Im having the exact same problem, except this sounds like really loud valve tick. I have a 99 300, I can his this noise from inside the car, and Im 99% sure its vavle tick, so I dont think the injectors would be the culprit of my noise. Just to be sure it was valve tick I poured a little oil in and then ran the car, no sound at all. After a quick spin around the block, it was back. Any suggestions guys? Also a little off topic I get this "semi rattle crackle noise" ( the best I can describe it) when I turn, this only happens when its cold out and the car has been sitting for a few hours though, also only at low speeds. TIA Guys Happy Holidays

 

Interesting. Why do you think that would temporarily eliminate the sound? Unless you were seriously low on oil or in serious need of an oil and filter change?

 

It would be a temp fix, due to the fact that if oil is freshly poured into the head the vavles would be coated, after the quick spin it would make its way thru the engine and into the rest of the cycle. Maybe bad oil pump? I havent checked oil pressure, so wouldnt know just wondering if anyone else is having this prob.

 

If you happen to use those Mobil1 oil filters or oil, that might be the problem. I used to use Mobil1 oil and Mobil1 filter in my Pontiac GrandPrix and always heard loud knocking crankshaft and valve noise in the morning when first started. I switched to conventional oil and used dealer's oil filter and the problem went away. Mobil1 oil seems to be too thin and Mobil1 oil filter seems to have an issue with oil deprivation (they try to increase filtration and ignore flow rate http://www.acdelco.com/html/pi_filt_oil_gold_flow.htm). Now I use Lexus oil filter and Amsoil oil in my GS300 and it's smooth as silk; no noise in the morning.

 

doug has the ticking returned or has it quit.

 

some have it and some don't, if the car is under warranty simply call the lexus regional office and complain until they replace the lifters. im bet there is a technical bullitan on this problem they will fix it if you whine persistenly enough. as to the steering being loose, i know there is a technical bulitan and that the power steering rack and pumps should be replaced. i have a 98 gs 400 with the l tunned ecu and my steering (now)is as tight as as a piano wire , and as solid, no vibration, as cement. so u got a bad one, scream until they make it right, $54,000 is a lot of money and dont back down. after they fix the problems
put on the better sways, shocks and springs, and u will be amazed at the gr8 car u have.

 

The steering fix is only for certain 98 models. Lexus dealers here in Chicago won't even entertain adjusting the pretensioner - in fact, you would not believe the looks I get when I point out the steering is overboosted. They think they are on candid camera - their comment always is "It is a Lexus sir".

Of note, the ECU on GS430s (at least the 2002 and 2003) is the L-Tuned one. I found out this the hard way and that's how 3Dog got his cheap . The REALLY strange thing is that the stock GS400s I have driven have tighter steering than any GS430 I have driven.

Last but not least Jimxo was kind enough to stop by my office for a test drive to hear the ticking last week. His comment I believe was "Man is that annoying".

I'm going to call Lexus this week and we will see what happens.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doug_999
[B] The REALLY strange thing is that the stock GS400s I have driven have tighter steering than any GS430 I have driven.

before i bought my 1999 gs400. i went to a lexus dealer just to see one they had that was a cinnabar color. it was a 2001 gs430, the salesman asked if i would like to drive it . i told him that i couldn't afford to buy it at that time and that i had come just to look. he said that didn't matter to him and i could test it if i wanted. to say i was excited to finally get to drive a car that i had fantasized about for several years was an understatement. so i asked him to point me in the direction of a road with lots of curves. first thing i noticed was when i floored it there was about a one second delay before the car responded, that is just not acceptable. then on the curves the steering seemed sloppy. i was very disappointed in the gs430. i drove home dejected and crossed the gs off my fantasy list.

my fantasy list switched to bmw even though i knew reliabilty was an issue. i quickly had an M3 a 540sport and an M5 on my list and spent many hours and days on bmw forums. i hated the bmw forums what a bunch of stuck- up, immature ego manics. i missed reading the club lexus forums, this is where the class acts of the auto world hang out.

then my wife called up one day from the dealer she bought her acura 2003 tl type s at. (by the way the acura forums are really full of immature little pukes) she said they had a 1999 gs400 down there and because she was such a good customer they would sell her this gs for less than they would charge anyone else. i really didn't want to go down there and test it and i did so reluctantly with memories of the gs430 in my mind. well the instant i floored the 1999 gs400 i knew this was a different beast all together. this monster came to life and shot forward at a blistering rate. we found a road with curves and while it handled better than the gs430 it still wasn't as good as i would have liked. i knew that it could be improved as i had heard by then of the l-tuned stuff. so i ended up owning that gs that very day last march. 5 months later my wife dumped her acura as the transmission was acting up and got a 1999 gs400 also.

since then i got dougs steering ecu which helped a bit; then there was the bilstein sport shocks which made the handling better but i didn't care for a little hop that happened on bridge bumps. so then i switched springs to eibach pro springs which seemed better than the oem but lowered it more than i liked and i was bumping into concrete bumpers etc in parking lots. i also thought the rear end was very loose on high speed curves. then daizon sways which helped alot but still not perfect, then all the toms braces which really tightened up the car and made it it handle incredible except the rear end would still swing out when pushed hard. next was coilovers and i bought the JIC MAGIC FLT2A and the car is unbelivable now. the rear end stays planted and the speed is limited only by the size of my *****. also car is exact height i want it at.

now a good winding road and it is almost better than sex and for me lasts longer. i'm 57 now

oh i almost forgot a month ago i added the torsen 3.76 lsd and car is quicker with even better traction.

i love my car but if it was a gs430 i would have never bought it.


a little longer post than i planned but i guess you can tell i'm obsessed with this car.

a footnote; wifes car has steering ecu, daizen sways & toms braces and she is quite happy with it that way

 

3dog - great post. As you know we have similar setups. How did you choose those particular coilovers?

