daryll40

OK, so Lexus fixed my A/C noise (new compressor) problem two weeks ago. We notice, however, that the vehicle still has this droning noise above 35MPH. It's very noticable, but also hard to pinpoint. Here is what I can tell you...maybe someone knows what's going on. (Vehicle only has 47,000 miles but is 6+ years old):

1. It's a droning noise above 35MPH. Oddly, it's worse with the windows closed than with them open, because the air rush noise drowns out the drone, that's worse with the "vault like" interior when the windows are open.

2. If I am coasting and turn the engine off (shifting to neutral...not a good idea, but done for this test only), WE STILL HEAR THE DRONE. So that sort of eliminates A/C or engine

3. I've had bad tires before and this sort of sounds like that, but these are 7 month old Goodyear Assurance ComforTred tires. Could be, but unlilkely.

4. I am not a mechanic but am wondering about bearings, differential, driveshaft, transmission.

HELP! HELP! It's bad enough to consider giving up on the car, but even then it needs to be fixed to be resold/traded.

thomas1

Sounds like a wheel bearing failure...You need to get it localized to which wheel. That is exactly how mine was, but it turned out to be a front wheel bearing, most of the time it is a rear wheel bearing. You could jack the car up and turn each wheel to see if you hear a grinding or rattling noise. Also take the tire and exhibit force vertically and horizontally to see if you have play. There should be none.

daryll40

Thmoas1, thank you for that reply. That is very helpful. I just called my independent mechanic who said "yeah, we see lots of that, but Lexus generally will fix it under the powertrain warranty". Nice guy! So I called and scheduled at the dealer for Thursday. I'll report back after that.

Rainbird

Isn't the powertrain warranty 6 years or 70k from the in-service date? If so, you may have to pay.

daryll40

True, but I have the Platinum CPO extender. That also may not cover a wear and tear item like this, I get it. I'll see what they come up with and if I have to pay and it actually fixes the problem, I can probably live with that.

RX330inFL

It does not list it, however, you will not know until you call and ask.

http://www.lexus.com/cpo/overview/warranty.html

daryll40

I am going to let the dealer look at it. If they tell me that it's not covered, then I'll try to argue the point and will call the Lexus warranty dept directly. Part of me "gets it" that even with lowish miles, a 6+ year old vehicle is gonna have wear and tear such as bearings. The other part of me notes that this is a common problem, I've been told, and Lexus should at least help out. Truthfully the problem makes driving this vehicle so nasty that I'll just be glad to have it fixed, even if on my own nickel. We talked about getting a new car. But we only have 48K miles on this one and it looks like new. So even an expensive fix is better than an hugely expensive premature new vehicle. And truthfully, if I get rid of it (still thinking about it), the problem needs to be fixed before I can sell it. Otherwise I'll have to take trade-in wholesale.

Rainbird

Hopefully they will repair this at no charge. Let us know how this was handled by the dealership.

daryll40

I shall do that

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

My dealer replaced the wheel bearing under the CPO warranty

daryll40

OK, so my vehicle is at the dealer right now. They determined that one rear wheel does have (a) bad bearing(s). They said the CPO would cover it. But they want $600 for new front pads and rotors (bad shimmy when going down hill). I agreed to it. They said the "off brand" rotors installed 20,000 miles a go (a long time on Pittsburgh hills) were too hard and caused the pads to crack. I'm sure I could get the work done cheaper but $600 doesn't sound outrageous...only "merely expensive". About the only sort of good thing is that the CPO Platinum extender (to 2015) covered an A/C compressor two weeks ago and now this. I think I've about broken even on the $2000 and still have 3 years of coverage.

Adamjeeps

I would say if the pads cracked, they were the problem, not the rotors.

daryll40

But he's saying that after 30,000 miles, the rotors still have the factory machine marks/crossbars or whatever it's called. And that signals rotors that are too hard and the CAUSE of the cracked rotors. Could be baloney, but for a few hundred dollars, I'd really rather have new pads AND rotors to begin wtih.

Adamjeeps

Shouldn't the rotors be perfectly smooth when new and ready to install?

I've bought several new rotors and they were all ready to install, smooth as glass.

daryll40

I don't know! But it's obvious that the brakes need work. So I'm good with doing pads and rotors and having it all new.