I have a 2005 LS430 that i bought a month ago. it has 25K miles. I switched from dino oil to Mobil 1 at last oil change. I recently noticed an engine noise which comes when engine is cold and goes away when its warm. Its not loud but it is annoying to me. The noise is like "shook shook shook shook" and seems like something to do with a bearing or pulley on low Rpm when cold. It goes away magically when engine is warm. It is more noticable in parking garage or when windows open. I tried turning AC on and off thinking its compressor but to no avail. I hate this noise and i know its not Lexus like. When warm, its very quiet. i have tried to listen where the noise comes from but to no avail. It does not seem like EGR/Valve/lifter noise. I took it to dealer and left overnight to look for this noise. Next morning they started car in front of me and it did not even come that day. Also noticed this noise come when car is parked on a little slope. The noise is lesser if car parked on a flat surface overnight. Something to do with oil or pump ? i am going nuts.... Please help

 

How about put back dino oil?

 

I think it is not recommended going back to dino oil. If it is safe I will go back to dino oil and see if that fixes the problem. But I always heard its not good to switch back once you have sythetic oil in engine.

 

Only one oil change to synthetic and you worry? Synthetic oil might wash out the dirt aroung the gasket and create leaks but you might be ok since the engine only got 25K miles.
Use a long screw driver or something long and place it on the engine while the car is running, make sure not to slip it out to the running part, then put your ear to the other end to listen and to pin point the noise. Move the long screw driver to other places where you think make the most noise. When you find out where the noise originate, then you can narrow down the issue.

 

You are right. I will go for oil change to regular Toyota oil. I always use OEM filters anyway. Even now it has Toyota D3 filter. And use the screwdriver as you said. I hope I can find it.

 

It's possible, but VERY unlikely the the switch in oils caused the problem -- much more likely that it is a conincidence that the noise showed up after the oil change. Buy a sthethoscope and remove the pick-up device from the end of the tube. Use the open end of the tube to isolate the source of the noise (when you point the open end of the tube at the source of the noise -- within a couple inches -- it'll be very clear to your ears where it's coming from), then proceed from there. This method is usually about 10X more effective than the screwdriver method.

 

I bought a mechanic's sthethoscope from ebay.. and waiting for it to arrive. Will post my results of the engine noise.

 

Well I am not sure how this applies to an LS, but I have some experience with something similar on my current car. My current car uses (i can't remember what it is called off the top of my head) a system to heat up the CAT to operating temps were the CAT becomes effective. The system turns on after a cold start and usually take a few minutes to turn off. This was extremly noticable when a Cold Air Inducation system was installed on the car. I would think that as quiet as "Lexus" is suppose to be you wouldn't hear that, but who knows.

 

My 04 has the "slightly noisy engine" when first started cold. There's a hint of PS pump noise. Lifters sightly noticeably. Once it's warmed up? Smooth and quiet. Is this normal because the car is 13 years old and engine has 100k on it? By comparison, my 01 (95k) when started cold, wasn't noticeably louder. It was totally babied. My 04 (Sports) has probably been driven a little more aggressively.

AAA guy came out to replace the battery (under warranty). When he looked under the hood, asked if the engine was running. It was

 

That's not your lifters you hear clicking that's the injectors =) the motor is so well balanced and quiet that you can actually hear the injectors. The ps noise is normal means the pump is starting to go just get a piece of vacume hose a turkey baster and siphon the old fluid out and put new fluid in so this a couple times till the fluid is a shiny red. Only use dexron/merc 3 tranny fluid though putting in the wrong kinda fluid will blow apart your rack and pinion

 

Thanks for info on the engine. Did the Dexron replace on the PSP. Good suggest. No noise for a couple of months. Starting to hear it a little so probably PSP replace at some point. A must do? No but it's fun to own a car that doesn't make any noise

 

I have to do mine when i take my ls outta storage and i would do it before it gets super bad because what is happening is the power steering pump is slowly starting to disintegrate. I would disconnect the ps reservoir and clean it out with gasoline then just rinse it out with new fluid and compressed air to help get any crud out. If you look inside there is a filter screen in the ps reservoir there is probably little black flecks on the screen. When you did the drain and fill use a clear bottle and you can see the black flecks, that is ps pump slowly coming apart. If you keep doing a flush and fill you can prolong replacing the pump but I would do it eventually.

 

I never really paid too much attention, but I would say normal and I believe I have the PS noise despite the car having a history of the ps fluid replace (is this a turkey baster method at the dealer just like the brake fluid, rather than a proper bleed--there is valid argument that this method does not work, like draining a reservoir but leaving dirty in the lines etc.).

What's with batteries failing under warranty, this happened to my wife before Thanksgiving. Battery only lasted 20 mos. This is the first time in my life that I got a free replacement, usually they fail at about 40-48 mos. and have a 36 mo. replacement. imho quality has gone downhill. And my wife's battery was the #1 pick by Consumer Reports, which as I will always say, proves how invalid and unreliable (statistically) their rankings are....

edit p.s. resolved to go to Costco next time as they have the H6 battery--everyone else is fuzzy math. Three stooges said we don't have the battery in stock, do you want AGM? Sure, I'll pay the difference ($139 vs. $169). He goes ok, it will be $100 plus tax. I say isn't it $169 minus $139? Not only that, the AGM is on sale for $139 today. He goes, "that's not how warranties work." hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha So I called his bluff--get the right battery and charge me $0. I go to pick up the car, that will be $219.xx (pay them to tell me the starter and alternator are fine when I said no the day before?) hahahahahahahahahahahaha The stooges were funny back then, and their comedy act is still funny today (it was $0 but I had to explain for the 3rd time--there is no paperwork showing it was done under warranty, so I bet the tech gets $0 for his commission--it wasn't a warranty job, it was a full job overridden by the mgr to $0--never again. If anyone here works for the Three Stooges, I bet you know exactly what shenanigans are going on and why, but to the customer, it's bad.)

Advance Auto--2005 battery, 84 mo. warranty. In 2009, they said the warranty expired over time--can't make this up, buddy said in Tampa they pulled the same stunt. I asked for clarification--7 yr warranty, 2009 - 2005 is 4 yrs., warranty expired by time? Guy goes, yep.

Costco--cut the bull and DIY!

 

72/84/etc month extended warranties on batteries are not worth the paper they are written on. A careful look at the details will inform a smart consumer that extended warranty on batteries are a 100% consumer scam designed to extract even more money out of you if you try to make a claim.

Be a smart consumer and buy a 36 month full replacement cost battery from Costco or Walmart instead. And by the way the 36 month full replacement battery about 99.9% of the time it is the exact same battery internally (except for different plastic case and label) as the extended warranty models but at a much lower cost.

 

We've done 2 AAA batteries. One for my 430 (occasional use), one for her 330 (daily use). Approx $135/each (60 mo, 650CCA). Both failed in less than 2 years. Both replaced under the 3 year free replacement. I wonder about the quality tho. No one needs a dead battery after a long day at work or before a trip somewhere.

Agree Costco/full replace in 3 years is smart. That's next time.