vibration at frewway speed?
 

any idea what could be causing this? its a higher mile car. could it be the mechanics? or is it a wheel balance problem? we got new tires recently balanced? any thoughts or feedback on whats causing this???

I think I may have this vibration too elclassico...does your steering wheel vibrate along with the shifter in the center? That's what mine does. I know it's not the wheels on mine since I recently had them balanced and just checked the tire pressures. I have a little over 130,000 miles. I have no idea what may be causing this, but would like to figure it out sometime. Anyone else encountered this vibration?
Earl!

sounds very similar
 

i wonder whats up?

I used to have the same problem with my 99 GS400, and the vibration started soon after I purchased the car new. Many GS4 owners have complained about the vibration, which Lexus just can't seem to get fixed to owner's satisfaction. I've been told that Lexus suspensions are extremely sensitive and that it is a common problem with most models. It could be that your older suspension is starting to wear out and may need some replacement parts. You may want to have a good mechanic that you trust do a thorough inspection of your front suspension and steering rack to see if anything can be done.

Guys, the problem with vibration could either wheel balance or a mount. I had the same problem with mine and it turned out to be the tranny mount, yes believe it or not! In your cases I would have every thing checked by a good mech... Your wheels could be balanced with brand new tires, if your mounts and also your bushings are bad you will still feel vibrations. Once you've changed everything your Lex will feel like brand new.

Hey Lexozz,

Could you please elaborate on the tranny mount thing, for example, what is that? I can do car audio stuff myself easy, but I let my mechanic do engine stuff! So basically, I would like to hear more about what these mount and brushings are, hmmm what? I have read about the brushings before, but no one has ever explained what they are exactly or what they do, I would like to know!?!? Thanks guys,
Earl!

I'd ask your dealer about tghe steering dampner. There was a case of vibration on one of the cars on here. Whats up with that tranny mount thing?

The tranny mount absorbs some on the vibration from the engine, just as the engine mounts do. It sits under the tranny towards the back, its a metal bracket with rubber inside. Maybe some one else can elaborate a little bit more!

Out of round tires/wheels
 

Do you feel the vibration at idle too? If your car have a smooth idling, I don't think that your mounts are bad. Bad mount vibrations usually showed at idle (in park/stop at red light) thought they get worse at low speed but then get better at high speed (RPM) do the constant stress against them.
I suggest that you do the usual check on the tire wear pattern, balance, bushings, & control arms looseness, front struts etc first. If those check out OK but the vibration is still there, it will be likely that your tire/s and/or wheel/s is/are out of round. You can check this out by jacking up your front tires, one at the time, and turn them by hand. Try to look for high/low spots. If you notice a bad tire or wheel, you can rotate it out with another one. Very often, in fact too often, vibrations are caused by "perfectly balanced" out of round tire/wheel. Good luck and cheer.

Thanks for all the great info guys. Now I should be able to get this fixed fairly easily. I just had my front upper control arms and front struts replaced, expensive...need to sell my other car for some $ before I do any more Lex repairs!

Once you get read of this problem post the reason please. This "magic" vibration has not yet been determined yet.

new observations
 

thanx to all who have posted. i guess im not the only one. this vibration occurs at higher freeway speed. 60+ i remeber when it was smooth sailing at 80. anyways i notced something odd about my particular vibration. it seem sto happen in waves. how do i explain this...at about a steady 68 mph, even with cruise control on, you can feel the car vibrating. but it goes away for about 3 sec. rides fairly smooth and then starts vibrating again. like waves? it could just be me. but it seems that way? i dont think its the tires? any thoughts?

YES! elclassico, you have described my problem perfectly. PLEASE tell me what you did to resolve it? That is exactly my problem. At between 30 and 40, and then again between 60 and 80 mph, the vibration comes in waves. Doesn't seem like wheel balance to me because of the way it goes in and out of phase.

Lemme know what has worked.

There's a remote chance it could be a bent rim from a big pothole or running up against a curb. (this is different from being out of round. )

Guys ............

If I may ................ the kind of vibration that comes in "waves" is called a "Beat Frequency". It occurs when two or more vibrating / rotating components interact. The vibrations alternately combine "constructively" and then "destructively" to produce a fluctuating vibration.

It takes two or more items “out-of-balance” to produce this. The most likely culprits are the tires followed by axles and drive shaft. Start with a full four-wheel balance and also check for “Lateral Run-out” of the tires and or rims, which can produce vibration as well. Also, confirm proper air pressure in all four tires.

It can be frustrating but it can be solved with a systematic approach.

