TJK

I purchased my first Lexus about 1 month ago. A 2007 LS460 with 12,600 miles that was certified under the Lexus warranty program. I have driven it for the past month and there is a rubbing, grinding, warping sound/feeling coming from the front end from speeds of 5 to 45 mph. I am on the road every week and at 70 mph the car rides just fine but when you slow down the problem starts and gets stronger as you approach 30 mph. It's loudest at 20 mph and lower. When slowing down or coasting to a red light, there seems to be no difference if the break is applied or not. It's the same grinding sound. When you start off from a stopped position the grinding is there through 45 mph.
I had the tires rotated and pressure checked by the dealer before initially picking the car up. I took the car back for this problem about 2 weeks ago. They checked the calipers and said they were working fine but the problem seems to be getting worse. I am taking it back in Monday to have the wind noise fixed (acoustic glass and added foam per the TSIB. I may end up doing the "JMCraney" repair myself, we'll see) and the bottom cushions of the front seats replaced (TSIB L-SB-0071-09). They said they would re-investigate the grinding sound/feeling during the 3 days that the car will be there for the required service.
Just would like to get some input on what could be causing this problem. Also, I did notice that at a very slow speed when slowing down to a red light, the car pulled sharply to the right (at 5 mph). This has happened about 12 times over the past 4 weeks and it was not a consistent occurrence.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Tim

Silverpaws

Tim, under the CPO program, the dealers will sometimes replace the brake pads if they show any significant signs of wear. They may have done so for your car and put the wrong size pads or installed them incorrectly. This occurred to one of my non-Lexus vehicles once and it had the same symptoms as you described. I would ask them to replace the front pads to see if that eliminated the problem.

randomwalk

Keep us updated as to why there is such a noise and how they remedy the issue.

jmcraney

I am confident that the glass retrofit for the 2007s provides a significant improvement for the wind noise. However, the improvement may be imperceptible and only detectable with instrumentation in the presence of a large noise contribution from the detached triangle trim. I know that I have waffled on this. If anyone needs a detailed explanation I would be glad to expound. If you do the trim repair before the glass retrofit be sure to check the trim again to be sure that the repair has not been disturbed during the glass work.

marky2mark

I did Jeff's DYI fix a couple weeks ago, it definitely seems to have helped. Last week we had some very stiff 20-30 mile winds with gusts up to 50 and while there was still some wind noise, to be expected with those kinds of winds, I wasn't constantly checking the buttons to make sure the windows were all the way up. Hard to tell but it certainly seems to be better. Thanks again to Jeff for sending me the metal patches!

Question...the glass retrofit is only for the 2007's right? Isn't the new glass standard starting with '08?

jmcraney

The glass change is applicable to a few of the 08s. Check here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/4137877-post443.html

"Wind gust to 50" is a pretty severe test for any car's wind noise resistance.

marky2mark

Thanks. Mine says Temperlite so it must be the old glass. Not sure if it's worth changing it.

Anyone who had their glass replaced from Temperlite to Lamisafe notice a big difference?