WoJoRX350

I have a 2009 RX350 with 57,000 miles. It has the very annoying clacking sound especially when cold; but I can now hear it after fully warm. After 3 trips back to the dealer, have been told that it is piston slap and is normal! It certainly does not sound like what I expect from a luxury car. If you or anyone else has found an approach to use with Lexus to get it fixed, I would appreciate hearing?

rxdan

I have put 10k miles on my RX350 after purchasing it used from the dealer a year ago with 17k miles. It had the "PISTON SLAP" then and now. The trick stops at the second mark on the temp gauge. I will drive it until the warranty is up them trade it in.

I spoke to the Lexus tech center in CA when I first got the RX350 but there is no real info.

I was told by the local service rep that unless the tick does not go away once the engine warms up nothing will be done. He did not know what Lexus would do if that happened since that has not happened to any engines that he has seen.

IAGS400

I have complained about this and they said it was valve train related and it is normal for the 3.5L. We have had the 2008 RX350 for nearly 3 years and 30k and it hasn't changed.

I was hoping someone had found a TSB and actually had it fixed when I started reading this thread.

From what I can hear in the video posted earlier on the thread, it is a really quiet motor when compared to ours but that can be attributed to the sound quality of the recording and the speakers in my laptop.

While my GS400 was in for service work I was given a 2010 RX350 with 12k on it and it was dead silent on start up.

MX5NES350

My ES had he same thing and I was old it was normal so I lived with it. My 2012 is, as you stated, dead quiet

emerica913

I have the same issue. I have a 09 RX350 and it sounds like a diesel engine until it reaches normal operating temperature. It is to a point when passengers in may car say "what is that noise, that cant be good." Once the engine reaches temp is is pretty much silent. The knock can not be heard while idling, the engine has to be under a load. I use premium fuel. Sounds like a VVTI issue with these engines but it is strange how some have the noise and some don't. The car did not have the knock when i purchased it but it is progressively getting worse. I brought it to the dealership yesterday for them to take a look. They will probably tell me its normal but I will ask the mechanic to take me for a ride in all of the preowned 09 rx350s on the lot to see if any of them sounds as horrible as mine and then ask if it is still normal. I will update the post once I hear back from them. Car now has 56k and has had all scheduled maintenance performed.

kwbuggy

Cam gear issues?
I just read this post on the Edmunds RX350 site:

I recently took my '07 RX 350 in for service. I complained (again) about the severe engine noise on start-up. Long story short, I'm going to be out $3,000 for cam gear replacement! Lexus says this is a deal as they are paying for 50% of the parts. I believe that this is a quality issue and they should pay for much more. Does anyone know how to escalate this issue? Have others had this cam gear issue?
I don't want to scare you but posted this several months ago and got no responses.

AconRX

As a recent new owner of a '10 CPO RX 350 I was concerned about this and upon doing some research (and finding this thread) I decided to document this with the dealer so I went in this weekend since I also had some rattle noise in the cargo area (which was corrected).

The service rep response was that this is normal, that it's the fuel injectors getting warmed up but he had the tech check it out anyways. The report stated no warning lights and engine is operating as normal which is what I thought they would come back with but I feel more comfortable documenting this.

They did give me a '13 RX 350 loaner which is less noisy so I guess they must of corrected this somehow with insulation or something. I still think they should find some fix for the older 3rd generation models that have this. I live in South FL so it takes less time for the car to warm up but for folks in colder climates this is not the case.

Other than this issue I think the RX is a great car!

juicebug

I completely agree! I bought my first lexus RX350 (2008) used and it sounds awful. I am very disappointed however seems like I must live with this. It's very annoying to me!!

Bblank16

Newrxowner - I purchased my 2010 rx350 new in July 2009. For the first two years (approx. 20,000 miles) no abnormal engine noise at all. Sometime around 2011 Lexus sent out a letter advising me to switch to the 0w20 synthetic oil, which I did. Around that time I started hearing the knocking noise when first driving the vehicle in the mornings. The colder the morning the louder the noise. I was in Colorado last December and when I started the car in the morning it was so loud that I was embarrassed to admit it was my car. I can't help but think this is going to cost big bucks if the problem can't be resolved.

