Gavinw35

Just went to go get gas in my 2004 RX330 and I am done! If the radio isnt blasted all you hear is rattles and squeeks! My check engine, VSC and trac off light is on and the worst of it is that at every stop light the car rattles and vibrates from the engine area! The vibration and rattle is beyond annoying and embarrassing!!! BTW I have taken to a shop and the only thing they found was the check engine light was the emissions system but they could not find a cause of the horrible vibration and rattle. My car has always been serviced on time and maintained very well so this is not due to lack of maintenance I CANNOT WAIT to get rid of this car! I hate it every time I drive it now! TIME TO TRADE IT IN ASAP!

ac921ol

iTrader: (1)

Heat shield rattle?
Maybe take it to a different shop?
Have someone sit in driver seat, press accelerator (while in park) and have some listen.

Sorry about the trouble, all ladies get grumpy even when we bring home roses. Sometimes it's just a swift kick in the *** they need.

draco

Cars do get mechanical faults. Even if a car is serviced on time everytime, sometimes something just goes "wrong". Sounds to me like an air sensor fault that's causing the car to be rough at idle. Maybe the throttle body needs to inspected and cleaned up. Once it's resolved, you will enjoy the car again.

HtownBlue

You have a heat sheild rattle that comes from the REAR MANIFOLD above the cat that shields the exhaust from the fire wall area. Have it bent back a little and it will stop. I know the feeling.

As for the VSC and Check Engine, pull the code witha scanner. I just solved this issue recently and may eb able to help.

hypervish

Hope you have better luck with your Jaguar.

draco

Agreed. Cost + faults on a Jaguar. The problems on the RX will pale in comparison.

Gavinw35

My apologies my garage was not updated. The Jaguar was an amazing car until we started experiencing problems at 58000 miles. As soon as the problems started coming (coolant leak, short in the heater controle module, Throttle Body electrical fault, park brake fault, restricted performance, etc. we traded in the Jaguar for the BMW 750i. The lexus is going in to another shop tomorrow and if the bill is close to a grand ill trade it in. Going to look at a Mercedes Benz E550 AMG sport later today.

Thank You all for the tip about the heat shield I will tell the shop when I go tomorrow.

lexus114

And if the idle is screwed up due to the check engine scenario (to low/rough for instance) it will rattle things that normally wont rattle.

Gavinw35

Just got the call from the shop. The rattle and vibration was not associated with check engine light, VSC, or Trac Off lights. The Rattle and Vibrations are due to 3 out of the 5 Engine Mounts being defective. So the Engine is being held by 2 out of the 5 Mounts. He quoted me $750 for the mounts to be replaced. The check engine light, VSC and Trac Off lights all are still a mystery and they cannot find the problem. They said they will do further investigating. Lastly he is saying I have to replace my Timing Belt and Water pump due to the milage of the vehicle which makes complete sense. Thats another $750.

RX330inFL

The dashboard CEL and error codes you are getting now are the same as you were getting before, back in the beginning, if I remember correct. You never had that corrected?

Told you more than a year ago about needing to address the water pump and timing belt as you had already passed the factory recommendation.

Would not worry about any of the other repairs unless they can find the reason for the CEL and other lights coming on. Could be something as simple as the gas cap or a vacuum line coming off the air box. Without the error codes being thrown by the computer it is hard to say.

Gavinw35

The Check engine, VSC, and Trac off lights would always just reset. Everytime I've tried to get them addressed nothing comes up. Auto Zone ran the codes... one was a leaking gas cap but, another was one of the sensors detecting a leak...The shops ive taken to the car cant find that code... Addressing why I had not replaced the water pump and Timing belt; I am 17 turning 18 in a week and my mom is a single mother. She paid for the car and the regular maintenance but did not want to pay the $1200 Lexus initially quoted us.

I am waiting for her call, we are discussing Trading in the Lexus as it has many more miles that we want and also the fact it's a 2004. It was an AMAZING first car until about 6 months ago or so. Issues such as the rattling, vibrations from the engine mounts, Rattling from the interior, the moldings from the back windows coming off, the mirrors having to be replaced due to a paint defect Lexus admitted, and the check engine light saga have really disappointed me and the quality of Lexus with the second generation RX model. Also had to repair the lenses of the HID head lights due to haze and cheap plastic.

It is her call but judging by the work thats needed to be done I believe we will be trading it in. I have been looking at 2009 Mercedes E550's, 2007 Range Rover Sports, 2007 Audi Q7, 2010 Certified ML350, 2008 Lexus GS, and 2009 BMW 5 series around 30k-50k miles.

RX330inFL

None of those are cheap to maintain, especially the first few. Get an extended warranty. Also, think cheaper, reasonable, and something within the manufacturers warranty.

Gavinw35

I am considering all of that thank you. I can maintain them it's just going to be the larger services that are never fun. I require a Luxury vehicle however because I am going to have clients in my car as I am in the process of getting my real estate license. I have found several Certified vehicles which are perfect.

back to the problem with my Lexus.. Has anyone heard of the mounts becoming defective? I do not know a lot about the mechanical portion of cars and the fact that 3 out of 5 engine mounts are not able to do their job kind of sounds serious to me...

RX330inFL

Do engine mounts go bad? Yes. I have broken a number in my time. However, I find it a bit dubious that you have three bad engine mounts. Not saying it is not true, just that I find it hard to believe without something else going on. Without knowing the honesty of your shop of choice, I would be looking for a second opinion. If the local Toyota shop in your area gets good rates from Yelp or Google they might be worth a look.

HtownBlue

The upper mounts usually go bad after about 8 years. The two at the bottom and one in the front are more durable usually.