I have recently started to have the exhaust rattle on my RX330. It occurs every now and then when the car is on an angle or more particularly when going over a speed bump. I had been trying to find out where it was coming from and it looked to be the exhaust possibly touching the plate that seperates the exhaust from the spare wheel cover (which of course is plastic).

This is the part I am talking about.





Now the first part of me thinks that to resolve the issue it would be handy to put some padding there to stop it from rattling against the shield when the exhaust does move. The second part of me also thinks, it might be time to replace the rubber holders as they seem to be particularly soft and have quite a bit of give to them. Now for the interim I would want to put some padding on there. Has anyone does this, and what padding have they put there? Would exhaust wrap be the most obvious choice to wrap around the shield? Trying to find an inexpensive temporary solution. The long term resolution would be for the actual rubbber rings themselves to be replaced as well as having that small metal bit covered in some sort of wrap to prevent metal to metal touching (hence vibration and noise). Part of me also thought to remove the shield altogether, but worried that the exhaust may touch the plastic around the tyre and cause it to melt and possibly catch fire, as it does sway a bit.

Thoughts?

 

long-term solution, like you had already mentioned, is to replace the exhaust damper rings. short-term, maybe you can take the heat shield out and deform it so that it is further away from the exhaust?

 

Looking at it, how will that piece rattle? It is bolted to the body. You are saying your exhaust pipe moves and hits the shield?

Root cause would be excessive lateral sway of tyhe exhaust pipe? That's what you need to look at. Good luck.

Padding or bending it is a treatment of the symptom, not killing the root cause.

 

It's not the piece that rattles, but the exhaust itself does have a fair bit of play on it. I can move it quite easily side to side, it's not uber stiff as you would expect it to be. I suspect the rubbers themselves have probably reached their end of life and is allowing the extra free play that it shouldn't have. I will deform that shield when I get a chance for a short-term solution.

 

Let us know how much those rubber hangers are. Good luck.

 

Replace the rubber hangers or bend the shield.

 

My rx330 started rattling from the area underneath the driver's seat. Soon it sounded like a needed a muffler. Found I had a hole in the center pipe. Fixed it temporarily with a soda can and some muffler tape. Brought it to the dealer and was told he'd have to replace the pipe for $2350. I was floored!!! I asked why they wouldn't just fix the pipe and was told "we don't do that". I brought it to my local muffler shop and he welded the pipe for $65. Is there something wrong with this picture? Don't let the Lexus people tell you you need a new pipe.

 

what is the best way to test for a leak, besides hearing it.

 

I had an exhaust rattle in a different brand and it turned out that the heat shield was mostly fine but the bolts holding it to the unibody had started to rust out. The heat shield is formed around the muffler and it has flat edges where the bolts go through to the unibody. So, when the bolts started to rust away, the bolt holes in the heat shield rusted through, enlarging them, and the heat shield was able to rattle around. The fix? Not elegant but it worked. I was able to grab the remnants of the bolt and back them out. I put original sized bolts in with oversize washers to grab the edges of the bolt holes in the heat shield and snug it down.

 

How were you able to do this without removing the muffler?

 

Either he had really small hands or you have to drop the muffle. Easy? Maybe with 2 people and or a lift. Then hope you don't break off the bolts. How's that for a 10 years later answer....LOL!!