Normal noise, get used to it. There are many threads about this complaint. Once the engine warms up, the oil flows better and the metal expands, then the noise goes away.

 

I had that Tick/Rattle at start up... I did an oil change using Liqui Moly Special Tec AA and added the LM Hydraulic Lifter Additive... The noise is gone even at early morning cold start.

 

Meffa, did you bring your car in for further diagnostic work on that tick? Ticking on my car is back and I suspect that it gets louder during the summer season. I brought it into the dealership again but they were not able to replicate the tick. Let me know if you ever followed up on it and got it resolved.

 

The noise is there only after it warms up. I would say the noise is definitely not there on other Rx's that I have driven. I had a 2010 and it never had that ticking noise nor does any of the loaners I've driven had the same ticking noise that I"m talking about.

It comes in cycles which is the weird part. As in it gets louder for about 1-2 mins then fades away a little.

 

There is a long thread about the start up death rattle on the Toyota Nation https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...rt-up-fix.html

They blame it on the 0w20 oil requirement because the same engine in other models uses 5w30. One recommended solution is to use 0w40.
Over at Bobistheoilguy.com one of the recommended solutions is blending 2.5 quarts of 0w40 with 4 quarts of 0w20 of the same brand to get a 0w30 blend and they claim this greatly reduces the start-up clatter. I just did this and added a bottle of LiquiMoly Mos2 additive and it appears quieter so far. YMMV

 

Clutchless,

At what mileage did you begin hearing your start-up clatter?

 

Around 60,000 and it became worse after 70,000. I almost always changed the oil around 7,000 miles at the most and for the first several years when I only drove 5,000 miles a year, it got a yearly oil change. I do my own oil changes.

I did some research (see above) and although I only had 1,000 miles since the last oil change did a Lubegard engine flush. With this product it is added to a warm engine and you idle the engine for 10 minutes before changing the oil.

I bought a new OEM Toyota oil filter base for $30 on eBay.
Some of the Highlander thread posts blame the rattle on the filter base clogging up over time and restricting start-up oil flow which could contribute to the rattle. With metal can oil filters that part is replaced every time as it is part of the new filter.
With this canister design oil filter using the same base over and over we keep re-using the same anti-drain back valve and spring and it gets dirty over time possibly restricting oil flow.
Someone described how to clean it in the HIghlander thread, but a new one was inexpensive. I may still try to clean my old one just to inspect it.

I then added 4 quarts Mobil 1 0w20 and 2.25 quarts Mobil 1 0w40 and a bottle of LiquiMoly M0s2 Molybdenum oil additive and after checking the level, went for a 30 minute ride to disperse the additive.
It has been quieter after these changes. Time will tell.

 

Thanks for the details. I am not hearing any start-up clatter when I drive my wife's 2015 RX350 (currently at 41,500 miles and still under the factory warranty until August 21st), but I will start paying more attention. I also do my own oil & filter changes and am currently running Mobil 1 0W-20. I will switch to Castrol Edge 0W-20 at my next oil & filter change because I got a great deal on 10 quarts of it during the 2018 end-of-the-year holiday sales.

 

Nope, I never brought it in. Shortly after buying it I changed the oil and used Amsoil with a Toyota filter. I haven't noticed the ticking.

 

I suspect it relates to Toyota changing to 0w20 oil to increase mileage and meet EPA specs and increase the oil change interval. When the same engine is used in the 2010 ES350 (my father had one) it called for 5w30 with a 5000 mile oil change interval! No difference in the engines.
The thinner oil does not stay in place as well on the VVT resulting in more noise on start up (the intermittent death rattle) and increased piston slap noise.

 

Recently, I was thinking about the 10,000 mile oil change intervals. Are they recommending it because more frequent oil changes will do nothing for the longevity of the car?

Or maybe, they think that about 150,000 miles is the “lifetime” of the car, and 10,000 mile oil changes, and no transmission service will get most of the owners to that point?

But if I change the oil every 5000 miles and service the transmission, my car will last 300,000 miles?

 

Being a GM LS fan boy I thought they were noisy engines.... Until I bought my first lexus lolll. Now on my 3rd RX they have all made some type of noise at idle. That I would not label as normal by any means its clearly a metallic tick. I would go to a different dealer