Chocker

Hi,


I have an 03 RX300 and I noticed lately that when I hit just below 40mph the front end starts having pretty heavy vibrations, almost like a shaking. I can feel it through the steering wheel and the pedal. The worst is between 40mph to 45 mph. It tapers off at around 50mph. It's still there but lighter at higher speeds. It only seems to be present on acceleration. For some reason, and maybe it's me but it seems to be coming from the front passenger side. If I let go of the accelerator and stay at that speed or I am going down a hill at that speed, no vibration. The rotors and pads are only a few months old and they are OEM. The tires have a lot of tread left and are in good condition. Just before winter I had the tires installed and balanced and they were fine before this. I had it in a snow bank and there was ice stuck to the wheels. I thought it was that so I used a blow dryer to melt it off. It still had the same issue afterwards. If anyone has any ideas that would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,


Mark

salimshah

Hello Mark:

Please try to move the front wheels to back and back to front. If your tires are non-directional, you can then move them from right to left.

With the above process, you are trying to see if the noise/vibration moves as you move the wheels. If the above makes no difference then you may have to investigate further and have the suspension checked and or drive shafts examined.

Salim

Lexmus

I once had an issue with vibration only on acceleration (on a different vehicle) and it turned out to be one of the front axles.

Chocker

Well I do have an issue with the front flex pipe and the Y catalytic converter pipe , they are going and are noisy. I am going to replace this soon. I just ordered the parts. It might be related as well. If I have the time I will swap the wheels and test this weekend.

Thanks

Chocker

I had the front flex pipe and the Y catalytic converter pipe changed and while I was at it, I told the guy to balance the front right wheel. It was 10$ and the car was already on the lift. Besides swapping the wheels is not a good idea for me right now considering all the snow up here and no garage space. I still have the vibration though. I would have asked the mechanic to check it but he is the type of guy who says there is a lot more to replace than the truth.

Mark

salimshah

Choker:

The problem is that there can be multiple reasons for vibration and they must be eliminated one at a time.

Some wheels would still vibrate even after dynamic balancing. I would still suggest front to back swap.

Salim

Chocker

I was just looking at suspension parts and I was thinking that maybe either way I could always buy a front suspension kit with the ball joints lower control arms and tie rods etc. I noticed some banging from the left side anyway which is a good chance that it is my ball joint. The RX has over 100000 miles on it and it's a 2003 that has never had any suspension work besides shocks and struts. Also I live in Canada with pretty harsh winters including salt on the roads. I'll do the wheel swap but I am seriously thinking on going that route for peace of mind either way.

Mark

salimshah

Please excuse me as I have no idea how skilled you are. You can throw parts, but a solid diagnosis would be worthwhile even if you have to pay some one.

Jack up one front tire and visually confirm the play in the tie-rod. With all 4 on ground gently turn the steering and ask a buddy to see if the wheel responds to your steering or there is slop.

Ball joints require long pry-bar and if you are not skilled, best leave it to a mechanic or better to a suspension expert.

Control arms again require pry bars and a bit of know-how.

The know is, figuring out how to create leverage to stress a joint and how much movement is acceptable. A novice generally ends up destroying boots or damage something else as large amount of force is needed.

Salim

lexrally

I had an issue similar to yours. The cause was the front left drive axle, which after replacement, fixed the issue. Your issue may be different, but hopefully this helps.
Cheers

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Don't go throwing parts at this problem without a thorough and proper diagnosis. It's probably a bad tire. First, swap the wheels front to rear, as recommended above.

Chocker

Hi,

sorry I haven't responded for a while but I've been so busy. I went to a mechanic who said to change the wheels. I was able to put the summer wheels on which had no problem with vibration when I took them off last fall. The vibration persisted. The mechanic then took another look and said that the wheels needed balancing and the suspension link bushings were finished so he replaced them as well. I looked at the links and agreed with the mechanic. Once that was done, he said that the driveshaft needed balancing. I consider myself a good DIYer but I don't have much experience with the driveshaft. I know how to replace one but I see in the RX300 diagram that it is a more complex setup than I am used to. It seems that it comes in three distinct parts in terms of actual shafts. Would anyone be able to shed some light on this for me.

Thanks,

Mark

salimshah

Mark:

The drive shaft is balanced at factory. Did some one disassemble without marking? If so mark current as first wrong position and move to the next possible ... if that is bad, mark as second bad and move to the next.

Also please elaborate .. are we talking about 1/2 shafts ... front? rear (AWD).

Salim

Chocker

Hi,

the driveshaft was never touched. The mechanic would not elaborate. I assumed that it was a one piece as I was used to but I was wrong once I took a look at the shaft itself by just taking a quick look under the vehicle. It's the AWD model. It would be the shaft between the front differential and the rear transfer case.

Thanks,

Mark

salimshah

As a owner you can't do much. There are shops which work with drive shaft. If anyone touches anything they meed to mark current position to reassemble at the same spot.

Start at a suspension shop to see if every thing is tight.

Salim