busbyrg

2013 RX350 F Sport: There is a noise coming from the rear hatch door after the vehicle is "shut off". This happens infrequently and requires restarting the vehicle and turning it off again to stop the noise. Problem is, it is not always detected until I come to use the vehicle again. Sounds like a whirring and sometimes clicking noise, like a motor is trying to engage. My concern is running down the battery or damaging whatever motor is making the noise. Would like to hear if anyone has a solution to this infrequent, random occurring noise.

afpj

Can you please post a clip of the noise? From your description sounds like the little motor that completes the closure of the rear hatch ( not sure what it's called). At least in our 2010, if you don't close the hatch completely, a motor closes it the rest of the way to latch it. Curious if you notice if the dash shows the rear hatch ajar when you get the noise. If so, could be the sensor. On a more global scale, weird electric stuff happens when the battery is about to die. Consider getting your battery load tested...this would be the simplest explanation.

RX in NC

^^ Good advice above regarding checking your battery. These factory batteries are mediocre at best and when they begin to fail, many different types of electrical gremlins can indeed occur.

Non

Is this noise starting immediately after you stop the car? Or does it start some time later?

If it starts later and comes from the gas tank area it may be normal, the car runs some sort of vac test sometimes.

Maybe next time wait 10 minutes, it may stop on it's own.

busbyrg

Thank you for your excellent response. Unfortunately, this noise occurrence does not happen often, and to date, has only been noticed when we return to the vehicle, not when we leave it. In the future, we plan to be more observant of any noise as we leave the vehicle. Should the noise occur again, we will record the noise. We have taken note of your two points regarding complete closure of the rear hatch door and the dying battery. These both make sense. When the noise (back of the rear back seat passenger door) has happened in the past, I believed it to be coming from an incomplete closure of the rear hatch door. I did look at the dash during the noise occurrence, but did not see any warning light regarding this door not being closed properly. In each occurrence, the noise disappeared after the vehicle was restarted, or in one case, the door was opened and closed again. In our case, the noise appears to be from the rear hatch door open/close motors and not from a test of gas vapors from a nearly empty gas tank (as others have suggested). The battery was only 1 year old during the last occurrence of the noise, but a load test can't hurt, and may help. I will update this thread, should the noise reoccur. Thank you again for your response.

busbyrg

Thanks. I will remember to wait the 10 minutes.

daddiojigg

I think my wife's Rx is doing the same thing: A whirring sound and then a click? i thought it might be something to do with the power hatch. I'm not in it enough lately to decipher and i really don't have much time lately.

Clutchless

I suspect the noise is just the fuel vapor purge motor that activates sometime after the vehicle is shut down. Nothing else would have power if the vehicle was shut down.
I park in my garage and the first time I heard it was when I went into the garage sometime after parking and I too thought something was wrong with the car. However it is designed to operate that way. It shuts off after a predetermined amount of time or vapor expulsion.

daddiojigg

I had a '08 Expedition with a 'hum'. Turned out to be my rear wiper motor running on. Wiper arm was not moving at all. All i did was pull the fuse. Problem solved until it rained but rear wiper functioning was not vital but not draining battery was.