carfanmd

I am going crazy trying to find this ticking sound that comes from the glove box, front passenger seat area when the car is cold in the morning and I'm driving on uneven roads. I've had the glove box TSB done but to no avail. What I noticed today is that it helps if somebody is sitting in the passenger seat in the front so maybe its the seat that is making noise. It is very hard to isolate and reproduces itself on uneven roads when the car is cold. Any help would be appreciated. It is at the dealer now but I'm not confident they can find it. What makes this so hard is that it goes away as the car heats up and then returns later in the day or in the early morning when the car is the coldest. I hate these rattles!!

Mallory H.

It sounds like it may be in the area of the seat, a possible stress creak. I am going to try and help you. I first want you to run the seat all the way to the rear and lets see if you can hear the noise driving in that positition, Run the seat all the way forward lets see if you hear it in this posisition, Run the seat all the way to the rear but this time I want you to carefully put your hand under the seat and gently shake the wiring , take your fist and pound on the flooring of the seat area, run the seat forward about midway and pull up on the front and than the rear of the seat, pull up on each side of the seat, after you have completed these steps lets see what happens. When you pull up on the seat I want you to use enough force as to where you can feel it but as not to hurt yourself and as I do not know how strong you are please do not rip the seat out, we are just trying to get that flooring to flex a little at the seat tracks and center area by pounding on the floor. Be careful as to not cut your hands on anything sharp under the seat.
Good Luck

carfanmd

Thanks for the suggestion. I am picking the car up tomorrow from the dealer who heard the sound and "felted" some sort of post points. I don't understand it. If that does not work I will try your suggestion. Do you have experience with this type of rattle in the past? Happy new year and thanks again.

Mallory H.

It sounds like they may have found it. Let me know if it was at the seat area. I have always had exceptional hearing and squeaks, creaks and ratlles
drive me up a wall, I am pretty good at finding them and correcting them. It is hard to isolate some noises because of the way the noise can be telegraphed. In your case the noise appeared to becoming from the glove box or the seat, the glove box repaired did not stop it and your description of it makes me think it is at the area of the seat. a post point sounds like an area at the seat it could be metal to metal, plastic to plastic or metal to plastic so they have put felt at that point to stop the materials from rubbing together or to put pressure at that point to stop the noise. You can sometimes get the same results by pulling or pounding around the area. It is a real challenge
to find these noises, but when you find it it is like hitting the lottery. The best I have seen was a retainig clip left in a transmission, a bolt in the floor pan up under a seat and a screw in an air duct in the dash and an inside window molding creak that I spent days trying to find because the creak was really coming from an outside window molding.

carfanmd

Car is still in the shop. They have not solved it. Still working it, though. Have to hand it to them for their efforts. Just FYI. Thanks.

ccds

Hope it gets fixed for you.

Sometimes it take a bit of time, I have found my dealer excellent

and they have never given up on any of my problems ( even little ones )

Mallory H.

The noise could be coming from the outside underneath the car. You may want to ask service if any of the info that I gave you would be of any help.
Keep me posted.

Good Luck!

Lexuskid

I am also having a squeaky sound coming from behind the rear passenger seat area (seat across driver’s side). It seems that the sound is more pronounced in the morning when the temperature is cold. When the Lexus mechanic sat in the afternoon (California in the afternoon gets warm), I felt like a liar. The sound was almost negligible or couldn’t be heard. I am getting very irritated with this sound, particularly after paying a steep price for such a luxury car.

Mallory H.

Look at my note to carfanmd, I would like for you to try the same thing.

carfanmd

I am almost at the end of my patience with this. I now have had the car in 5 times. Two times they say it was the glove box. Next they say its the knee airbag that needs insulation. Next they say its the A pillar that needs insulation. I picked it up last night and sure enough....did it again. Like other folks on this board it only happens when its cold but in the morning it sounds like a tapping sound. Very, very, very frustrating. I've had many Lexus before but lately I'm not at all happy with the rattles I hear. Even the loaner ES is a rattle trap. I'm going to give it a time or more and then I'm calling corporate. I feel bad for the techs as these are hard to find and they did not build the car. Yet I've owned the car for 1.5 months and its been in the shop on and off for weeks and weeks. I just purchased a Honda Pilot for 1/3 the price (as a third car) and I hear no rattles, nada. Why can't Lexus do that too. The LS is a nice car for a lot of its features but these squeaks and rattles are most annoying and most Un Lexus Like.

lexus111

I live in Vegas and this is my second winter with the car since I took delivery in Dec of 06 /// I have a little squeek rattle sound when it is cold.... which isn't very often here. It appears to be coming from my front side speaker grill and the area where the top front of the dash meets the front window. When it is warmer or after driving the car for a while it is gone. Mostly I only get the noise when I first drive the car in the morning. A little bump of the dash area and it goes away....not sure if this is the same as yours since I can barely hear it when its there. Hope you get yours fixed soon.