My car is out of warranty... and because its cold... I hear these LOUD cracks from teh Dash... I notice it a lot during the winter and happens atleast 7-8 times when you start up the car... and becomes less and less after the car warms up.

Is there a way to deal with these crack/clicks/pops from teh Dash without Warranty?

 

not to be an ***....but JOIN THE CLUB, you are officially in the IS Club now...

 

I have a 2007 IS250 RWD 6MT... get the same cracking/snapping noise... at least I think its the same... it sounds a LOT like a big pebble hitting the windscreen... it happens a lot for me... but to me it happens a lot when the body flexes a lot.. meaning spirited driving... and I don't mean like really chucking the car in corners, just quicker...

feels like something snaps back into place because it gets shifts out of place a bit when the body flexes... just not sure what.. and yes, if you bring it to the dealership, they'll never find the problem

 

The dealer knows what the problem is: poor insulation on the dash of your Lexus. They just can't 100% correct the problem, because the quality of the car isn't what Lexus used to be.

Drive one from 2005 or earlier, and then drive one from 2006 and up. The evidence is irrefutable. 2006+ looks better and sounds like crap, and 2005- is more conservative design but rock solid construction.

 

the air vents on top of the radio unit is making that sound. There was a thread on how to fix the problem, use search. basicly you take the vent out in one piece by pulling down on the 4 pull tab under the top front lip, and pull straight out. Next unplug the wires and get some felt materials and cover the top and bottom where all the snaps are and then remove the screw in the middle and put felt to cover all parts and force screw back in. the screw holding the two vents together is making that noise. plastic will expand due to hot and cold, cold and hot. when it's cold and you turn on the heat the plastic will expand thus when you heat a bump the screw will cause the plastic to make a snaping/cracking sound. I insulated the whole vent with felt tape sheet from the art and craft store. Then I went and put felt on all the vents clips/tabs and not to mention all the tabs on the door panel on both sides of the dash including the bottom footwell covers on both sides. also felt on the glove box hinges and bottle holder pockets on doors. felt on the tach's too. no more noises/rattles/cracking. sound solid now.

Next gotta find a way to fix that seat bell rattles over bumpy roads and the driver door is rattling on the top window part now, too. fix one and another will reveal. crappy cheap materials are being used on a luxury car to save cost. Lucky, my 08 mercedes c300 is still solid and no noises at all, even going over bumps feel real solid. Guess it has better shocks then us. And there isn't any rubbing noises when you press any part of the dash panels. If you push on the lexus panel, you will hear noises. Good luck with the fix. I don't think the dealership will go that extreme to fix that cracking sound for you. They fixed TSB for the clips near the windshield but that was not the problem, they put felt on the wrong part of the vents and problem still there. DIY is a better way to go. Plus they broke some of my tabs and did not put all the screws back on my radio changer unit. 2 screws were drop in corners and they left them there when they fix my Aux radio noise TSB.