98

There are many reasons why a car may vibrate. However, the most common or likely are wheels and tires.
I had vibration on my car and got rid of it.
Here's how:
The first thing I did was to balance all 4 wheels. That helped a little, but failed to eliminate all the vibes.
Then, I bought 4 new tires and balanced again. This was not too bad, considering that my old tires were... old. This decreased vibration, but not by much.
Finally, I realized that one ore more of my rims were bent. Since I couldn't just buy 4 new rims, I began experimenting by moving rims from front to back. I knew, that if that changed the way my car vibrated, then, in fact, those were the rims. That also gave me a hint of which rims were good and bad. Sure enough, when I switched the rims around, my vibration pattern changed. Now I knew that it is definitely one or more of my rims that are bent, since the rubber is new and balanced.
How did I figure out which rim is bent? Well, I got lucky there. Right at the time of my trials, my friend wrecked his 96 LS. So, I took his rims and began experimenting with the combination of his and mine wheels. Eventually, I got it right.
Now, I don't have any vibration at any speed :rockon:
If I didn't have extra 5 wheels to play with, I would've just bought one new rim and substituted it for each of mine until I found the culprit. Those who have an unused spare, can use that to do the diagnostic.

You method would work well, but at the time of balancing, a good tire shop would have noted any run-out on any wheel. There are tolerances for radial and axial run-out which they should check for.

I had a vibration problem , balanced tires 3 times no luck and then I took it to another place and they got them right .......and then I had front rotors turned and replaced rear rotors with new .........Car has NO vibration at all.............It is smoother that ever!!!!! and even smoother that when I had stock tires and wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbup: :thumbup:

Thanks guys. '98 LS, your theory is a sound one. The only comment I have is that, the 'phase' or 'waves' of vibration are not even or consistent. For example, if I set the cruise at 70 mph the car will vibrate pretty heavily for awhile and then it will settle into that speed--the vibration will almost completely disappear. Then, if I change the torque on the drivetrain (by disengaging cruise, or speeding up, etc.) the vibration will come back. If I remain on the new speed for, say 10-20 seconds, the vibration goes away again at the new speed.

I'm no expert, but I think I have a good concept of what a wheel out of balance feels like. It's usually speed-specific and felt mostly through the steering wheel. IMHO, this is a different animal. The vibration feels drivetrain related. I've read through an awful lot of posts about this car being cranky regarding wheel balance, so I know you are all going to roll your eyes at the next paragraph.:rolleyes:

I just ordered a new rear transmission mount from www.newlexusparts.com for under $60.00 shipped (dealer wanted $90). It may be a shot in the dark, but I took it to Johnson's alignment here in L.A. about an hour ago. He's well known as a real pro (read very expensive) and got my '97 E420 'just right' about 6 months ago.

Anyway, from my description of the problem and his inspection of all the bushings, he told me the rear transmission mount looked like the culprit. He originally thought motor mounts, but he had me put it in and out of D and R and rev the engine. There was almost no movement of the motor. When I got underneath and looked at the trans mount, I could see what he meant. It was cracked and nasty and you could clearly see that if it didn't stay rigid, it could throw the whole drivetrain out of whack.

I almost paid the stealership price just so I could come home and install it, but I know better than that. I'll keep you all posted on any developments.

-Josh

Josh ...........

Yes, it sounds like you are on too it. :thumbup:

Also, it goes without saying that your bushings in the drivetrain and suspension need to be sound.

98

98LS, you're definitely right about the rest of the bushings. While I was under the car today we actually did inspect the drive shaft bushings. They both looked good. Also we inspected the control arm bushings and the radius arm bushings. According to the tech, they all looked fine. One other note is that the struts have less than 5k on them and the tires less than 10k. The car has 134k total.

I had the new trans bushing in my hand today, but walked when the dealer quoted me $90. The rubber on that bushing looked a whole lot different than what I saw under the car today. The one on my car is squished and cracked. Hopefully this is it. The part should come in this week. I'll keep you all posted.

-Josh

Hey LSpilot good luck with that tranny mount make sure you post your results also if you haven't done so go look at retrodrives web site, he has so much info avalible on the LS with a section on vibrations, I had a problem with my car vibrating, from his site I learned that the lexus dealer ship does a very high speed wheel balencing, so I had that done........big difference

This vibration problem again? Well I still have it! Yes it is the wheels out of balance, the most common problem, but when you take your LS to the tire shop make sure they clean the spot where they are going to put the weights on. If not they will fall right off and you've just wasted your money unless they garantee that type of work. I know most shops don't! There was one time I had to demand that a tire shop rebalance my tires because the weights fell off. Even after all that hassle the damn things still fell off again. You just have to find a good tire shop that takes their time to do the job right.
For you guys in Brooklyn, NY there is one good shop that took their time on my LS, can't remember the name but it is on Remsen Ave. the corner of Lenox Ave. They do great work!:thumbup:

So LexOZ, you're saying that the transmission bushing didn't help with your problem?

