldn't reproduce it. (Which is funny since it happens 80% of the time.) They kept it another day and called me it was ready. Felted some areas in the B-pillar. Greased the seat belt rails.

Noise is exactly the same and not changed a bit. I have been able to apply outward pressure on the plastic area the seat belt goes into (The pulley) and with enough force, it does quiet and even stop the noise. I feel it's in the anchor area to the seat belt pulley. However, I'm clueless on how to stop it myself. If someone knows how to take the B-pillar down I would be all ears as I would try to fix it myself. I've considered taking it to a completely different dealership which is an option but it's more then an hour away.

Any additional thoughts that could help? I'm going mad with the recurrent noise.