jmcraney

I got to look at a 2010 LS460 today in Dallas TX. It was a beautiful car with some nice improvements such as turn-signal mirrors, LED tail lights etc.

As for the "Cross Wind Fix" TSIB - it had not been incorporated in the car that I looked at. The area around the sides and lower corners of the windshield were exactly like my '07 LS460. I have not seen any reports that it was effective, so I doubt that it will be put on future cars.

creekgolfr

I want to thank Jmcraney for his fix. After purchasing my 2008 LS460 last year I have had the car in two dealerships a total of six times for wind noise. Initially I had a slight noise on the drivers side. The selling dealership had it for two days with no improvement. A second dealership did the fix to add the new glass, additional insulation, etc. on both sides. Afterwards the car was quieter but had developed a very objectionable noise on the passenger side. (Drivers side noise gone) The next visit they used a sound level meter (c weighted) and checked out all of the work they had done the first time. No change in noise. The next visit was with the Lexus tech service rep. He installed the "hockey sticks". The cross wind issue actually seemed slightly worse and the noise issue was still there. I went back to the dealership where I purchased the car and they kept the car for 5 days. No change. Back to the other dealer and the Lexus tech service rep. He looked at the car and proclaimed it ok: he said that the noise level was below average. Needless to day, I was livid. I talked with the service manager and his only recommendation was arbitration. This was this past Monday. I looked and drove the 2010 BMW 7 series and also began looking on the web and found Jeff's fix. I immediately took off the triangle on the passenger side and performed the fix using sheet metal. Today we drove the car and we do not have to purchase a new car! My wife does not hear the wind noise.....it is GONE!!
I followed the fix closely, using a 30g sq. duct half from Lowes and GE sealant. I cut the sheet metal with straight tin snips. I used the same glue arrangement as Jeff.
I will leave the drivers side as is for now...triangle is tight and it is quiet. Thanks again Jeff!

jmcraney

Let's do the victory strut for creekgolfr:

daryll40

JNCraney should collect $500 per car from Lexus. He's sure saving them MUCH more than that.

davedan

brought 09 awd swb in for wind noise on 12-14-09 dealer called 12-15-09 told me there is a tsb for cross wind noise on driver side front a pillar they are going to do passenger and driver side service mgr said it was not as extensive as the 08 fix i went to a number of sight found the 07-08 tsb nothing on 09 i will try to get copy of tsb when i pick up wish me luck

jmcraney

davedan,

I am sure everyone in this discussion wishes you and Lexus well in your quest for a solution to your wind noise problem.

From what you have told us it's hard to tell what TSIB is being implemented.

If it is the TSIB titled "L-SB-0033-09 Crosswind Turbulence Noise at Highway Speeds" I would suggest that you not allow the dealer to put this on your car. There are no reports from anyone that this helps and some believe that it detracts from the car's appearance.

jbfm2008

My Wind Noise Experience: In June 2008, I purchased an 08 SWB at Park Place Grapevine (TX). Beautiful; Levinson; and Nav. It was the exact color I wanted (red) -- they had to get it in a dealer trade from Houston for that color. I paid around $69,000 because I had no negotiating leverage for a car not on the lot, and the economy had yet to fully tank. I planned to drive it for 200k miles.

I immediately experienced wind noise. 3 efforts by the dealer to fix it over 6 months, and they finally acknowledged that the problem was a design defect and that it could not be fixed. Despite their inability to fix the problem, as always I was extremely impressed with the professionalism and candor of the Park Place staff.

I am lawyer, and I wrote a threatening letter to Toyota demanding a buy back. I truly was hoping only that, after receiving the letter, corporate would take notice, and they would get the problem fixed. Other than the wind noise, I loved the car. Instead, within a week I got a letter offering to buy back the car for 100% of what I paid, including taxes, tags, dealer add on's, and extended warranty. Initially they wanted to pro-rate the warranty but, after I balked, they paid the whole thing. Bottom line is that I drove it for 7 months/10,000 miles, and all that I paid was gas and insurance. I presume they were hoping to avoid legal expense knowing that I could proceed for free.

