Mike_TX

And, mods, this probably should be a separate thread since it's prpobably not related to the other issues.

I suddenly noticed some wind noise at the driver's side B-pillar the other day, almost like my window wasn't closed tight. But it was. So later on, I checked the outside of the window and found that the little external rubber seal on the rear vertical portion of the door frame was kinked and not laying flat. This is where the window moves up and down in its channel on the trailing edge.

I managed to press the seal back in place and it solved the problem ... but the next time I rolled my window down and back up, it kinked again.

My car is now at the dealer awaiting a new seal. For some reason, it decided to start scrunching up the seal when the window is raised, and the seal has to be replaced.

So if you hear wind noise over your left shoulder (or your passenger over his/her right shoulder) check that the little narrow black rubber seal is where it should be ... laying flat.

2thfixr

I have this issue also and attributed it to super clean aerodynamics being hypersensitive to the B-pillar's profile. No wind noise at all from the front, just a tiny bit behind my left shoulder. I'll have to check that, thanks for the heads up.

jmcraney

If it turns out that your problem is not the door seal and you run out of ideas, you need to look at the triangle trim. My wind noise sensation that was over my left shoulder went away when I did the triangle trim sealing trick.

2thfixr

The triangle near the A-pillar causes wind noise over the left shoulder? I saw the big post about wind noise and put my ear right next to the corner and didn't hear a thing so I assumed it was a different issue.

Mike_TX

Heh. No, it's not the triangles ... the noise started only the other day, and when I forced the seal back in place it stopped.

Here are 2 pix showing the seal kinked:






Now, that looks pretty benign, but that little bit of kinked rubber made for enough noise for me to hear it clearly.

The dealer is having to order the seal, but I'll get the car back Monday. I decided to just drive the ES350 loaner over the weekend rather than make two more trips to retrieve my car.
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2thfixr

I am an idiot! Turns out my wind noise was caused by the window not being rolled up all the way! I had my windows tinted the other day and I was told not to roll them down for a couple of days. I had no reason to roll them down for the past week so I left it at that. I got tired of the faint whistling sound so I thought I would take it on the highway and "investigate".

Mike_TX

Window gasket replaced - car deadly quiet again. Ahhhhh.

The part is referred to as a "window run", and is part # 6815150020 in case anyone needs to refer to it.

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lestgo

Noticed the wind noise while on the interstate. I thought my window was slightly down. When i stopped, I looked at the outside of the window and noticed the kink in the seal. I lowered the window and used a credit card to rectify the kink; but it did the same thing when I lowered and raised it again. I scheduled an appointment with the dealer. I then decided to check the forum to see if anyone had experienced this kinking and found this link. Made a copy of this page and will take with me to the appointment.
What was your service interval on the repair?

patgilm

The seal on my 2009 LS would almost always kink but was worse than the pic above as it would kink about 3-4 inches from the top of the window down and you could definitely tell right away. I used to have to stick my finger out and press the seal in while putting the window up to fix it. I never took it in for the dealer to fix it and traded it in. My 2008 LS600 doesn't have this problem.

CJITTY

Yeah, i went and looked at mine and realigned all my seals..i'm going to get them "retrained" by heating them up with hair dryer or something, get them in the proper position and then let it cool back down..I had to do that on my Acura and it worked like a champ..these seals are stiff like Manny Pac was on that canvas

The front door windows actually push back to seal, so i used a credit card to help guide the seal long enough for the window to do the push back thing at closing so it wouldn't pull the seal back in with it...but this does explain much of the noise i was hearing up on the top edge of door. Where the top of the back door meets the front is another potential area of concern. Need to make sure that little piece is connected into the rail thing..hard to explain, maybe some pics would help. i noticed it came loose when I was getting out of my car in the garage and it was a tight space..by jacket caught the seal as I stood up..ish happens

CJITTY

another trick i noticed..been discussed before, is tap the power window down button on the front windows for a split second..it actually helps reduce noise at higher speeds. Weird but true

RandyV

Probably due to the bowing out of the window at full closure as documented in the jmcrany wind noise fix thread.

lestgo

Dealer replaced the part, 6815150020. Still under warranty; took less than 2 hours.

tcarroll2

My dealership already replaced my channel once about 18 months ago. I had to complain to Lexus because I was told this is a cosmetic issue. I told them that it was BS. I was told there is a TSB out for this very issue. My dealership finally replaced it, but now my car is out of warranty and the channel is once again kinking and causing severe wind noise. Is this a hard repair to do myself. Any suggestions on making the repair myself? The dealership wants $400 to do the repair...

Thanks!

1Putt

CJITTY, did you end up trying the heating up and retraining the seal ? I was thinking of doing the same, will try it out tomorrow night. Mine kinks in from the top corner and about 3 inches downwards