My car does the same thing once I hit city roads after an hour + trip on the highway. It's a pretty noticeable whine too.

 

Maybe a lexus pro tech can chime in

 

My car has always made the wining sound from day one,...it's normal, probably the serpentine belt and accessories.

 

Or.....the Lexus secretly has a turbo...shhhh...

 

Yeah that's exactly what it sounds like, a turbo whine. If it's not the serpentine belt, it's probably just the timing chain. And one reason I might be noticing this whine especially on my IS350 is that it's the first car I've owned with a timing chain as opposed to belt. Maybe the nature of it being a chain causes a whine, as opposed to a belt.

 

We all have it, but only a select few of us choose to hear it. From what Lexus told me its the result of the timing chain and direct injection. Back when Lexus was being developed they opted for a timing belt instead of a timing chain because of how quiet it was. Over time technology has made the timing chain quieter and also more reliable, so this is my guess as to why Lexus switched. It did however affect the quietness of their cars. My GS430 and ES300 are dead silent, the IS350 not so much. It doesn't bother me, but I do notice the whine.

 

I hear whine while accelerating, and TICK TICK when I am idleing adjacent to wall barriers or drive throughs.....I had one person ask if something was wrong with my car......I repsonded with, "Something is wrong with your face !"..... grabbed my food, and left in a huff....haha

 

Sounds like this is probably the only thing we can do about this sound haha.

I'm no longer concerned about the whine, as it sounds like it's something every IS350 has, annoying though it may be. Thanks for all your responses!

 

Hahaha...I had the best mental picture of this as I read it.

But yea the whine is normal on the 350's and I actually kind of like it myself.

 

Only solution to diagnose this now would be to run it w/o the timing chain and see. LOL, J/K.

Just got mine a few days ago and have definitely noticed the ticking and thanks to this site I knew exactly what that so...was I do get other sounds from the engine bay. I'll have to take more time to look into this. But like most have said, since it is rpm-dependant, it probably the chain.

GL!

 

Our motor is very awkward sounding during normal acceleration IMO. The only distinctive whine I hear is when I'm on the freeway and I let off the gas completely than accelerate again (5% throttle) I can hear a low whine come and go as I'm doing this.

 

looks like this thread is back and since its back i might as well chime in. i've had this whine since the day i bought the car and i love it. it sounds like a supercharger and all my friends like that sound and they think my car is supercharged . based on the research i've done this sound is normal but again i'm not 100% sure. also, as far as i know the timing chain doesn't need any replacement what so ever. if anyone else has more input on this please let us know.

 

Im 100% sure nobody has a 350 with out that whine. If it walks and talks like a duck, then it's a duck.

 

My SC400 had a whine too,
It was the radio static!!

 

Timing chain noise wouldn't be a whine, it would be more like a chatter, think of your old bicycle chains. The accessory belt would make a whine if it is slipping on a pulley. Easy to check, as has been posted here and on another thread. Other potential causes:

- If it happens when it is cold only, then secondary air pump may the culprit
- vaccum leak in one of the hoses
- fuel injector pump may be noisy

The last one is starting to sound more likely with the 350 as there is actually 2 fuel injection system on the 350, the DI fuel rail and the individual injectors through the intake valves.