johnp

Anyone notice that the headliner begins to make a drumming noise when you go over bumps? When I drive over the divider dots on the highway the headliner and maybe some of the inside panels begin to make noise, like a loud rattle or a drum beating. Dealer says this a characteristic of car. Any of you notice it and have you got it repaired? If so, how?. I have stuffed some foam up there but to no avail.

Thanks

LexRX

I haven't come across that, but be aware that if the front seatbelts aren't thoughfully rested properly after use they will begin to rattle against the side. Kind of a bumping sound...that's no it is it?

johnp

Thanks LexRx- but the noise occurs even with all the seatbelts buckled. Some of the noise comes from the sunshade. The noise can be made to happen by slamming the doors or the hatch. Any ideas?

ShaggyRogers

Just a guess...maybe it's the roof rack. Check to see if the cross bars are tighted down.

parula

I have this too, just one of the many annoying rattles or odd noises the dealer days is either normal or they can't do anything about, though I must say they have worked with me to fix some of them.

It sounds like the sunroof shade but I have held that and still heard the noise.

sigh.

johnp

Parula-

Thanks for your response.

My dealer tells me that rattling/drumming is normal, I have trouble accepting that. Did you attempt to stuff any foam between the headliner and the roof? I am tempted to do so in the rear where it is easily accessible.

Thanks

steelgtr

I have the same noise, along with too many others This car has really been a disappointment because of this. I bought a Lexus because I wanted to be sure ti have a tight, quiet vehicle. My 11 year old Toyota truck is tighter

bob

parula

I have checked the tightness of the roof rack and had it totally replaced with the later model to minimize wind noise very prevalent on the 99 with sunroofs and fwiw I do not believe the drumming is the roof rack, mine is TIGHT. I did not try stuffing anything in the headliner but I did consider it. Based on your experience I am concerned that there is no easy fix?? Is it even remotely possible that the roof metal is too thin and is warbling, I have only noticed this drumming at high speed......

I too have heard "its normal" too many times for my $35k money if you know what I mean. I didn't pay that for a bunch of rattles as normal. My local dealer said they will fix what they can hear and have been pretty good, but what I can hear and they aren't always the same thing.

See my post on the other thread today about a fix I made for at least part of the rattly rear hatch latch mechanism, which is the fix for the OEM version that has failed apparently enough to warrant a bulletin. The dealer had no idea how to do that apparently from a prior attempt, until we opened it up together and I had the carpet foam with me to place beneath the rattly tie wire to the latch I found by probing around. Now when I close the rear hatch it is as quiet and solid, or pretty close, in my opinion as my 16.5-year-old Honda Civic rear hatch with the neat little spring loaded bumpers Honda designed that still work fine. Steel I can really relate to your comment about your old Toyota, unfortunately.

Frankly. if LX is paying attention to their business and reading these posts on BBs I'll bet the next RX will be quieter, I am thinking that this stiffer RX suspension was just too new for their engineers to get the rattles out of compared to their other smoother riding cars. Has anyone driven the Acura or BMW SUV to compare rattly buuzy and other sounds. I test drove the BMW but on such short rides I can't say I noticed anything.

I have a bunch of "buzzy" rattles that go off at higher speeds on sharp bumps, like concrete road dividers. I have found one or two but the rest are total mysteries and the dealer seems to have no clue what they are. Dashboard rattles are persistent and very annoying too in my opinion. I even tried deflating my tires and still had most of the rattly noises. The glove box rattles never did get totally fixed even afer several LX bulletins. I am sure the last rattle there is in the lock cylinder which on mine is very loose inside, I have packed foam around the thing but it still goes off on rough roads. I can't figure out how to get inside the cylinder to stop the rattle there, any ideas, pleassseeeee?? Arghhh. .

Know you are not alone. Sorry for the long post but I have spent many hours trying to find these noises and I am very frustrated.

If LX would pay me I could make their cars super quiet as I think I can detect things they can't. but from your posts some of you have obviously noticed the very same things.

johnp

Parula-

You seem as dedicated as I am at eradicating rattles and strange noises. We had a buzzing this past winter which also came from the headliner. I stuffed some foam between the headliner at the sunroof area and the reinforcement bar that holds the dome light and the noise went away. I told the Lexus dealer about it and he removed my foam and installed his own (wimpy stuff). But the noise is gone. Now to tackle the drumming. I plan on installing a 2" foam layer at the rear of the headliner. It is easy to get to from the rear hatch area.

BTW we drive a 2001 but had a 99. We actully replaced the car due to the sticky hatch. They repalced our lock mechanism 4 times , adjusted it countless times. My wife ran there 3-4 times with a hatch that only the tech could open. After about 12 visits on the problem, the Lexus dealer cut us a fabulous deal on a new one. I even wrote Lexus Corp under the lemon law but they claimed they never got my letter. The dealer got a copy and responded admirably. Lexus HQ was worthless and difficult to work with. Thank goodness for our dealer, we were ready to sell.

Now for my last hurdle (for now) the drumming noise. I will agree it happens above 20mph and only when we hit a succession of bumps. The dealer described it perfectly as a know problem and said there is no cure. I will have to come up with one for him. Any help would be appreciated.

Sooner

you guys might wanna test drive with the tech.it might help then find it

parula

johnp, I went out and thumped the roof and it sure sounds like the sound I and others might be hearing. I am going to take the long-shot guess here and say it has something to do with the actual roof slightly displacing, like a drum surface when one goes over a bump of the correct type at speed. That roof is large and thin IMO and if not supported might be acting like a drum surface under the right circumstances. Try thumping it Litely in several places and it always sounded about the same to me. Does anyone know if the roof is supported? The fix you described john might be that you were actually helping support the roof not the headliner! Just a thought.

I would love to drive it with a tech if I could recreate it. As it is, they told me I will have to find a road where they can hear the other rattles and buzzes to fix them . .... even the ones for which there might be service bulletins, seems odd to me. Problem is the rattles are worse in the cold and are speed/frequency dependent. These rattles are so annoying to me that I plan to seek the assistance of the community consumer advocate with my documentation that I have asked to have these issues addressed under warranty only to be turned down.

So far my hatch fix has worked fine, (they need a finger-crossed smiley for this) but as I described the fix wire for the rear hatch on the other thread here it seems, in my opinion, to be pretty light-weight for such a car. John your rexperience is just simply incredibly unbelievable for a Lexus, WOW!

All just one person's opinion.