Stu

The little tube of Shin Etsu cost me $27 at a Honda dealer .... I used it to try eliminate a squeek I thought was was driver side window rubbing on the rubber weather stripping. It didn't help with the squeek but helped maybe a tiny little bit to quiet the wind noise on the highway.

I kept looking and finally decided to pry the plastic molding that surrounds the window on the inside of the car away from the glass and then put a bit of foam weather stripping inside and .... it worked, the squeek is gone.
After I wiped the stuff on all the rubber seals. Not sure if it did anything, but it can't hurt.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

Shin Etsu is one of the best products for conditioning weather stripping. It won't get rid of squeaks or noises that are obviously not coming the from the strips themselves but your weather stripping will thank you. It helps prevent dry rot and leaks as well as reduce wind noise. This is especially important for the seals on the trunk. Start leaking water in the trunk and say goodbye to your $1400 ML amplifier.

LSBen

Hi Stu, where do you get the plastic strip moulding from and can you post pictures? Thanks

j stuff

iTrader: (5)

at what mileage did you do the tranny fluid change

randal

For your sake, I hope this is not a prophetic quote.

writes123

150k miles

Stu

I used plain old basic weather stripping that's available at every hardware store.

tallcaguy

Parts guy at the local Honda dealer had no idea what Shin Etzu was. Bought it on Amazon. Works well

Johnhav430

While I find service advisors at Lexus to be over the top in friendliness/courtesy (I witnessed a very attractive one holding hands with a customer, which to me implied they had a good relationship), I would wonder if they are any more technical than say a BMW service advisor? I have dealt with many over the years and they are quite inept. They use words and talk about things they know nothing about.

So anyway, I'm no expert and have had very few auto trannies in my driving career, but am reluctant to let anyone mess with the tranny fluid. I know that fluids cannot last a lifetime, but it would seem the unit is quite sealed for a reason. I can say the gear oil in my Maxima (stick) was only changed at 60k, which implies it has gone 185k on the current oil.....

It is very hard to separate fact from wives tales sometimes, as vehicles have progressed...there definitely was a camp when I was < 10 y.o. who said never change auto tranny fluid or the tranny could be ruined. But that was a long time ago....

tallcaguy

When I bought my 04, immediately noticed the roughness shifting from Reverse to Drive. Sometimes slightly rough shifting up thru gears (depending on rpm). The TSB helped slightly. The 2 drain/fills made a big difference. Now "Lexus smooth".

greg s

It sounds like drain/fill works better than the transmission software update. I get the hard shifting between reverse and drive sometimes so that may be the solution.

tallcaguy

LOL. I've always thought it was a depressing way to say super quiet. How about "as quiet as a Bentley" or "the quietest car ever made" or "Lexus quiet"?

tallcaguy

Per my post, I did a D/F& TSB (by an indie) at 102 and then a another D/F (by dealer) at 103. Suggest finding someone that uses a temperature gauge. My 04 now shifts "Lexus smooth" and no drive/reverse clunk. I can't hear or feel the first couple of shifts under moderate acceleration.

tallcaguy

One reason I decided to buy my 04 is that dealer had replaced that 1,400 ML amp less than 5k miles ago. I did use the Shin Etsu and it is an excellent solution. Can also get some conversational mileage out of the name. "Oh yeah I bought some Shin Etsu the other day. Hard to get but it works very well"