gebo

Ok, then that must not be my problem.

gebo

I went out as a passenger this evening and the noise is almost nonexistent from the passenger seat. It is almost amazing in that as you move your head around, it is the loudest right where the driver's head ends up. Therefore, it is on the left side. I cracked open windows and it didn't matter. I ran my tires with 30 and 40 lbs of air with no difference. Does the fact it is on the driver's side head high help in the diagnosis?

rkw77080

Another culprit may be the rubber grommet where the transmission shifter lever exits the floor. You will have to get under the car to see it. Check to see if it has fallen off, or cracked. Be sure to move your shifter to "D" to replicate same condition when the noises occur. It may also be the seal around the sun roof.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

The way sound reflects can be quite interesting. The most notorious areas for wind noise is the windshield. This is what I suspect you are hearing.

Here is a thread from where I replaced my windshield a 2nd time due to a rock that cracked it.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...dshield-2.html

ancdmd

Gebo I have the exact same problem in my '02. It's as if the car has a mild case of tinnitus, or "ringing in the ears". It starts around 40mph and is constant all the way up through highway speeds, doesn't waver in volume or pitch, and really isn't as noticeable when you move to other areas of the cabin. It took a while for my fiancee to start hearing it from the passenger seat, and she thinks it's coming from above the shifter area. I started noticing this noise immediately after I tightened the driveshaft adjusting nut (that was another can of worms), but I'm not sure how it could be related to that nut, although I do believe it is driveshaft-related since it is independent of engine rpm's. I've had the driveshaft center support bearing go bad before so I know what that sounds like; I replaced mine a couple years ago so I really don't think the bearing is bad. I don't know if my windshield has been replaced, but if it was it was done at least six or seven years ago. I've thoroughly shin-etsu'd my rubber multiple times too. The rubber shifter seal on mine is deteriorated, I pulled a bit of the rubber off last time I was under the car. I do have the replacement rubber but I haven't gotten around to pulling the entire shifter out to replace it yet.

Tom57

Suggest that you carefully examine the plastic shields on the underside of the engine and fender underside corners to be sure they are flat and secured firmly. The advanced engineered aerodynamics of the LS requires that these shields be correctly installed and aligned. Even a slight change can make a difference. One way to test is to remove the front center shield under the engine and test to hear if wind noise is gone. There is a rear engine shield as well as other corner underside and wheel flap wind deflectors.

ancdmd

Not a bad idea. I've removed the large shield under the motor countless times, and it is definitely a little warped here and there, but it's been that way for years and this noise came about very recently. All the other ones are secure, I've thoroughly checked them. I removed the wheel flap deflectors eight years ago when I installed a body kit and didn't notice any difference then.

One thing I have wondered about is apparently there are small bearings in the front and rear ends of the driveshaft. The output shaft from the transmission goes into the front one and the pinion(?) shaft from the differential inserts into the rear one. Service manual states that if these bearings are bad then the shaft needs to be replaced. I haven't seen these bearings nor even heard of them going bad though.

Tom57

I haven't heard of those bearings going bad either, including on my '01 with 258K in a northern climate.