I recently purchased a 2000 RX300 with 62,000 miles on it. The interior cabin is very quiet so I can hear this high pitch whining sound during acceleration and while maintaining constant speed. My wife says it wind noise but I say its either from the engine or the transmission. Anyone have a similar experience, know whether its a Lexus characteristic, or know how I can eliminate this irritating sound?

Also, how come when the headlights are on and I turn off the engine, remove the keys and exit the vehicle, the headlights remain on? My Volvo's headlights turn off immediately when the engine is turned off and the Mercedes headlights stay on for 30 seconds before turning off.

 

I had a whining sound at specific mph when coasting. They (dealer) tried changing many items--bearings, differentials, etc. and it didn't help, but the whining sound changed at a diff. mph when coasting. Then it would happen only in the AM. They kept it overninght and tested it. It ended up being the transmission which they replaced. There was about 64,000 miles on the odometer. Good luck.

 

The light off delay time may be programmed by the cbest ... check dealership and t can be doen when you atke the RX for service.

Till that time use the remote to lock the vehicle .. I think you need to do it twice.

There are too many sources of noise. Speed (independant of acc) will cause wind noise. Noise based on rpm is usually from engine/trnasmission/wheels. Then there can be a combination of engine-rpm, transmission-in-x-gear & wheel. If you can only isoalte and say that the noise is only under accellaration .. I would check the air filter.

Salim

 

The automatic-off is on a delay, like the Mercedes. As Salim said, the amount of time is adjustable by a dealer. He's also correct that clicking the "Lock" button on the remote twice will shut off the headlights immediately.

Another notorious source of noise on the RX300 is the roof rack crossbars. If you've got them, they can make wind noise depending on their position. You can ask the dealer to look up the instructions for installation of the crossbar accessory kit; the instructions have measurements for locating the bars in an optimum position to decrease noise. The tie-down loops can also cause the same problem, depending on which way they're facing. Again, consult those instructions.

 

My wife claims the whining sound coming from our RX is caused by her making me shut it off and come in the house after a long road trip.

 

Since the vehicle did not come with a roof rack, the sound is definitely not from the rooftop. The high pitch whining is related to engine and transmission acceleration. I'm thinking of flushing out the transmission fluid and having my mechanic drive and hear it for himself.

 

If your still in warranty, take it to the dealer and have the transmission addressed. If not, there is a debate as to whether flush or several drain and fills over a thousand miles. With your milage, I hope your fluid has been changed several times.... But, read this forum on transmission flush or drain and fills... Toyota dealers may do the task a little cheaper, using the Toyota Type-IV fluid.

 

My 2000 RX300 with about 64,000 miles was having minor starting problems during the recent cold weather so I replaced the orginal battery with a Sears Diehard. After replacing the battery and driving on the expressway, I immediately noticed that the constant high pitch whining sound I wrote about could barely be heard. While changing the battery, I bumped the air filter box several times, the battery clamp bracket was tougher to reinstall because the new battery is a little thicker, and the cables were reinstalled in the same angle. Something eliminated that irritating high whining sound. Its definitely not a transmission or engine issue. My guess is that the battery bracket was originally positioned with a little gap, which created the high pitch sound or perhaps the air filter box got into its proper seating position.

 

Check to see if the power steering is topped up, just a suggestion as we tend to think one thing and ends up being another. Good luck in finding the problem!

 

bobk528 what color is your transmission fluid,

 

The transmission fluid has been changed out every 15,000 miles and is currently a nice cherry red color. What I thought might be a transmission or engine issue turns out to be caused by the force of air creating a high whining sound. I just wanted to post a reply to inform others that my transmission is fine (knock on wood).

 

You should also smell the fluid to see if it has a slightly sweet smell in addition to being red.

 

We began noticing an RPM-dependent high pitch whining noise from beneath the engine, seemingly associated (we hope) with the mesh covering on the exhaust pipe, just downstream from the exhaust manifold. With the engine running at idle in Park, the noise seems to be positional relative to the right side (engine side) of the mesh covering, which I assume is a flex joint. What we hope is that the noise is not associated with engine gel/sludge and that then noise is an engine part screaming for lubrication. Definitely, the noise is loudest beneath the engine, at idle, and increases in pitch with RPM. We do not observe any smoke exiting from the exhaust pipe, nor any check engine light and the temp gauge is at normal, even on a 100F day. I am writing to the Lexus dealer in Eugene to follow this thread.

 

uh,have another one for me their buddy!!!..... Mmmmmm,BEEEEEEER

 

all very good ideas but the first thing i thought of was an issue we ran into back in high school when we would install aftermarket radios, sometimes we wouldnt ground something properly and we would get that exact same wiiiiiiiiiii noise and it would go with accelleration, not saying that a stereo is your issue but maybe something isnt grounded right, just a thought