IS35OF

I have a January 2014 IS350 F Sport that has a strange clunking/drumming noise coming from the left hand rear suspension area. I've only travelled 1,900kms since purchasing the car new in Feburary.

Would this sound be similar to what you lot are reporting? It almost sounds like wind buffeting/soft drumming and happens on the slightest of bumps/corrugations in the roads, happens at varying speeds too... Something certainly doesn't seem right - I am yet to inspect to see if any of the shocks are leaking oil...

dbs600

Goes back to November, when this owner was ridiculed:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...-a-dealer.html

YoMushi

To be honest, how can you tell if your shocks are leaking???

ultran00b8

Yes. The part was out of stock in Canada so they waited for an extra part to be produced and shipped it out to the dealer. They stated that they replaced the rear driver's side shock.

(Mind you, my car only had 9,300 KM or 5779 miles.)
No, my shocks would have a thunk and other metallic noises. I would also hear it bottom out over larger bumps as the shock wore further.

To be honest, if the shock is barely leaking oil, you cannot really tell unless you lift up the car and inspect the shocks for residue.

Lift up the car and check the shocks for oil, grime and dirt buildup. 3/4 of my shocks were perfectly clean and the labels were brand new looking. The defective shock had oil marks indicating leaks and was covered in grime and dirt. You could barely see this if you went on all fours and looked at the shock.

Honestly, you won't be able to tell unless you jack up the car and inspect the struts.

bwk

it was the driver side rear on mine. This issue was on my 3IS 250 AWD. My 3IS 350 RWD has no issues

RA101722

Hi all!

From two months I own a 2014 IS 300h F-Sport in a beautiful Nebula Gray and I'm satisfied about it.

Unfortunately I noticed the problem you're discussing about on my car (1430 miles / 2300 km on the clock), a noise coming from the rear wheel/suspension driver's side and searching for infos I ended up here in this thread.

Before easter I brought the car to my dealer for inspecting this issue and the chief mechanic told me that all suspension are ok and the noise is normal (I doubt it) when hearing it on the test drive we made on the roads near the dealer. They removed all the 4 wheels and have a new grease, different from the one used in factory, smeared on the brakes (something that would have being done anyway with maintenance in the future).

I also found this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...4-is-350f.html

Just an hour ago I drove the car after leaving it two days in the garage with the parking brake engaged, as the "trick" in that thread says, and with surprise I noticed that the noise is ALMOST gone with the parking brake trick.

I drove my IS on every pothole on the road at different speeds using all the drive settings from NORMAL to SPORT S+ and, where normally I would have heard the noise, this time it was gone.

To be fair I heard the noise a couple of times when passing on some holes but it happened when passing on 2-3 of them which were very close each other but I'm not able to say if the volume was lower or the same.

Now the car is in the garage with parking brake pulled and with a cardboard sheet under the left rear wheel, just to be sure there isn't any oil loss from the suspension.

Do you think that could really be the parking brake cable doing the noise at this point, assuming the mechanics have not seen any loss of oil from the suspension?

Just for info: I have the Adaptive Variable Suspension as they're standard on the F-Sport trim here in Italy.

Thank you in advance for the infos provided.

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

^^ Ciao Paesano..!!!

You don't need cardboard to see if the shock is leaking... You or they would see oil sweating on the shock housing.

If FULLY engaging the Parking Brake pedal is slowly solving the sound then that's Great News..
I learned the trick back in 2008 and have been sharing it here ever since.

Another thing you can have the technician try is making and adjustment to the parking brake cable tension.
That might solve it all together.

What Region are you in..?? And where is the Lexus dealership ??

Joe Z

RA101722

Ciao Joe

I live in Milano, my Lexus dealer is Spotorno Car (Toyota/Lexus dealer) in the northern area of the town.

When I brought the car there they checked all suspension and removed the wheels, so I suppose they didn't notice any oil leakage assuming they did their job well ().

I am surprised that the mechanics have told me that the noise is normal when it's clear that it is not...maybe they didn't suspect of the brake cable.

Question: just in case, will I be able to spot the oil leakage without an auto lift? Maybe by photographing from under the car the suspension area?

However tomorrow I'll drive the car to see if the situation has improved.

Thank you

Ps. Invidia tremenda per tutti voi sul forum con la IS 350. Qui non la importano (neanche la 250). In Italy we only have full Hybrid Lexus. XD

lexus_ls

I jacked up my car and found the two front leaking and my right rear passenger was leaking the worse. I took it in today and the service rep told me its normal for struts to leak, which I think it total BS, especially the rear passenger, the leak is starts from the top and has almost reached to the bottom of the strut.

I hope they replace them and not give me some line that this is normal operation.

lexus_ls

Car is at the dealer and they are going to replace the rear shock because its the worse one, the front are not leaking enough to replace. I am little upset that they want the fronts to completely fail before replacement.

jkonquer

is there certain time or way you hear the noise? and what kind of noises are they? for the leaking shocks

lexus_ls

There was a thud sound, but your best bet is to go look underneath and your shocks to see if they are wet with oil. Sometimes there is no noise and they could be leaking.