After Toyota re-purchased the vehicle, I went to Park Place Plano (couldn't face my salesman at Grapevine, because they took back his commission 7 months after it was paid) to buy a 350. I drove the 300 for 8 years with no problems and loved it. After 7 months with the 460, even with the windnoise, the 350 seemed like junk. The sales rep told me that, although it was 2/09, they still had 5, brand new 2008 460's for sale (all black, not my favorite color). I test drove one, and, although suspicious, bought it because it was only $51,000 (no nav/no levinson). Thought that, at that price, I could live with wind noise if it arose (no wind noise on test drive). 2 months later, the wind noise reared its ugly head. I'm not taking it back -- at that price, I can live with an imperfection, and I have for 8 months.

Unlike the last car, it is not a constant sound unless it is a windy day or highway speed. It often is more of a "puffing" that makes you check to see if the window is down. It's actually better with the window down. Even with the window up, you can hear passing cars as if the window is down. At highway speeds, it takes the CD player to hide a constant and annoying noise. I haven't complained to Lexus because I figure I don't really have a basis to complain given my history. The bottom line is that I'm ready to try the DIY fix.

When I was in High School, I attempted to re-build the carburator on my old pickup. When I saw it being towed away to get a new carburator after I had destroyed the old one, I swore I would recognize my limitations and never work on a car again. I was wondering if, among those who have done the now famous McRaney fix, you could provide some insight as to how tricky it is, and how badly the downside is if the repair is botched. Also, does anyone have any experience with finding someone to do it in the Dallas area for a fee?

Thanks in advance, and sorry such a long post.

cmasten

something that worked for me was to just use a shiny black caulking and to fill in the gaps between the triangular piece and the vehicle. I didn't take it off and fill in all the gaps, just the edge of the triangle and its fine for me.

I figure its easy enough, that if I do need to take them off and seal the whole area I can try that later, this was just 5 min a side for starters and it may work for you also.

jmcraney

jbfm,

Check the Private Messages feature on this site for a message.

Jeff

jmcraney

cmasten,

You may be missing an opportunity for a much more significant improvement by not adding the metal patches behind the trim. It has been pointed out in this discussion several times that the problem in not all about stopping air infiltration by sealing around the trim. When the trim is not firmly attached to the car there seems to be diaphram-effect or vibration that must be dealt with by incresing the damping of the trim. Putting the metal patch under the trim is one way to do that. There are numerous reports in this thread of owners taping around the edges of their trim and adding sealant around the edges and then moving on to the metal patch with great success. There are also reports of dealers using the sealant-around-the-edge approach with marginal success.

cmasten

understood, but I dont think the issue was that noticeable on mine. Its pretty quiet on both sides up to about 80 mph and with a touch of silicone its completely gone. Maybe at some point Ill take the pieces off and apply your patch, I appreciate the write up

jmcraney

Let's do the victory strut for cmasten:

Here is an item that was posted today in another thread. It is directly related to the two post in this thread immediately above this post.

Thank you "cmasten" for sharing this wisdom with us!!!

jarm

Hello Everyone:
I just received my car from the dealer for the 30K checkup and they did the window noise problem fix. They did all the updates as well as the JNCraney fix as well. (I asked, they said they had read his fix online and now implement it in the update) I can say there is NO WIND NOISE at all. Maybe Lexus got it together by now after all the complaints, with JNCraney's help. I nominated JNCraney Lexus technician of the year.


jarm

Synergy

Wow - congrats So let me get this straight, your dealer did the JNCraney's fix? Were the instructions in their mechanic system?

jarm

Dear Synergy:
I went by the dealer to see if my car was ready yet. The service rep said it would be this afternoon as they were still working on it. So after I left his office I just walked back to the service area. I wear a coat and tie so they thought I was a salesman. I found my car and told the tech who I was and tell me everything that he did to the car for the wind noise fix. He went over the 3 or 4 lexus tech memos. I asked if they had fixed the wind noise around the front area that we are talking about. He said yes they had read this and they had sealed it with sealant. I asked if this was a tech memo. He said they had read this online and now use this in their window noise fix. So I am looking over the car after I got it home and try to pull back the black triangle. It had be sealed with sealant. They had not cut a piece of steel to fit exactly like JNMcraney did but they had filled the holes and sealed all around the holes then replaced the black triangle piece. I will let you know if I have to completely seal around the edges too.

jarm