ukrkoz

Few months back I posted question about clunk in suspension.
Some of this ended in "Predicted reliability" thread also.
There was clunk at take off roughly in front of the left knee, driver. Also, clunk going over bumps and potholes.

Took it to Lexus of Tacoma here in WA. This would have been 2 week tomorrow car spent there.

Here's findings:
1. "left knee" clunk is brake accumulator resetting itself. It's located in roughly that area, right on the firewall, below the brake master. I found it to be true, as I also noticed same noise, just more faint, in wife's RX350 and loaner ES350 I am driving now.
2. Initially, they thought is was left strut making noise and replaced it. As this didn't fix the problem, they replaced right hand side strut also. Problem stayed, as in - suspension clunk going over bumps/potholes.
3. They called me and informed of all this and said that they are waiting on Lexus engineer to come over to diagnose it, as their techs ran out of ideas.
4. They called me today and informed that they put "suspension ears" onto the car and drove it.
5. Final fix: SUSPENSION BOLTS WERE LOOSE. They re tightened all suspension bolts and problem was gone. My first question, of course, was - Is it factory assembly done that way, as car has only around 28 000 miles or so, and I am very conscientious driver. I avoid bumps and potholes. To which service guy told me that he does not think so, prolly was driven on rough roads, and so on. That in mind, I have never actually seen a car that will self loosen suspension bolts and I work on my cars since 1990. Toyotas and Lexi included. Never. Even on much less quality oriented vehicles. Never. Gods, my 2005 Dodge RAM with 160 000 miles and after being in double end collision, has entire suspension solid like a tank.
6. Then he gave me spiel about how important it is for me to get them do 30 000 and 40 000 service, as if I don't do it once a year at Lexus, they may reconsider warranty. To the tune of $600 and $850 each time. As, otherwise, I may lose power train warranty due to turbo maintenance done at 40 000 miles...

Thought I'll pass the word.

gompka

iTrader: (6)

Nothing in the manual about any turbo maintenance done at 40,000 miles, other than inspecting the air to water coolant. I've had a few turbo cars and never was there any maintenance done or required to the turbo... If they are feeding you this b/s i wouldn't trust them on anything else they say. Unfortunately, some dealerships suck for this reason. I am lucky enough to know a lot about cars and have a good dealership, so this kind of garbage doesn't fly. As long as they fixed your car though i would be happy, you will always have some problems here and there, some people just get unlucky, especially pessimists like yourself. The manual does mention tightening the drive shaft and suspension bolts fairly often if towing or carrying significant weight int the car. I tighten my hitch bolts every few months and they are sometimes slightly loose, maybe 2-3 ftlbs.

ukrkoz

That is dandy. Though I do not appreciate any personal judgements, I am WELL familiar with service guys tactics due to simple nature of DIYing several Toyotas and two Lexi for years. With warranty never questioned by dealer.
Point to my report is simple.
Vehicle with low mileage has critical components loose. Actually, even service guy dared to say that he has never seen anything like this before. Since 1990, after MANY cars worked on, such problem was never witnessed by me to occur on its own.
Logical conclusion - it's factory. QC.

gompka

iTrader: (6)

Not judging, definitely shouldn't have happened, but I'm glad its fixed. Let us know if you experience any problems with it again. This is interesting to me since i tow my scamp rv 10-12 times a year so i can imagine anything coming loose would happen sooner in my case with the extra stress on car/suspension.

CrazyChino

brook41

ukrkoz

Just a little note before I go to bed.
1. I absolutely enjoyed ES350 loaner. That V6 is mighty nice. Mighty. Hard working, even with turbo, 4 cyl we have just is not on the same plane to be compared.
2. it felt much better to sit in NX though. Higher seating, I guess. As much as I liked ES, NX simply feels better.
3. And as pleasant bonus, those new struts in the front sure do feel very good. VERY. Like a new car.
I'd absolutely love to have that V6 in my NX. Of course, now they have it with turbo and just released V8......

ukrkoz

Thank you!. This is excellent reminder. Indeed, on a four banger, they are easy do... Plus it's direct injection engine, isn't it? They go different on requirements.

I am not comfortable driving a vehicles that tends to loosen suspension bolts on its own. Period. First time I see this happen on a Toyota. And I serviced and service 6 of them, 3 being Lexi. Only this one did it.
To be honest, I had some real POS cars, Russian Moskvitch included, and I never had self loosening suspension bolt. They are loktited and special thread and torque. Never.