Thanks for the tip Sunbum. Looks like I need to sack up and go to the dealer for the 'high-speed balancing on the car' trick if the 'transmission bushing' trick doesn't help. Actually, maybe I'll just do the dealer balancing first thing tomorrow so I can rule that out completely and GET EVERYONE THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT OFF MY BACK!!! I hope everyone got the subtle humor there.

BTW Retro, nice site dude! That was an awesome article on the drag coefficient. I was just telling my dad today that when I drove the car back from Austin last week, I got 29 mpg on one tank--and I was averaging 80mph!

I ran the tank way down below E because there were no services for an 80 mile stretch in Arizona. When I filled up, my trip meter had 525 miles on it since the last fill up... but I only put in 18.1 gallons! According to the book, I had almost 4 gallons left! That means this thing could have a range of over 600 miles even cruising at 80 mph! Let's just say my new baby Lexy had me at hello... :cry:

Screw Mercedes, Lexus ROCKS!!!

get the same problem too with the shift knob shaking and steering wheel vibration around 60-75mpg, anything higher or lower than that it rides smooth. I had thoughts about the motor and tranny mounts. I just got new tires and had everything rebalanced so I dont know if it could be the balancing.

I would change the mounts but I heard labor costs is a pain

Re: vibration at frewway speed?
 

Easy and free test rotate ONLY one side of the car and note vibration if no change do other side Also remember flat spots make sure tires a warmed- up while checking the vibration, if no change after all this look elsewhere.

Hey Persian451, yes the actual motor mounts are a lot of labor to R&R. One thing to test if the mounts have gone bad is to open the hood and, from the driver's seat, look at the top of the engine. Shift into Drive, see if the engine rocks more than a quarter of an inch or so. Then hold the brake firmly and rev the engine while still in gear. If you see the entire motor swaying excessively inside the compartment as you gun it this is supposed to mean that your motor mounts are bad.

Mine are good (luckily) but the tech thought the tranny mount looked worn. If the new tranny mount doesn't help, I'm headed to the dealership for a high-speed balancing.

Lexkost; when I originally test-drove the car, I noticed a vibration that seemed like wheel balance. In anticipation of my 20-hour drive home, I got the tires balanced and rotated. This did nothing to affect the vibration at all. Either they didn't balance them correctly and I was stuck with the same situation as before, or this vibe is unrelated to wheel balance.

Hopefully the trans mount will get here soon so I can put this thing to bed!

-Josh

I have not posted about my vibration here yet, but have on the LexusOwnersClub. It seems like vibrations are very common on these cars, because they are so smooth otherwise.

My only complaint (other than the downshift buzzing from the drivetrain - see other topic) is that my car has a vibration at speeds between 40-60 and seems to be getting worse and covering more speeds. The tires are nearly brand new, so I do not think it is the tires. It is a faint, but noticable vibration. It does not shake the steering, but vibrates the entire car. Any suggestions? Someone mentioned driveshaft, or u-joints. Would a bad engine/transmission mount cause this? Another symptom is that when my car is first started and it is idling at about 1500 rpms- there is a vibration coming from the engine every second or so, as if something is out of round. After it warms up for about 3 minutes- it goes away. Could this be a sign of a bad motor mount?

Thanks for any advice.

It is still necessary to check the alignment of all four wheels to ensure that toe in or out is not causing the vibration. My car drove well enough when I bought it, but I still had a guy I trust do the alignment. As is typical with these cars, everything is fully adjustable. Very easy to align actually. The car was transformed and is rock steady at all speeds. And its a 92! Don't chase the bad wheel bad tire thing if they are eliminated at this point - have a good alignment done.

steering whell and shifter vibration waves at 60+ that that come and go at infrequent and variable intervals

i have that exact problem

my car has 129,000 miles

i have had wheel balace, bent rim, and alignment problems on different cars but all of those vibrations are constant; they do not have the "wave" effect.

98LS may be right about a two malfunctioning parts, but to have the same two parts malfunction in such a way as to cause the same exact symptoms in three or more cars seems unplausible. stranger things have happened before.

i am going to the dealer this week some time to see what they can tell me.i will let youu guys know what happens

this problem sucks, but at least i dont feel alone.

Theomms, no, you're not alone. It seems to be a very common problem. What I have noticed from my tireless search of past threads, however, is that many people have had this problem. Most chase the problem all over the place, only to find that it was only a proper alignment that was needed after all. Don't ask me why a normal shop balance doesn't work for these cars, because I have no idea. I'm just relaying what I've read (sorry I don't have time to reference the exact posts) and what i've lived.

