daryll40

I posted here a while back about the tranny making a whining noise. It sorta went away but now it's back. And today I figured out why...it's not the tranny but the A/C compressor kicking in. Here in PA it wasn't THAT hot until this week. Hence not noticing this until now. Anyway, when the compressor kicks in I hear a fairly loud noise. The air is VERY cold as it should be, however. I scheduled w the dealer for next week, but I'm wondering if this might be a common or at least recognizable problem.

RockfordRX

I have this problem with my 05 330.
Looks like there has been a TSB on it, and while the car is under warranty, Lexus took care of it.
In my case, I have just over 100k miles on the clock and am just waitiing for it (compressor) to die. I'm not sure what a new compressor replacement will cost me.
Any quotes anybody?

RX330inFL

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...X330-2005.html

Do not have a book to look at the labor involved.

daryll40

Looks like my extended Lexus warranty is gonna pay off for the first time.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

It's most likely the bearing inside the compressor housing. My dad's RX makes this noise. It works fine, but when starting the car after sitting for more than an hour it makes the same noise, as it has time to cool down and when cranking over the engine is when it struggles, since the bearing doesn't spin freely.

250$ For a brand new OE Denso compressor, 34$ For the valve [denso] and the receiver drier is 18$ or so. On Rockauto.com, to CANADA, its 320$ shipped after my discount.

You must get all three, as it is best, and not to mention no mechanic would recommend skipping out on either since the original small components can cause issues, and the compressor won't be warrantied.

daryll40

Well, if mine was out of warranty, I'd just live with it as long as it blows cold air. But since I paid 2 grand extra to extend the CPO warranty for 3 years beyond the regular CPO period, I'll insist they replace whatever it takes to fix it. The car is 6 years old (but only 47K miles) and I've owned it 3...this is my first repair of any kind.

Outburst

My rx has done this 3 times but don't any more. When it does I turn off the ac and it stops....i figured it was the compressor....

RockfordRX

Thank you all for the feedback!
$320 for parts isn't that bad.
Is it possible to do DIY? I did a complete brake job (rotors and all) on my RX, I'm comfortable with that level of involvement. I wouldn't attempt the timing belt change DIY though.
If any of you have done it yourself, would you recommend it ti a friend? Or should I take it to the shop?

jbl-1985

I am in Pittsburgh also and my 330 does not make a loud noise when the compressor clicks on, on the contrary actually, it is kinda quiet actually when you first turn the air on.

At low speeds, I do hear a low pitched whine (not real loud either) a bit, but I haven't been to bothered by it..figured it's the compressor making a little noise while it runs. No noise at high speeds above say 20mph for instance.

Grumpa72

I will go out on a limb and suggest that your mechanic is going to find out that the clutch is bad. If not the clutch then the compressor bearing. Clutches are easy and relatively affordable.

As to your question about a/c work being DIYable I would say no simply because you must first evacuate the system (capture the old refrigerant), replace the components and then install new ones. Once that is done, the system must be put on a vacuum to draw out any air (allows the refrgerant to do its job without intereference with air) and then a precise amount of refrigerant and oil added to the system.

Btw, my local Toyota dealer is more than happy to service my Lexus and his rates are far cheaper. Remember that many parts on this car are Camry and Highlander parts.

daryll40

UPDATE (I am the original poster): Clutch. That's the short version. The longer version is that the dealer service manager couldn't hear the intermittent noise so I allowed him to take my car home while they rented me a stinky Jetta from Enterprise since they had no loaners left. I didn't make a fuss because stuff like that happens and they did get me a car. (But every Lexus owner should be forced to drive a Jetta every so often as a reminder of how good we have it!) Anyway, the next day he called and said it's the clutch on the compressor, but since it was making noise only, but still pumping cold air, it had not "failed" as per the definition in my Lexus brand extended warranty. I very nicely told the guy that part of the reason we own Lexi is for the quietness and that I would call Lexus, which I did. Apparently the service manager had not called them yet but the guy was nice and made a note of my pending complaint, including my comment that from the internet bulletin board CLUBLEXUS I knew that this was a known problem. About an hour later the service manager called and said Lexus would cover the repair but it might be until next Thursday due to needing parts and the July 4th holiday. And he offered to let me turn in the Jetta and pick up a new RX350 to drive, which I did this morning.

So I am waiting for the repair but would expect this will end happily. It's the first extended warranty problem I've had in 3 years of ownership (of a car that was originally 3 years old...for 6 total years old...it's a 2006 that I bot CPO'd with an extention of the CPO to 2015). And it's nice to be out of the stinky Jetta. Perhaps if it wasn't a rental...someone smoked in it.

05rx330

Thanks, tell us how it goes
i am having the same problems noise on cold starts with a/c on
and while it shifts at redline sometimes that doesn't sound good to me as the clutch and compressor already engaged
after it warms the noise goes away, do you by any chance gets the noise during WOT acceleration? while it shifts at redline?
good luck

daryll40

I'm not sure about this redline stuff, but, yes it's mainly noticeable under load.

05rx330

that what concern me
cause i didn't tried to invistigate with the problem
if the clutch is already engaged i don't think it should slip under load
hopefuly my problem is clutch only
so the dealer confirmed to you that it isn't dangerous to drive it like it is untill replacement part arrives?
if i kept mine untill it self destruct won't my compressor seize or something?? or they are not related at all ?

Thanks

daryll40

This has been going on for a while, so I doubt that it's dangerous to drive. That being said, I'm driving their loaner car until mine is fixed as a convenience thing.