clicking noise from front left wheel . HELP !!
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From: Waiting for next track day
I have had this intermittent clicking noise from the front left wheels. It sounds almost like a rock wedged in the tread but its not. I checked and the tire is clean. I inspected as much as I can see but see nothing abnormal. Any clue what the deal is??? 

I stared having the noise right after having the front left tire replaced and it seems to happen when the brakes are hot. I don't hear it in the morning or if I let the car cool down and drive it an hour or two later. My brakes are original rotors at 74K miles and the pads are probably in the 45K range . Not sure what the deal is but it drives me crazy when I can hear with the windows down ( I live in AZ its still in the 70s). I had an issue like this with my GS350 but cant remember what fixed it or what the issue was .


I stared having the noise right after having the front left tire replaced and it seems to happen when the brakes are hot. I don't hear it in the morning or if I let the car cool down and drive it an hour or two later. My brakes are original rotors at 74K miles and the pads are probably in the 45K range . Not sure what the deal is but it drives me crazy when I can hear with the windows down ( I live in AZ its still in the 70s). I had an issue like this with my GS350 but cant remember what fixed it or what the issue was .

It's possible that it could be a bad wheel bearing. I noticed clicking noises coming from my front passenger tire with the window down. The only way I heard it though was if I was driving about 10-15 MPH and it echoed off of a solid object (i.e. driving past a wall or Jersey wall). Eventually I started to hear a warbling sound at high speeds. I would suggest bringing it in and have them check the wheel bearing. It wouldn't hurt...
I dropped off my car because of a clicking noise too. But it only happened when I turned my wheel. I thought they were my control arms but I got both upper and lower replaced. They just called me the noise was as NickC said, a bad wheel bearing.
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Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Waiting for next track day
I took it in and they removed the wheel and checked it all out and found nothing BUT the noise went away. It started after I had a tire mounted so I wonder if there was just a foreign object wedged that became unwedged when they looked around.
Glad to hear that it wasn't a bearing. Luckily, my car was still under the Certified pre-owned warranty when it went bad so it was covered. I must have been real lucky because when the dealer changed out the front passenger side, they checked the front driver side as well and found that it was going bad. That one was covered under warranty and changed also.
They changed out two of mine as well. Took awhile too because they had to come out and approve the warranty work. Dropped off my car on Tues, didn't get it back til Sat. Total cost was about 1300 bucks. Glad I didn't have to pay out of pocket.
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It sounds like to me the lug nuts were not tightened down well enough when they mounted the wheel.
Thread Starter
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Waiting for next track day
My car does the same thing. I called the SA about it and he told me it was totally fine. I am on the original oem rotors on my car at 75K miles and I think its the second set of pads. Its about time to drop a fresh set of brakes. My friend Henry hooked me up and gave me a fresh set of front pads and rotors from his LS460L build. Will be mounting those up sooner than later I think
Front left wheel locks up when trying to reverse whether in gear or in neutral. I disconnected the ABS bolt and still problem exist. I can drive i forward but once I stop to reverse BAM!! Front left wheel locks up after a about 6in" of rolling in reverse. Also when I did a 2nd visual after pulling out ABS bolt. I discovered that I lost a break bolt. Now NOTE that i can still drive forward but of course I hear the god awful sound of my caliper banging my band new rim. ALSO NOTE i need an alignment still as i just replaced my upper ball joints with camber kit ball joints from Eibach. And I'm positive that the vibration from the alignment imbalance is what caused my bolt to rattle lose. I'm in desperate need of a resolution plzzz n ty. LJ
Last edited by LJBAKER68; Feb 1, 2015 at 10:15 AM. Reason: left out vital info
Front left wheel locks up when trying to reverse whether in gear or in neutral. I disconnected the ABS bolt and still problem exist. I can drive i forward but once I stop to reverse BAM!! Front left wheel locks up after a about 6in" of rolling in reverse. Also when I did a 2nd visual after pulling out ABS bolt. I discovered that I lost a break bolt. Now NOTE that i can still drive forward but of course I hear the god awful sound of my caliper banging my band new rim. ALSO NOTE i need an alignment still as i just replaced my upper ball joints with camber kit ball joints from Eibach. And I'm positive that the vibration from the alignment imbalance is what caused my bolt to rattle lose. I'm in desperate need of a resolution plzzz n ty. LJ







