DaveJ

I took my GS300 to my dealer on Monday for the infamous windshield-dash noise problem. They had the car for about 1-1/2 days and they think the found the problem and fixed it. They determined the cause of the noise was on the outside under the plastic cowl at the bottom of the windshield. The service rep said the noise was caused by pins that presumably were used for alignment purposed during manufacturing. The rep told me they removed the pins which were no longer needed. He said this was the second time they've done this on an '06 GS to resolve the windshield-dash tapping noise. And they've done this in the past on an earlier model ES with the same problem.

Where I'm a little confused is the service report says they "insulated all contact points" under the cowl. So I'm not sure if they removed pins or insulated them. In any case, the problem appears to have been caused by these pins.

I drove the car about 20 miles in the cold and so far no noise. I'll post again if the problem returns.

foofighter

i wonder if it's the same noise i'm getting...it seems to be like two of the plastic pieces inside the car is rubbing on each other when you hit bumps etc

yon

Test drove a GS300 last night, and I think it probably would have the same issue. I remember my 2002 ES300 having this problem, which was more pronounced in cold weather when the plastic hardens up. After a couple of tries at the dealer, I ended up using electrical tape and foam between the plastic cowl and the metal car body.

Amazing that after all these years they still can't figure out how to make that cowl silent.

DaveJ

My noise sounded like tapping along the bottom of the windshield all along the dash. It seemed to do it only in cold weather, maybe less than 45 degrees. I believe others have this same problem. See this thread:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=195598

costanza

Dealer said they replaced my pins, but it still makes the noise. I'd be interested to know the actual steps in replacing these pins to see if there is something I can do to stop the noise.

scotts

The noise from my windshield is gone. It took them 2 times to fix it. The problem is from the pins and the cowl area. I dont know if they remove them or change them. I do know they had to pull the dash to fix it. I`m still getting a slight noise from the center of the dash around the nav screen area. T he noise is slight when driving on a rough road with the stero and hvac off.They also insulated with some kind of foam in many areasof the dash, thats why they had to pull the dash.I think the noise if from many areas of the windshield (top and bottom). my car brings me much joy once again and i will follow up on the other slight noises on my next service.

mcyc

I've taken my car to the dealership twice now for noise in the dash area. The first time it was fixed fro about a few weeks than the noise came back. I took it back again and they had it for about 2 1/2 weeks. After removing the windshield and dash to repair the problem, they were still unable to eliminate the rattle. Not only that, I think I have more wind noise now and they damaged some parts of the car so I have to take it back in again next week to get parts replaced. I am very disappointed with Lexus so far. Sure their service reps are nice and friendly, but it's not their car so they're not all that careful with it. My advice to everyone is that if you can live with a slight rattle, live with it. Otherwise you'll end up like me taking it back serveral times to fix what they damage when they try to eliminate the rattling.

foofighter

^^^ this is exactly the reason why I wont go through great lengths to get little squeeks like this eliminated...the solution sometimes causes more problems than the initial problem.

DaveJ

I agree with you guys about trying not to be too nit picky. That's why I'm hesitant to return to the dealer to have a little noise fixed from the right side of the dash around the speaker area. I don't want them to remove the dash. But if the solution involves just removing the speaker assembly, then maybe it's worth a shot. I think this noise goes away or is reduced when the cabin warms up.

But I will say the my tapping noise from along the bottom of the windshield is still silent, and it didn't involve any interior work. So this was well worth having the dealer look at it and correct. Now if it would only stay silent...

2006is350

You know i have noticed the same type of noise in my IS, it sounds like the dash is moving against the windshield. Like a tapping noise.

Barry O

Mine goes in next Monday for the noise. This started on the right side once in a while, now it is constant. About a week ago the same type of noise, only louder started coming from behind the gauge cluster. This is far worse than the noise from my SC430, and Lexus replaced the car it was so bad................

SGT

Just had these squeaking noises appear over the weekend when we got hit with a massive snowstorm. Driving over the partially plowed streets definitely amplified the squeaking. It sounded as if the dash was rubbing against the windshield and was extremely annoying. Not sure if I should mention this to the dealer when I bring my car in for 5k mile service, as others have mentioned that they may have fixed this problem, but caused others.

DaveJ

SGT, your problem sounds very similar to the symptoms my GS had. As I've mentioned at the beginning of this post, the problem resolution had nothing to do with removing the dash or anything very complicated. It was simply a matter of removing the cowl on the outside of the car and insulating the pins. If you're hearing this noise, I wouldn't hesitate having the dealer correct it. It's no big deal and you shouldn't feel as though it may create other problems.

Now if the noise you're hearing is something different than the cowl noise, that's a whole different story.

SGT

DaveJ, after they insulated the pins, all the squeaking disappeared? Has it returned since then?

DaveJ

The tapping noise along the entire dash/windshield area hasn't returned. I still get a little unrelated noise towards the far right of the dash, but this one I'll probably let go. And once the cabin warms up, the noise goes away.

See my first post of this thread. I'm not sure if they insulated or removed the pins. If you want, I can give you my Lexus dealer's name and service rep contact to give your Lexus dealer should you decide to take it in for repair. However, I think other people on this board have had the same repair done so I think it's becoming a common dealer procedure.