TruksRC

Hey Ya'll,
2015 RC, 40,000 miles. Went for a drive yesterday and right towards the end of the drive, the above mentioned whirring/humming/fan type of noise started up from what seems to be the area located in the center dash console kind of being the stock stereo area. I'm just wondering if somebody has run into the same scenario on their RC / Lexus or somebody with a lot more knowledge than me might be able to give me some direction to look into getting it fixed. Sounds like an electric motor fan or gyroscope that isn't healthy. Doesn't affect the actual driving of motor of the car in any way. Here is what I know:
~ Noise starts up with a single push of the start button (not starting car) and it continues to run for about 5-7 seconds after turning the car off, so whatever it is, just turning on the Auxiliary systems fires it up.
~ I have tried adjusting all variations of the climate control system to see if it is a stuck servo or something like that and it is not. The noise occurs with climate OFF and climate ON, Re-circ off or on, Auto or Manual or Dual climate and fan adjustments
~ I have tried the "bang on the side of the center console to knock it back into normalcy" approach with no success.
Any thoughts on what else might be in there to be making that noise?
The combined wisdom in a place like this is pretty amazing. I have gone from an IS300 to an IS350 to a GS350 and now the RC. I have searched the forum many times for help but haven't needed to sign up for any of those other issues until now, so Thanks for those times, and Thanks in advance if anybody can help on this.

m1919

Might be a cooling fan for the head unit.

I actually have a similar sporadic whirring sound on start when it's really cold. The sound will be present for 15-30 seconds or so and then disappears for me. I'm assuming it's a cooling fan that eventually quiets down once the fan bearings have warmed up. Once the sound stops, it doesn't come back again until the next cold snap, and that's not even consistent. I thought it was related to the climate control mixing doors, but it's not. Tried different combinations of vent settings and the sound doesn't appear related.

Since it's not readily reproducible, happens fairly rarely and my radio works without issue, I haven't been bothered to bring it in and see if the dealer will warranty it.

I did some searching a while back and it looks like some people had this issue on the GS as well.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...oise-help.html

TruksRC

After looking through that linked GS thread, I decided to pull the fuse on the Radio and that made the noise go away. Pretty sure I have that cooling fan going bad.
If / When I get adventurous, I'll update the thread in case somebody else runs into the same issue.
Thanks m1919!

m1919

You can probably fix the issue by lubricating the fan. I'm assuming it's not that big, probably just needs a little cleaning and a drop of 3 in 1 oil and it'll be good.