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Clicking sound under car when put in reverse

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Old Oct 14, 2011 | 06:26 PM
  #1  
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Default Clicking sound under car when put in reverse

New member here. Just got a 2008 cpo 460 last week, trading my BMW 750.
Car drives great but a couple quick questions if I may:

In the mornings or when car is not warmed up, when I put the shifter in reverse, I hear a click under the car. If I try to repeat it again, it wont do it until the car sits for a bit. Sounds like it is coming from the middle of the car. Sometimes a medium loud click, occasionally almost sounds like a pop. Sounds like some electronic part engaging. My BMW did this also but very faint. This one is fairly loud in the morning, can clearly hear it with window down, almost hear it with window up. Any of you fine members have this click sound underneath when putting car in reverse? With driver side window down, I can also hear what appears to be similar click when accelerating from a stop. Any ideas, insight or similar experience?

Also, occasionally a get a slightly rough idle. If I turn off AUTO on climate controls, rpms drop to below 500 and idle gets rougher, almost bordering on a light knock. Car engine almost seems to have a rythmic pulsation under heavy acceleration at times. Any ideas or comments?

Just made an appointment next week at the dealer for these items. May ask them to flash the ECU to lastest update since many have had positive results. I had the ECU flashed on the BMW with that yielded improved results.

Other than these two observations, love the car especially the ML system.

Thanks.
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Old Oct 15, 2011 | 10:03 AM
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What I think it is is that the fluids for the car and oil have been sitting so the car is still "stiff" essentially my 600 does this also but I did crash it and had 7k in suspesion replaced. Maybe a carfax or looking up ALL lexus service records would tell if that might also be the case
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Old Oct 18, 2011 | 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Franco240
New member here. Just got a 2008 cpo 460 last week, trading my BMW 750.
Car drives great but a couple quick questions if I may:

In the mornings or when car is not warmed up, when I put the shifter in reverse, I hear a click under the car. If I try to repeat it again, it wont do it until the car sits for a bit. Sounds like it is coming from the middle of the car. Sometimes a medium loud click, occasionally almost sounds like a pop. Sounds like some electronic part engaging. My BMW did this also but very faint. This one is fairly loud in the morning, can clearly hear it with window down, almost hear it with window up. Any of you fine members have this click sound underneath when putting car in reverse? With driver side window down, I can also hear what appears to be similar click when accelerating from a stop. Any ideas, insight or similar experience?

Also, occasionally a get a slightly rough idle. If I turn off AUTO on climate controls, rpms drop to below 500 and idle gets rougher, almost bordering on a light knock. Car engine almost seems to have a rythmic pulsation under heavy acceleration at times. Any ideas or comments?

Just made an appointment next week at the dealer for these items. May ask them to flash the ECU to lastest update since many have had positive results. I had the ECU flashed on the BMW with that yielded improved results.

Other than these two observations, love the car especially the ML system.

Thanks.

is this the brake shim issue? If not, it may be the brake actuator issue, both covered by TSBs (technical service bulletin), and since you rare CPO, they may still cover the TSBs under the warranty. My car had the reverse click issue and ther dealer replaced the brake actuator under warranty (coulpe of grand if i was paying!!!) and it went away. Mine was an 07 so this issue may have been fixed by 08. but worth asking.
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Old Oct 19, 2011 | 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by dormie
is this the brake shim issue? If not, it may be the brake actuator issue, both covered by TSBs (technical service bulletin), and since you rare CPO, they may still cover the TSBs under the warranty. My car had the reverse click issue and ther dealer replaced the brake actuator under warranty (coulpe of grand if i was paying!!!) and it went away. Mine was an 07 so this issue may have been fixed by 08. but worth asking.
Thanks for the response Dormie. I only hear the click/pop when I engage in reverse, not really while moving. Sometimes it make no noise when I put it in reverse, other times makes an electronic pop sound. Not real loud but can hear it in the car. Doesnt realy make any click sounds while movin or braking after some testing. Also, if i engage the parking brake, I sometimes hear that click/pop. May not be anything, may be that brake actuator. I will keep an ear on it.

I will say the pop i heard in the garage this morning when I put it in reverse did not sound normal. Never did it again the rest of the day when I put it in reverse. Also cannot duplicate it immediately after it does it once. SA at lexus believes it is the parking brake that automatically engages when you put it in park making noise disengaging when I put it in reverse. If so, that occasional click/pop noise is noticable.
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Old Oct 20, 2011 | 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Franco240
Thanks for the response Dormie. I only hear the click/pop when I engage in reverse, not really while moving.

Sorry I misunderstood, as yeah the actuator issue only happened to me when reversing at low speed first thing after starting the car, kinda of muted popping sound. Never had an issue when just moving the gear shift alone. best of luck resolving it.
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Old Oct 20, 2011 | 03:10 PM
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Also, if they haven't already been replaced, have them replace the A-pillars with the updated version if you have the old ones (if the end of the arm rest blends right into the door pillar, where the pillar itself has a "point" coming out of it to meet the door, you have the old one,and that point usually shows premature wear, so they designed an alternate pillar. Also check for poor fit /gap of the glove box, that's also something they will replace per the TSB with an updated version. I also had the front seat foam and leather cushion replaced, again, another TSB (see the thread here on the first page about seat discomfort). This forum is a wealth of info, I suggest digging well back into the threads and see what you can find out. Some of all of these issues may not apply to a 2008, but some and perhaps others may.
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Old Oct 20, 2011 | 08:03 PM
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After some testing and research, I think its the brake shim issue. Seems like I only hear click/pop when changing directions - putting in reverse after going forward or from park also can replicate it going from reverse to drive sometimes. I think the pads/calipers are shifting or sticking. Also would explain why I cant replicate sound - putting it into park again, then reverse after it pops since the pads have already shifted to that direction. They changed the brakes 2 weeks ago when they cpo'ed the car so maybe they did not shim the pads properly.

Going in to dealer tomorrow.

Also, car does have the old A pillar design per your description. There is some wear. but since the color is alabaster (Sapphire Black exterior - love the color combo which is why i bought the car) it is very hard to see the wear. May just live with it.

The glove box is a little loose and dealer has offered to replace it. But after reading the TSB and seeing how invasive the procedure is to change the glove box, I have opted to live with the slightly loose glovebox also.

Cannot live with the click/pop after engaging in reverse and drive if it can be fixed.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions Dormie.
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Old Nov 7, 2011 | 10:38 AM
  #8  
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Default Franco -- what did the dealer do?

I have the same problem with a CPO 2008 LS460 with 31,200 miles. I posted a new thread today about it and also sent you a private message. What did the dealer do to repair the problem? It sounds like a brake actuator and/or brake shim problem to me. My dealer, which has been really good, replaced the rear struts, but this did not fix the problem.
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