mafitch

I have taken it to the dealership and they claim they can't hear anything and I'll have to wait for it to get worse. The noise emanates from the front left wheel well area. It is only heard at low speeds (under 20-25mph) on areas of semi-rough or undulating pavement. It sounds like a loose shock or something....

I've seen on other boards that there have been problems with other Lexus vehicles and the struts, upper and lower insulators, mounts and bump stops...

Has anyone heard of this on the LS? It's making me crazy.

bob321

Near the bottom is what my bad rack & pinion unit sounded like...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...sion-help.html

mafitch

Thanks for responding. Sounds familiar. What year LS?

caha14

What year is yours, actually? There is a known (by Lexus) defect with some of the steering racks for the earlier model years, and my car got a new rack in January of this year.

CJITTY

I am betting your brake pads are rattling in the caliper..there are anti rattle clips that could be missing...I had same exact condition..once the pads were more secured in the caliper..no mo rattle!

To test this, go to a rough pavement area where you can safely cruise at 15-25 mph with window down and listen for rattle..then slightly apply brakes to see if it goes away..if so...BAM!

I8ABMR

CJITTY did you seel your LS ?? So are you still shooting for a white 460L??

CJITTY

Hey man..kinda hijackin the OPs thread ain't ya lol? Check my build thread for the latest and greatest

OP..I'm really thinking your brake pads are rattling..keep us posted..this is an issue for some LSs

caha14

Excellent point... GX470 used to suffer from this (only car I've had with this issue). My pads do click on the LS, but not like this, but I think I've heard of others besides you with this problem on the LS.

Hopefully this is it, but if not, steering rack is a real possibility (depending on the year of your car).

mafitch

I have a 2010.... My appointment is today. They "didn't hear anything" last time, but this time I'm not letting them get away with it.

between the rattle, and the loud POP from the undercarriage when the load shifts from side to side, I'm about to go nuts.

bob321

>Thanks for responding. Sounds familiar. What year LS?

Built in Feb 2007. Replaced in Oct 2010.

mafitch

They're replacing the "steering rack" under warranty, but that is apparently not the end of it. They're still looking around. Stay tuned.....

mafitch

Final update: The inner tie rods were loose and causing the rattle. The power steering rack assembly (a 3 thousand dollar part) was replaced under warranty. The popping from under the car was from the under engine covers flexing. They were repositioned and secured and the noise seems to be gone.

Just glad it was all covered.

jlawr

Hurray! What a relief for you. Glad to hear it's (hopefully) over.

caha14

Excellent news! Not surprised about the rack per se (as mentioned earlier), though I am surprised it happened on a 2010.

There are many suspension parts that Lexus has quietly redesigned on the LS460 (I know because my car has had all of them replaced), and I would imagine 2010 models already have most of the new stuff (some TSIBs I've seen stop at 2008 or 2009 models).

Glad it's all resolved. After my long laundry list of issues on the LS, I can confidently say that Lexus stands behind its product like no other manufacturer I've dealt with, as I've stated in other threads.

mafitch

So much for the issue beng resolved. The noise from the front end persists even after replacement of the steering rack. I went back to the dealer this morning, and they want to replace the front left strut and (6)? control arms. At this point, they're waiting 24-36 hours for a factory rep to come and approve the repairs. The SA says if this doesn't resolve the issue, they'll have to get a field service rep out to look it over.

For a 2010 with 50K miles, this makes me worried about the long term prospects for this car. Sigh.