Several posts reference that multiple wheel balancings did not cure the problem. Then, a balancing done by a better shop fixed the problem. Someone on here told me to go to www.retrodrive.net It's a really awesome site. There is a section there explaining that the Lexus dealership does a high speed balancing that is different somehow.

I noticed a vibration on my test drive and had all four balanced before my long road trip home. It did nothing to help the vibration, so I got to thinking it was in the drivetrain. My tech thought it might be the rear tranny bushing. The thing is, I've read the same story from half a dozen other people on this forum who had replaced all sorts of expensive stuff, only to come back and admit that they had finally gotten the tires balanced correctly and the problem disappeared.

The rear transmission mount just arrived today so, to save face, I'm going to install it anyway. The more I think about it, it's probably the wheel balance or alignment after all. I'll keep everyone posted, but to justify my $50 bucks I spent on the trans mount I may lie a little bit. Sorry in advance.

-Josh

LSPilot, Like I stated in this thread the balance of the tires is very very important on these cars, thats why I went to different shops to get mine right.Rotate one side for the car and see what happens.
My wife's Chevy Astro with billet wheels , seems like no matter what , that van never vibrates even when the weighs fell off one, and I did not know until I had tires replaced and saw that the weight was gone.
The LS is very sensitive and rotors warp easy also, so be careful on you judgement.

Well here's the update:

I installed the rear transmission mount this morning in about 15 minutes. I was a little disappointed when I took it out because the rubber still looked intact. However, when I compared it with the new one, I realized how smooshed the rubber really was. My digital camera is missing, otherwise I would have taken pictures. It looked to me as if the bushing was squashed enough to allow the rear of the tranny to sag 1/4"-1/2".

The results are pretty noticeable. Most noticeable is that my idle is smoother. I had a distinct vibration at 600 rpm's when the car was warm. That engine vibration at idle is all but completely gone. On the freeway, the droning is gone! There is no 'cyclical' vibration anymore! There still seems to be a slight wheel-balance type vibration, however.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to get a good test run in because the stretch of freeway I used is paved in concrete. The expansion joints made it hard to tell what was going on. Plus, the vibration is the worst at 75, but it was hard to get going that fast in lunch-rush traffic on the 405!

So far, so good. I'm not just saving face, this is a measurable improvement. I'll be taking a much longer drive tonight and I'll let you know the final verdict when I get back.

YES !!!

It was the tranny mount!

I was able to take the car up to 75 this afternoon on a smooth highway. The vibration is GONE! I'm so stoked. It really makes a big difference not to have all that shaking going on.

VICTORY!

Now that the big vibration from the driveshaft is gone I can feel trace amounts of what is probably a wheel slightly out of balance, but it is very difficult to detect and really not noticeable. The main booty-shaking vibration between 60 and 85 is GONE! I'd still like to get the wheels balanced at the dealership anyway just to see what this beast feels like when it's really dialed in.

To anyone who is having a vibration that comes and goes in waves at freeway speeds and you've already pretty much ruled out wheel balance, I'd highly recommend changing the tranny mount. It was less than $60 and even a moron like me could do it in 15 minutes. I noticed that some of the people on the forum who were complaining of a similar problem had about 130k on their cars. That seems a reasonable amount of mileage for something like this to wear out. After all, a lot of weight is resting on this rubber.

I was trying to explain to my roommate why the mount cured the problem. Maybe someone on here knows a better explanation, but I told him that the collapsed rubber in the mount caused the back of the transmission to sit slightly lower. This meant that the flex disc between the transmission and the driveshaft was absorbing that altered angle and at high speeds it would vibrate because the powertrain wasn't aligned in one straight shot from trans to rear end.

Sounds like a wannabe weekend-warrior making ****** up to me. Does anyone know if this is an accurate explanation? I'm just stoked to finally have a smooth ride.

I am glad you got it right, this should help other guys out.
I think what you are trying to say above is the pinion angle was off do to the flatted mount .

hmm, i might want to change my tranny mount now especially if its so easy to change according to pilot

By a mount and bring it to the meet and let's put it in persieee...................OK

you want to?

LSPilot & elclassico

When was your last trans. fluid change? Your vibration between 40-55 mph and sometime above 55 mph right. Does it feel like the the car ran over rumble strip?

VQT: My last trans and diff fluid change was done about 18,000 miles ago. The 'rumble strip' noise you're talking about is that problem some people have coming out of lockup, right? Mine doesn't seem to have that problem (knock on wood.)

The remaining vibration I can feel (very slight) seems to be a wheel just slightly off balance. The main shuddering feeling that was evident at high speeds is gone now.