This is one of two 2000 RX300 AWDs, just passing 91k miles, wife's home-to-work and weekend shopping vehicle.

The squeaking noise comes from the front left (driver side), most time when driving over bumps and sometimes with right turns at local street corners at around 10mph. The strut/shock shows no oil leak and no visiable damage signs. The ruber boot is fine.

I raised the wheel in the air and went under and try to shake linkage, ball joint and other metal parts with joints. They all show no movement gaps. I also raised the left-front up and down several times with the wheel jack (extend and compress the strut and spring coil) and there is no squeaking noise coming from the strut at all.

What problem do I need to look for?

 

I have a similar problem and reviewed a couple threads on strut mounts indicating those are a likely culprit. I am about ready to just replace them but will wait for some update on this thread.
This thread is pretty comprehensive for DIY: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...yb-gr-2-a.html

 

I agree, the strut mount is the 1st thing I would suspicion. The right side normally goes 1st. but the game has no rules, so the L. could go 1st. If it is rather HARSH when you hit a pot hole, that is a good bet to be the cause. If it is the cause, when you remove it you'll see clearly why it makes the noise. A pot hole causes metal on metal contact.

 

After several weeks of "out-of-commission" I am finally able to come back and visit the issue.

Thanks for the reply. The strut mount mentioned, is it the top end or the lower end? I checked the lower end on mine, the two big bolts are very very tight on the wheel housing base and I don't see any sign of movement.

 

Mounts on the top end. You might try re-torquing to spec then test drive to see if problem persists. Hopefully the squeaking will go away. Not sure what the spec is but on my 98 Camry V-6 it was 35 ft-lbs.

 

Thanks for the advices and I will take a close look on the top mount next weekend.

 

You can't really see where the squeak is coming from. The problem is the rubber mount in the upper strut mount. When it gets worn (actually softer from action), it allows the top of the strut shaft shoulder to hit the hole that it goes through and with metal on metal, it doesn't get better from there. The bad part is, it isn't a real easy job and requires removal of the strut assembly and then the use of a spring compressor to get the strut mount off to replace it. For someone with knowledge, equipment and some place to work, I would call it a dreaded job at all. You shouldn't really need an alignment afterwards, it shouldn't change the alignment since there isn't much of anything that can be adjusted anyway.