uahogs

I have searched the forum and can't find a problem similar to mine. Background, purchased a 2003 GX470 with 35K miles from a good friend of mine. The GX now has 37K miles.

When highway driving, when I'm 'in the gas' somewhere between 65-70 mph there is a distinct "wawww wawww wawww" noise coming from the front. There is "slight" vibration felt in the floor - but a definite noise. It's not a whine; it's not tires as the ones I have are less than a month old; and the noise is only heard when in the throttle. Coasting - no noise; below 65 - no noise.

Has anyone else experienced this? It sounds like a CV joint could be the culprit - but wanted to hear back from other owners.

DallasGX

Well I would start by asking your good friend if he has heard anything similar to what u r describing. could be the driveshaft. i think they had some earlier problems with shafts before.

cssnms

This is an issue Lexus is aware of - see below for details. Lexus will cover the costs of the repair if your vehicle is still under warranty. In this case it would be the powertrain warranty. It involves a pretty extensive repair.

TSIB DL001-08 (2003–2008 LEXUS GX 470); DRIVELINE VIBRATION/DRONE BETWEEN 55 - 75 MPH
Customers of some 2003 – 2008 model year GX 470 vehicles may complain of a vibration/drone felt in the floorboard or seat when maintaining steady speeds between 55 and 75 mph.

Wronglane

"TSIB DL001-08 (2003–2008 LEXUS GX 470); DRIVELINE VIBRATION/DRONE BETWEEN 55 - 75 MPH
Customers of some 2003 – 2008 model year GX 470 vehicles may complain of a vibration/drone felt in the floorboard or seat when maintaining steady speeds between 55 and 75 mph. "


Is this TSIB directly related to the driveshaft or is it something else?

uahogs

Thanks for all the responses. Although is it somewhat of a bummer, the Lexus warranty expired at 5 years (May of '08) or 30K miles.

What bugs me the most is the previous owner took it in just before 30K miles for a full inspection. They did minor things like replace the battery, windshield wipers, interior light, etc. Previous owner only drove this Lexus in town - so 45-50 mph was her max - for road trips she used her larger vehicle. So I guess you could say this was just a 'run about' for her. Anyway...

After we purchased we notice the driver seat lumbar didn't work - took it to the dealer and they said the motor was out and would cost around $500 to replace. We noticed a 'pulsing' in the brakes - dealer said rotors were warped and needed replaced - another $300.

But, the service person said he would talk to the owner about cutting us a break on the lumbar and rotors as those things should've been found during the inspection back in February. That was almost 4 weeks ago and I cannot get a return phone call from the service contact - and no one seems to know anything. I 'scheduled' an appointment to take it in on Monday to get answers. Argh!

Even though I LOVE my Lexus, I am not impressed with customer service with the only dealer we have in our state.

cssnms

Disappointing to hear about your negative experience with the dealer. For the benefit of other CL members please post which dealer it is.

This problem is covered uner the Lexus Powertrain Warranty, (see link below) which is good for 72 mo or 70k miles. Take it in and ask the dealer to address the TSIB under the powertrain warranty. Bring in supporting documentation in case they give you a hard time.

http://www.lexus.com/models/LS/warranty/index.html

Let us know how it turns out.

cssnms

Different issue then the driveshaft. Has to do with the differential. See below for repair details.

http://toyota.justanswer.com/uploads...gx_droan_1.pdf

uahogs

The dealer is Eskridge Lexus in OKC.

I talked to my friend (whom I bought the GX from) and asked her about customer service. I explained our issue with no return calls/response. She said she's never had a problem with the service guy - he typically calls within an hour of her calls.

Guess I'll chalk it up to the fact that I didn't purchase the car 'new' from the dealer so I'm not a priority customer.

DallasGX

word of advice. get her to call the advisor and explain the situation, it might help. being an old customer helps. I have bought several Lexus in the last 12 years and I do the same for my close friends and believe me it helps.

Booyah

Hell word of advise--cruise on into the dealership and have a little face-to-face time!!

hoonami

i was driving home tonight and just noticed this same "wawww wawww" sound and slight vibration on expressway doing 60-75mph. printing this TSIB tomorrow and taking it to the dealer.
-uahogs
did you ever get yours fixed? my bumper2bumper warranty expired in 08, but this one would fall under powertrain which is good til 6yr/70000miles.

hoonami

okay just got back from the dealer, they test drove the car and said they didn't notice/hear anything unusual they said. but i definitely heard it last night. so i even had tech come out and test drive it with me, but he said he can't perform TSIB unless they can verify the issue, now what do i do? do i take it to different dealer? call lexus? what are my option, has anyone in CL got this TSIB performed on their GX? this sound and vibration is really light, they just don't take it as serious. any thoughts?

thanks,
Tae

cssnms

If this is something that is really bothering you escalate it to the service manager. Before you head down the repair road, because it is an extensive repair, ask to take a "loaner" GX home for a day or two to see if you can duplicate the noise. I only suggest this because there could be a possibility what you are hearing is normal drive train noise that you have become more sensative to after reading this thread. The symptoms related to the TSIB are an abnormally loud droan and in some cases vibration of the seats and floor board.

uahogs

I found some info online, on these message boards somewhere, and I emailed it to hubby, here it is:
This is an issue Lexus is aware of - see below for details. Lexus will cover the costs of the repair if your vehicle is still under warranty. In this case it would be the powertrain warranty. It involves a pretty extensive repair.

TSIB DL001-08 (2003–2008 LEXUS GX 470); DRIVELINE VIBRATION/DRONE BETWEEN 55 - 75 MPH
Customers of some 2003 – 2008 model year GX 470 vehicles may complain of a vibration/drone felt in the floorboard or seat when maintaining steady speeds between 55 and 75 mph.

With that said, he printed and took in to Lexus dealer, had the head tech ride with him, and he confirmed what we were hearing. They ordered the parts and repaired my GX today. Here is what they did: (1) replaced catalytic convertor (was getting rotten egg smell on throttle); (2) replaced drive chain in transfer case, and (3) added noise damper. Hubby drove car home, about 13 miles, and said it was 'perfect'. We are SO lucky that it fell within the warranty, I only have 35k miles on it, but will time out May '09.

hoonami

glad to hear everything worked out for you,
question...when it was making that "waww waww waww" noise, was it really noticible? or did you really have to pay attention to hear it? and how was the vibration? was it really noticible as well? i too heard similar noise and felt slight vibration couple nights ago and when i took my GX to local lexus and test drove it with a tech, he didn't notice anything abnormal. i don't know if i am being little too sensitive... but it's quite annoying.... but again glad to hear it all worked out for your uahogs!!