Playdrv4me

Hello all,

We recently got a 2004 LS430 with 95k miles on the clock. Car seems to be in great condition except for one niggling issue. When accelerating between about 65 and 70mph on the highway there is a very minor vibration that can be felt through the floor. Once you hit about 68 you start to accelerate out of the vibe.

The car was maintained at Scholfield Lexus in Wichita from day 1 through now and had every scheduled maintenance on time. New Michelin Primacy tires were put on sometime in the last 15-20k miles according to the service manager at the dealership who recognized the car when we stopped by. I noticed in some of the maintenances it said something about "tightening driveshaft bolts" or some such thing (I don't have the manual with me) at certain intervals. Could this be the problem? Best as I can remember (car is in Wichita, I'm in Saint Louis right now) these vibes are not felt through the steering wheel.

Tried searching and didn't really come up with anything driveshaft related.

Thanks.

warminwisc

I think it is like "flange bolts" and mine have never been tightened for at leasy 50 k and she drives perfect at all speeds since I took it to a real good frame shop and had balancing and alignment. I think the flange bolt thing is to get you into the dealer.

Jabberwock

Drive shaft flange bolts may be loose or u-joint is worn. Have it checked soon. A loose drive shaft or a u-joint that breaks can be a very bad thing - especially if it comes apart at speed. .

Playdrv4me

Thanks,

I'll have it checked out. Unfortunately I suspect the flange bolts probably won't be the case... as the car had its last 30k mile maintenance checkup at 92673 (along with timing belt, wp etc.) and I assume that would have been checked.

What is the average cost of the U-Joint repair, Dealership and non-dealership?

That Lexus Owner's site is pretty awesome btw.

caddyowner

Rotate the tires front-to-back and see if the problem goes away or moves to the front wheels where you would probably feel it more through the steering wheel. While you're at it, check for uneven tire wear. It sounds like a wheel balance or out-of-round condition. It could also be a rear alignment issue.

Jabberwock

Not sure on repair costs the last time I had a bad U-joint was 35 years ago. I was a young and poor so I went and bought the part for 6 bucks, jacked up the rear end, and crawled under the car and fixed it myself.

I think problems with a drive shaft or u-joint is a pretty uncommon occurrence in lS430's.

Like Caddy said its more likely tire balance or possible alignment issue. But I'd have it checked anyway just in case.

RomanTPA

+1, I worked for Tire Kingdom for 3 years, and the most common solution for this specific issue was that tires were not balanced or had a bold spot. Usually its in a 10mph range and somwhere between 60-85mph

Playdrv4me

Hmm... Ok you guys have given me some things to look for. I really don't suspect the tires because they are so new, maybe 10-12k miles at most (Lexus Drivers site says they were mounted and balanced at 84k miles, car now has 96 or so), but anything is possible with tires I guess.

JimsGX

You can have problems with tires at any mileage or age... I've had Michelin's replaced that only had 3 or 4k miles on them because they couldn't be balanced.

RomanTPA

very true.

also you can loose a wheel weight at any time
you can dent a wheel from a pot hole
you can get a bold spot from hard braking and it grew over couple thousand miles

Playdrv4me

Update: After spending the day with the car today driving it from Wichita to STL I discovered that this is probably an alternate issue than tires or the driveline. It seems like its actually a wheel bearing issue. The roar begins just after about 60mph and continues up higher through the speed range, kind of like an oscillating rumble sound. What has me convinced its a wheel bearing is that when I turn the wheel to the right, even slightly enough to compensate for road curvature as the highway turns, the noise subsides substantially. If I turn the wheel slightly to the LEFT, the noise is slightly more intense. Seems like classic bearing failure.

Once I find out from someone more qualified exactly what is happening, I will update the thread.