I have had the vehicle checked 3 times now at 2 different Lexus service departments. The first two times they reported that the noise was normal. The most recent report is they are now hearing a ticking noise which they say is caused by the high pressure fuel system which again they say is normal.

I asked the service rep why this noise was not present during my first two years of driving and he told me he didn't know. If this is a "normal' noise then why did it take two years before it started happening. Hard to believe you pay so much money for a car that sounds so loud on cold startups.

I have written the Lexus Satisfaction department in Torrance CA and I am curious as to how they will respond. I just wonder if I switch back to the 2w20 oil my problems will go away.

Time will tell.

Morricur

I have been dealing with the piston slap for two years now. The dealership considers this is a normal sound. You only find out how good a company is when there is a problem. I'm not impressed with Lexus/Toyota. I have gone through the proper protocol to have the issue addressed but Lexus/Toyota keeps telling me to go back to the dealership. I have not received satisfaction from the dealership yet and as long as this piston slap is considered normal I won't. I will however continue to pursue a solution. Future Lexus consumers need to know how Lexus/Toyota has dealt with this particular problem.

I have had another Toyota dealership confirm that the noise(sounds like a diesel)is in fact a piston slap and that Lexus/Toyota is well aware of the problem in this engine. This engine is used in other Toyota products besides the RX350.

I own the 2010 RX350

Rum

toddtwarre

First, this sound is not "normal". If it was, they would all have it. I bought a 2010 RX350 in July, 2012 with 47K miles. It was quiet when I bought it. In late fall, I started noticing a distinct "tick" when the engine was cold, that mostly went away once it was warm, but never really disappeared completely. I took it into the dealer and told them about it, and they hooked it up to the computer and said there were not codes, so there was nothing wrong. I disagreed, saying this noise was not normal, and they gave me the same line reported on most of these posts. Piston slap, blah blah blah. So I drove it and lived with it, until last week. We were driving on the Interstate, when I suddenly noticed the Check engine light, and the Trac control light, and another yellow caution, all on. We called the dealer, and they said we should bring it right in, so we did. They put it back on the computer, and it showed a code of P0015, which is a camshaft error.
When I took the car in the first time, it had about 53K miles on it. When we got to the dealer last Saturday, it had 70250 or so. The 72 month, 70,000 mile engine and power train warranty had expired less than 300 miles ago.
So, to make an even longer story short, Lexus agreed to pay for the parts to REPLACE 2 CAMSHAFTS. And I have to pay the labor, which is $2500. I am still fighting this, since I think this should have been taken care of the first time I took it in. This is an obvious problem with some of these engines. I know valve train noise, and this wasn't the same thing. And the fact that they now have to replace these parts, and admit that there is something wrong with them, proves it. Do yourself a favor, and keep bugging them. Or sell it.

rtdconsult

This exact thing is happening with my 2009 RX350. Will you please advise of the outcome? I am in discussions with the dealer as this I believe this to have been a lurking issue for about 2 years now. I am asking them to cover this completely. I am approximately 700 miles out of the 70K powertrain warranty. Any advice please?

crldz

Bump, same symptoms here.
How did you fixed it?
I just bought the used RX with this issne - not sure if I should try to rollback the transaction - how this can be valid argument if Lexus is saying it's normal.

rtdconsult

The exact thing happened to me and 400 miles after the 70K warranty. I have a 2009 RX 350. I too was on the road when all the lights came on. After 6 months of 'fighting' with Lexus they agreed to cover all the parts and I negotiated with the dealer for the labor. The experience was a nightmare.
Prior to this incident I had been asking about the 'tic-tic' sound and was told it was just a cold engine, or they could not hear it, or it was nothing.