USCRugby

But where do you guys hear it? I hear mine through the window. Sometimes it's louder than other days. I complained to Lexus a while ago and when we went on a test drive, there was no noise.

The other day I had to drive somewhere and the noise was loud as hell.

A: Where is the wind noise coming from?
B: Has Lexus admitted there was a problem?
C: What is done to fix this?

Craig B

I don't know what year you have, but I've had a couple fixes done. Double pane glass and they sealed the triangle corners on my front windows. It's not perfect, but much better than before. I mostly hear the noise when there are cross winds.

USCRugby

Sorry about that. 2008 LS 460. Yes, that's exactly when I hear my wind noise. When there is some type of cross wind outside. When I went into the dealership and complained. They had me go on a test drive with this guy and there was no noise. =[

How should I go about this?

Synergy

Guys, I have the same problem...I did the jmcraney fix on the triangle piece but finally figured out that my wind noise is coming from the driver's side mirror. I know this because when I hear it I press the mirror button to bring them in manually (like they do when you arm your alarm) and the noise is gone! In my case it is the mirror! I am going to go see my dealer soon, the noise is driving me crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig B

They did something to my side mirrors as well. I think they plugged the drain hole with something.

ls460love

Interesting. Can you post a pic of the plug? I wonder where moisture drains without the hole...

Regarding the double pane solution, did anyone experience no change (or increased noise) as a result of this non-factory modification?

Craig B

I just looked, it must be on the inside because I still see the drain hole on the outside of the mirror.

jmcraney

I just checked the drain holes on my mirrors. The drain holes are not plugged and I inserted a straightened paper clip to an unobstructed depth of 2 inches. I haven't had a wind noise problem since I repaired my car two years ago.

Synergy

Hello jmcraney! I did your fix, great instructions...but my noise is still happening. My issue is absolutley coming from the mirror itself. Do you suggest plugging this "drain hole" or should I just take it into the dealer? Thanks much...you seem to be the resident pro on wind noise so maybe other people have this mirror wind noise too?

jstjohnz

Well that's easy enough for anyone to test to see if the mirror is contributing to their noise problem. Obviously there has to be an opening between the mirror housing and the door for the wiring to pass through; perhaps that's not properly sealed on some cars. Interesting that folding the mirror in helps, I would think the shape would be more aerodynamic when extended than when folded in.

One of the reasons that I've held off on applying the JM fix is that I'd like to be able to measure how much my noise level drops. I thought about putting a sound level meter inside the car, then blowing the output from a shop-vac from the outside in various locations to see which areas cause the highest inside noise level.

jmcraney

Synergy,

You didn’t tell us much about your noise problem such as the conditions when it occurs. At what speed does it happen? What about the weather conditions such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, etc.

If your mirror is causing a problem, you are in a better position to know that than I am because I can’t listen to your car or look at it or touch it. I am sort of like the cowboy who is “all hat and no cattle” I give my opinions based on what others are saying in this forum and other inputs that I get via email but I have only fixed a few cars directly.

If I recall correctly, in the original wind noise discussion thread (an epic tale of woe without any reports of unequivocal improvement in the wind noise from any dealer implemented repairs) - https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...d-threads.html - there were several mentions of dealers replacing the mirrors, plugging mirror drain holes, replacing mirror mounting gaskets, etc. And the absence of improvement from those sorts of repairs somehow morphed into the idea that there was an aerodynamic design issue with the mirrors that could not be fixed and that rumor spread through the Internet. In retrospect, that seems to have been a “red herring” as evidenced by the fact that there are many wind-noiseless cars around with exactly the same mirrors.

I understand that you are “absolutely” certain that the noise is coming from your mirrors so don’t think that I a questioning your judgment – you are there and I am not. But I would like to suggest a different way to think about your problem.

I haven’t tried this but I think the analogy is correct. Let’s say you lower your driver’s side window while you are driving, say 60 MPH, and you fold your driver’s side mirror in and out and note the difference is sound. I expect it would have less noise when it is folded in.

If you repeat this test, with the window up, in a car with good noise isolation characteristics you would expect to see that the mirror is going in and out in a more ghostly fashion.

There are several things that can affect the noise attenuation qualities of your car. The most common is the triangle trim defect. I have personal knowledge that you are well informed about that issue. The fix that I suggested probably has weaknesses that I haven’t thought of, but some that come to mind are poor adhesion because of; a poor choice of sealant; old sealant; seal compromise because of extreme surface misalignment (you can mitigate that by being sure to do the repair with the window up). I suggested to some that they leave the black trim off for a few days to help insure that there isn’t a problem but I don’t remember if I said that to you.

I think the easiest thing that you can do to gain some confidence that the trim is not still causing a problem is to tap on it with you fingertip. It should sound solid, like you are tapping on the side window. It might be a good idea to compare sounds from the trim on the both sides of the car.

I have some other things that I can suggest to you if you will tell us a little more about the conditions.

jlawr

Check this out:

http://www.lambros.net/LexusTechInfo...L-NV003-07.pdf

USCRugby

Only 2007?

jlawr

Yes, only 2007. But talk to your dealer -- you never know -- they might help you.

USCRugby

Dealers like to lie.