Coulter

I have an 1999 ES300 that has bad wind noise. I know this is a common problem, but it's something I want to fix, I can't just ignore it. I've tried the "ghetto" fixes like foam under the rubber, and I've put all sorts of rubber conditioners, but it's still there, and it's loud.

I've owned other cars that had "frameless" windows on really old and cheap cars, but they never had this bad of wind noise. The thing is, the weatherstripping is in great shape, it's not cracked or torn. The car has been a garaged car since new. The window is flush with the seals, so everything seems to be where it's supposed to be.

My concern is that the problem is not the weatherstripping, but something like the tension in the regulator for the window has given out.

Will new factory weatherstripping end the wind noise? I just don't want to buy new weatherstripping, take the time to install it, and have little to no improvement. Has anyone bought new rubber and found it "cured" the problem?

The car is so smooth and quiet, the wind noise just sort of ruins the whole experience. I'm amazed Lexus let these cars have such a major flaw, usually Lexus goes overboard with avoiding defects like this.

WAES300

Personally, I'm not sure what could fix the problem.. I too, notice the wind noise. However, on all the other cars I've driven (99 Ranger, 95 Pathfinder) the road noise were sooooo much louder than it is on the Lexus that I didn't notice the wind noise as much. I just chalked it up to the Lexus being otherwise extremely quiet- and overall it's the quietest car I've had.

Coulter

I definitely think the "quietness" of this car makes the wind noise seem louder, but it's still pretty loud. There's no way they left the factory sounding like this, customers wouldn't tolerate it on a premium luxury car.

I'm just wanting to know what's changed between now and when it was new. If its just the weather stripping losing it's shape, or if its the window that needs adjusting.

LeX2K

My car has the same problem. I found out it only happens when there is enough negative pressure to lift the side windows from the seal. When the glass actually does seal, the car is very quiet, but gets noticeable and annoying at times.

After some searching, I found this post. I think that applies to the 2002+ ES but not sure. I'd like to find a fix myself, what the car seems to need is less flex in the glass track/mount, it does move a bit when you press on it. Changing the rubber won't do anything, that is not the source of the problem (unless it is damaged in some way).

edit - that post must be for gen2 or gen3 ES, the 2002+ didn't have frameless glass. Okay after some searching those part numbers come up for various Toyota models, so now I'm confused. I hope someone else can shed some light on this.

PeterR1

Have you checked for any TSBs that address this problem on your car?
http://www.edmunds.com/maintenance/select.html

Coulter

Thanks for the link, that's a handy resource, but I didn't see anything for the wind noise.

I'm willing to pay for new weatherstripping, just not sure if it will fix the problem.

At low speeds, it's audible, but not too bad. It's at high speeds on the freeway where it can get really annoying. It makes the car feel really "cheap" when you hear wind whistling like that.

I really love this car, but I think the frameless window design was a huge screwup on Lexus part. I really don't think the "look" is anything special (especially on a 4 door) and it wasn't executed properly by Lexus. I've owned cars in the past that had this design, and the window rolls down a quarter inch when you pull the handle in order to seal better. Much better design.

I've also had to replace the passenger window regulator on the passenger side (not cheap) because it snapped (the new regulator didn't change the noise issue) It's just a complicated, poor design, and for what? You really can't tell it's frameless except when the door is opened and the windows are down. I can understand on a sporty, 2 door coupe, but on this car, why bother?

92ES5sp

You can pinpoint the leak with a garden hose and see where water leaks in from the outside. Or take a dollar bill around the top of the glass with the doors closed and find it. Its probably a combination of old weatherstripping and the actual window sagging due to wear and tear. The windows are adjustable btw

LeX2K

Can you be more specific? How is this done, by removing the door panel? Are the window tracks movable or something to that effect? What about the track that is part of the mirror, that seems to be fixed but I could be wrong.

Coulter

I was going to update this.

I think my problem in addressing this issue was the sound from the wind noise seemed to be coming from the top part of the window.

When I took my car through an automated wash, however, I noticed a little bit of water was only leaking from vertical back part of the window. I was trying to address the problem at the wrong part of the window.

I put some weatherstripping I got from Home Depot behind the factory weatherstripping to push it out on and make it "smoosh" harder against the window. I also moistened the seals with some dialectric type grease. It made a substantial improvement, and it definitely knocked the noise down, probably around 50%.

I'm pretty certain that factory new weather stripping would solve it altogether, I just can't justify the expense, and this "ghetto" fix is enough that it's not as much of annoyance any more.