Hi everyone,

There's been a recent annoyance that's appeared in my '03 SC 430 with 32K miles. I've noticed over the last 3 months that whenever I have the A/C turned on, after a few minutes, a soft chirping sound appears. It sounds very much like a cricket chirp to be exact, kind of high pitched, but continuous. It's even loud enough to hear over my music.

I realized that it came from the A/C because it was gone whenever I turned the A/C off.

I initially thought it might be from the belts for the A/C compressor, but I couldn't hear anything from the under the hood with the A/C turned on.

I'm thinking it might be something to do with how the coolant flows in the lines, but can't be sure.

Does anyone else have that issue? I'll probably have it looked at during my next oil change, but my warranty just ran out, so I'd like to go into the service office prepared.

Thanks for any help available.

 

Chirping sounds generally come from the belt. Spray some WD-40 or belt dressing on there to see if it goes away. If it does, change the belt.
If not, then other areas need to be addressed. Freon does not make that type of noise.
Is the noise present when the fan is on and the A/C off?
Lee

 

Maybe Bigbird got stuck in the intake

 

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the info. I didn't try to hear for the noise with the fan on but A/C off, but will try that tomorrrow.

Yeah, I must've been going really fast to make Bigbird fit through my front grill.

 

i had this on my RX. they replaced the bushings/bearings in there and it solved the problem. i know EXACTLY what you are talking about, it is a faint chirping and is annoying as hell.

in our SC it wasn't a chirping, it was more like a faint whistle, and that issue they said was normal after comparing to some other SC's. go figure.

 

Hi Lexuslover,

Thanks for the pointer. Can you remember which bushing/bearing did they change for the fix? Was it for the A/C compressor?

Yeah, I don't think it's a functional issue just yet, but it might be when the rotation resistance of whichever shaft increases, and it might cause something to sieze up.

Thanks again.

 

i have the same issue...a really annoying faint chirping sound (with normal/auto climate control settings) only when the a/c is on. turn the a/c button off and it disappears.

the could definitely hear it at the dealership but they're saying the service tech did not find anything "failed or abnormal".

LexusLover>> i would live to know what brushings/bearings were replaced on your RX

 

So would I as bushings/bearings are generally not replaced or available for A/C compressors unless you are rebuilding the entire unit. The A/C clutch is often times replaced on cars, but not the bushings/bearings themselves.
I would try the belt first-WD40 to see if the noise goes away.

 

i couldn't find my paperwork on the RX repair so i just emailed my SA and asked him to look up the history. hopefully he'll respond soon and i'll post the results ASAP.

just to be clear - the "chirping" was a faint bird-like chirp from A/C. if you turned the fans off, then the chirp would slow down while the fans stopped turning and then the chirp would disappear. if you turned on the A/C after that, it would slowly start up again. this happened 100% of the time by the time i had it looked at.

the faint "whistle" or "hiss" from the SC vent was totally different. less annoying than the RX but still irritating. this symptom the dealer said was present on other SC's and therefore normal. i didn't bother complaining about it for too long since i was selling the car, so i am not sure if it was really normal.

 

ok, here was the response from my SA:

"We diagnosed the car as having noisy blower motor bearings and replaced your blower motor assembly."

hope that helps in your quest to get it fixed. i know how annoying it can be!!

 

Thanks for sharing, that makes sense. Also, sometimes small debris can get caught up in there and make some noise if the filter is not properly seated.

 

would anyone be so nice as to post a picture oh which belt to WD-40 the hell out of? There are so many belts compacted into that jam-packed hood!

 

There is only one belt visible and reachable under the hood. It is the serpentine belt that is visible and located in front of the motor when the hood is open and you are standing in front of the car looking at the motor. It is about 1" wide and very long and also wraps around several pulleys. Spray only a little WD-40 or belt dressing while the motor is running but do not get too close to the belt with the can. WD-40 will not harm anything else so a precise hit is not required, just get it in the inside and outside of the belt.

 

Just sent my SC in for an oil change today at the dealership, so I told them to check out the chriping sound.

The SA came up with the same conclusion, bad blower motor. It'll cost $388.65 installed, but the SA said he would credit the 1/2 hour diagnostic labor fee into it also.

Quite a costly fix to silence a chirp! My company makes fans and motors, and I must say a blower motor is quite inexpensive, on the order of tens of dollars. I guess it's the Lexus markup...

 

NICE! i'm glad it was fixed. even though yours isn't under warranty, i think $300 is a small price to pay for your own sanity (just think - that's less than $1 a day )