Griff48

I posted a similar message in another forum a month ago. Just wanted to see if there any new ideas here.

I bought a pristine '99 LS, 79k, clean and straight as new. No accident or other damage evident or in Carfax report. Car has been checked out by local Lexus dealer and by an independent shop. My problem is what I consider excessive road noise. I had a '90 LS before this and I swear it was much quieter. I traded from Michelin Symmetry tires to Primacy MXV4 thinking that was the problem, but no. The car is quiet as a chapel tooling around city streets, but get up to 60+ on anything but a perfectly smooth freeway and the road noise is something else. I am noth mistaking wind noise, although there is some of that too.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Gene

Atl

I have the same year, and it is as quiet as church. I would have thought tires as well, but there is something else I've heard. Does your front windshield say Toyota on it, in small frosted print? I have heard that if the windshield was replaced with generic/aftermarket glass, it will make road and wind noise seem louder. Don't really know if this is true.

David

Kansas

I owned a 1990 LS400 from new until 183K miles and kept it for a few months after I bought a used, 38K mile 2000 LS400 in 2003.

I was so amazed at the differences between the 90 and 00 that I often alternated between them.

My take was that there was less wind and mechanical noise in the 2000 LS400 than in the 1990 LS400 making road noise in the 2000 LS400 more noticable.

Another factor might be that the 90 LS uses narrower tires (205/65-15) than the 98-00 LS (225/60-16). Wider tires pick up more road noise. I remember well that when I bought a set of 225/60-15 tires for my 90 LS, the wider tires caused far more road noise at highway speeds than the standard 205/65-15 tires.

You might try checking the noise ratings on the Tirerack website. Primacy MXV4 tires have a pretty decent (7.72) noise rating and are rated better than the Symmetry (6.4)

dacecil

Go to Radio Shack and get a Sound Pressure Level Meter (SPL.) Use it to measure the db inside the car in different areas. Then compare that to readings in other cars that you own or drive. That way you can do an actual comparison using data to see if the car is noisy or just seems that way.

Griff48

David, I think you are on to something. My '99 has had the windshield replaced. The existing glass is PPG or something, but not Toyota. And, I have noticed that the noise is coming from the windshield/dash area. I'm not sure I understand how windshield glass affects road noise level though. I will investigate this. I did notice that a rubber block or plug that exists on the left side of the windshield, under the cowl, is missing on the right side. I suspect this is where my wind noise comes from.

Dacecil, I do have an SPL, will use that to test. I'm not sure my other cars would make a good comparison. One is a Pacifica (pretty good, considering) and the other an F350 diesel. That makes everything else seem quiet!

Thanks for the help.

Gene

Atl

I was told that the PPG glass is thinner, and the Toyota/Lexus glass is much more expensive, $1500.00 vs. $350.00 for aftermarket. I would replace the missing gasket, and see if that helps. Your car really should be pretty quiet, mine is.

David

Griff48

A local glass shop said they would check it out for me. I'll post what I find out from them.

Thanks.
Gene

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the OEM windshield is VERY thick, my aftermarket (previous owner) windshield is also much less resistant to chips.

Griff48

Do you notice uncharacteristic road noise that you can attribute to the aftermarket windshield? This is driving me nuts!

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

yea, i can.
it helps having a 2000 in mint shape thats unmodded to compare with.

heyhowyado

hmmm....my ls does NOT have a lexus windshield....i always thought my car was super quiet.....i can't believe it could actually be even quieter!

hope a stone hits my windshield soon!

hey...would insurance pay for an OEM windshield??

steveski

Ditto for me - I replaced my OEM with PPG and there is most definitely more wind noise. It is not significant but there's more verus OEM.

Atl

Mine did after Autolight, the glass Company my Insurance Co. uses, could not come up with the right tinted glass for my car (tan), and was forced to buy the Lexus windshield. I paid my $250.00 deductible, my Insurance Co. paid $1500.00. I DID NOT complain about writing that check!
Now, if I could only get them to pay for timing belt replacements!

Atl

Since I came up first with the idea of it maybe having to do with the windshield, am I still relegated to Driver School status?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

yes, the titles, except for moderators and those chosen by moderators, are governed by post count.