BillitZky

My 95K miles GX470 is giving a "clicking" sound coming from underneath the dash board/driver side. The "clicking" is intermittent but audible after a few miles of driving, but no alarm light display on the dash board panel. I have noticed the "clicking" on a long distance drive from the Bay Area to LA, it is a sound that is audible when the engine warms up and after a few miles of driving. The sound seems like originating from the opening and closing of a relay contact, ...being an electrical person by profession. It "dies-off" after a while then comes back again. It is annoying sometimes.
Any technical analysis as what is causing this.

chiph9

Does the speed of clicking correspond to the engine RPM?

Chip H.

BillitZky

I do not think the clicking sound correspond to the engine RPM. The reason being was that it is audible at speed of 80mph which correspond to less than 2000rpm, and made a stopover at Coalinga reststop at 0-mph which correspond to idle of approx 600rpm and still audible. Since the clicking is not shown on the alarm dashboard, I just pushed it all the way. It is an on-and-off as you drive and cruise at a speed on the freeway.

chiph9

The reason I ask is it's somewhat common for the exhaust manifold to develop a leak.

Next question: You're able to hear this over the road noise? Because there's an A/C duct blend motor down there, and when they fail they'll make a clicking sound. But for it to be heard over tire/road noise - that'd be pretty bad.

Chip H.

levinsoy

I have same on my 2004 GX470, it's very intermittent and sounds like keys rattling around. I do think it may be a servo motor or something but it's not the instrument cluster. It's annoying but not anything I am worried about.

Goosed

Like Chip H said my first suspicion was exhaust manifolds. Now wondering if your in cabin filter is intermittently hitting the fan causing the clicking.

Any change when when you adjust fan speed for the AC or blower?

moakes

For clicking under the dash, I vote for failing servo motors. Mine still clicked even when I turned off the climate control system. It starts/stops and comes and gos and I could never figure out a pattern, and I had this problem for YEARS. You can see my description, quest and resolution here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...-now-what.html

BillitZky

I agree the clicking sounds is comparable to keys rattling around and very annoying. The good thing is it does not register in the alarm "dashboard" panel which should be a safety concern driving the truck.

BillitZky

Thanks for posting the links and threads are very informative.

Lexus dealership replaced the cracked dashboard in my truck last year 2016. I have been happy and no issues at all since then. Oh by the way, I had the "air bag deployment" alarm just a few months ago and dealership replaced the driver side buckle, thanks it was not the harness-cable under the seat, for $420 for diagnostic/parts/labor/change oil.

Now if the "clicking" sound is pointing to the failure of the servos of the AC airflow ducts, and they need to remove the dashboard to fix the problem, then I would think that this would be an expensive fix. Again, the sounds comes and goes as mentioned in the links thread. My understanding of these servo components are they regulate the dampener in the airduct to control the "airflow" out of the ducts as you adjust the hi/lo cabin temperature. But I will refer this to the dealership for resolution.

abegeo7

I have a 2007 GX470 and had the dash replaced because of a recall for crack. This was done maybe 4 months ago. Just a few weeks ago I noticed a tick tick (click click) sound coming from what seems like the center vent area. Initially I thought it was water bottle that was vibrating and making that sound. The sound is even there when I shut off the climate control. Like MOAKES stated it comes and goes. It is a steady tick tick sound does not change when your idle or accelerating. Let me know what you guys think it might be.

moakes

Well . . . you know what MOAKES is going to say . . .

NTH

I also get an intermittent odd noise from under dash more on the passenger side. It sounds a lot like squeaking from a hamster exercise wheel.

moakes

Yep, from your description I'd guess that you have failing servos. See my post and you'll see that I actually called them "my pet squirrels". https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...-now-what.html but mine went on for many years of squeaking before they completely stopped working . . . pray for that and just turn up the radio

NTH

^ Thanks Moakes I'll look into this.