samsonn25

Hey guys, im on my 5th Lexus now, and 3 of them have been hybrids.

Previous cars 19992 ES300 235k, 2000 ES300 145k, 2007 GS 450h 263k, 2013 GS450h 130k

Current ride a 2013 ES300h I bought used at 166k now it has 234k

I have this suspension noise and its driving me crazy. its obviously coming from the front right somewhere, right around the wheel area. Makes the front right skip, stumble, shudder, feels llike crap, something is very very loose or broken, on any bump unless driving super slow. On highway at speed is not as bad because suspension doesnt move as much over the distance/time.

My FR struts were beat so I changed them out last December, things were good for a bit but not perfect. I put in an aftermarket FCS unit complete assembly (top strut mount, spring,, isolater, strut) ,

2 months later I am hearing these noises. assuming strut is ok because its only 2 months old and has a lifetime warranty, I then change Sway bar links, then Lower Ball Joint, then whole Lower control arm, then Top torque arm mount, then FR engine mount and not much has changed. Also recently did the FR wheel bearing because it was worn and also replaced the FR CV axle because the boot was leaking.

Now im thinking maybe is was a defective strut because I used an aftermarket assembly by FCS, so I got a low mileage complete OEM unit swapped it out last week and it did nothing to the noise and feeling that the FR is kinda loose on bumps.

What else could it be? I have chased down the usual suspects, and the only things left near that area are frame/body mounts/bushings, Inner/outer tie rods, Transmission mount. Power steering rack bushings.

Here are some videos I took.

They dont take MP4 here so I have to upload to youtube


The other videos are under 1 min so youtube makes them Short videos if you want to hear more, but it is stupid you cannot stop and rewind or go back and forth to a certain point in those short videos.

Clutchless

You have a broken cheap *** FCS complete strut assembly. If you replace it I bet your noise goes away. You said it has a warranty. You need to remove it and check it out or have a pro check it out. I suspect the strut mount broke or something in the strut mount or bearing fell apart.

samsonn25

Last week I swapped out the FCS unit for a complete low mileage OEM assembly (like I said in the post) and it did nothing. Now im thinking the FCS unit was actually ok.

BradTank

My shoot from the hip is something has not been torqued down properly. I wouldn't use FCS products, if you have to go cheap, go KYB instead. I know you said you switched back to some used struts, but the fact this noise came shortly after you replaced the struts with FCS makes me think something with the install or part is at fault.

Really everything suspension wise probably needs to be rebuilt at 234k miles. Outer tie rods are usually one of the early things that go out on suspensions. At 234k miles, I'd be shocked if they don't need to be replaced.

I wouldn't shotgun anymore parts, a decent suspension shop should be able to throw this on a lift and figure out what's loose pretty quickly. It's not a subtle noise, something is really wrong and banging around under there.

Clutchless

I missed that part. Let us know what they find as the noise source.

samsonn25

It sure does sound like something is loose, or worn, or broken. My mechanic also said to bring to a suspension expert to check it out and they put on a ramp lift to see underneath or they can put the sound cameras on it.

Very puzzling since I did all the usual suspects already. Except the tie rod ends which I was going to do anyway at this mileage.

Also puzzling is the strut swap didnt change anything, now I am thinking the FCS is actually ok. LOL

samsonn25

UPDATE

Had my mechanic check things out again today to test a theory and check for play in Tie rod ends today. He drove it to another nearby mechanic for a second opinion and they noticed the FR motor mount nut was loose, presumably from the last time we did it, my guy probably forgot to tighten it because we were talking about the Front mount, and Tranny mount, in addition to the top torque arm we did. And the lower control arm.

Torqued it down tight, rechecked power rack nuts, end link nuts too. Torqued down RH engine mount seemed to help alot, will drive later this weekend to confirm.

OK so it didnt help much, I will probablu do the tie rods now.

samsonn25

Last UPDATE

Turned out the sway bar bushings were bad. This was causing 60% of the noise.
The other 40% of the noise was a loose brake caliper bracket bolt, which we probably did when we did the wheel bearing earlier.

SWAY bar bushings are very important, they are cheap but kinda pain in the *** to access the bolts. They control so much of the lateral load when we tested the left side which is good by loosening the left side bolt it sounded like crashing side from right side.

Sadly my car got flooded Monday and probably gonna be totalled at 257k by insurance company.