Thanks.

 

Bitkahuna thanks for the compliment i' m glad you liked it and i've thrilled to tell you how i decided which coilover


i was going to get the bilsteins after reading davegs4's review. i did notice that in his original review he thought he would like stiffer than the pss but i ordered them anyway

i ordered them in oct and then they said they wouldn't arrive till new years

about that same time i saw a manaray post on them he had just switched over from teins.

i e-mailed manaray and asked what he thought of the BILSTEIN PSS vs the JIC MAGIC FLT-2A here is what he had to say and i'll quote his e-mail (glad i made a hard copy and saved it)

" As for the FLT-A2's vs. the PSS, well the PSS height adjustment directly affects the pre-load (like the JIC SF-1). The FLT-A2's has a independent pre-load and height adjustment. This allows you to lower or raise the car to whereever you like w/o affecting the workings of the shock. If you raise or lower the car with a pre-load affecting system, then it's similiar to installing spring on a stock shock. You do that and you're basically running the shock "harder" than it was designed to run because you're running in a constantly compressed state. with the coilovers, it's SIMILAR, but not as bad because coilovers are designed to handle such situations....however, it's still "OPTIMAL" to run the shock at it's "prefered" pre-load rather than too much or to little pre-load...the FLT-A2's allows you to run the shock at it's "optimal" pre-load." quote was from e-mail 10/08/03 thank you manaray.

i saw a few other posts about that same time and steve ganz had them in stock so i canceled the bilstein order and went with the JIC MAGIC FLT -2A's and have loved them ever since. they have 15 adjustment clicks for stiffness and i started out at 8 front and 6 back, then i tried 0/0 didn't like and then i tried 5/3 and still missed the handling that 8/6 had so thats what i'm back to now. i think manaray said he use's 10/8 which i will try out this spring. car also sits at the exact height i want which i couldn't do with just springs and shocks as you have to take whatever you get.

the JIC FLT-2a's are stiffer than the bilsteins
Bilstein PSS:12.25/8.17
JIC FLT-A2 - 14/10
so in the end i got some pretty stiff coilovers and wouldn't want to go much stiffer, as you do feel every little bump. but oh my god does that car ever handle.


bit i hope this answers your question of how i picked the coilovers

and i would like to give a great big thank you to manaray who gave me a hugh amount of guidance on this and some other mods. someday i'll get some bigger wheels to finish the handling & looks mods. the man knows so much about these cars and is very generous in sharing his time and knowledge.

manaray has two quotes that i love "springs are for noobs" & "do it right the first time"

 

Engine Ticking is FIXED!

After I had the ticking verified by a local CL member (his exact comment was "Wow is that annoying!"), I called Lexus Customer Service and complained. Dealer called back three days later and I dropped car off. Two weeks into it they said "we talked to Lexus and they say it is a normal pre-ignition sound". I explained that if this was the case, I wanted to drive another car (a 03 or 04) that did the same thing. A week later, dealer called and said that they had the Lexus field rep involved and they were pulling parts off of a 04 on the lot. A week later they called and said they were pretty sure they had fixed it.

Turns out that there are about 4-5 lines that come from the engine and go through the firewall - those lines were rubbing against each other. The insulated those AND they re-installed the engine cover and the noise went away.

I should mention car was at dealer almost a month. The problem would only occur when the temp was around 25-50 degrees and once the car warmed up, the problem went away. That made the issue a nightmare to diagnose.

A special thanks to Jimxo for swinging out by my office to hear the issue and confirm that it was indeed annoying! Oh and thank you Bit for suggesting it!

 

Hey that's GREAT news doug. A ticking or creaking or rattle like that can drive us crazy on an otherwise quiet car!

My GS developed a problem after I'd had it about 2 years... the sun roof cover would slip back about 1/2" by itself and then start 'ticking'. I'd push it closed again, no noise for about 1/2 mile then tick, tick, tick. Grrr....

One dealer visit they said they'd fixed it and they didn't. I even tried putting a tiny velcro stip inside the front edge of the cover and the car roof which worked fairly well, but about 6 months later the tick was back. I went back to the dealer and they replaced the whole sun roof cover. That fixed it.

Anyway, I hope this increases your enjoyment of the GS now.

 

hooray!

i'm happy for ya doug

 

Finally! Lexus comes through again. Just remember you would of been laughed out of the parking lot at a Dodge dealer! Glad it worked out.