afaik

I have a strange problem with my RX330. THe steering wheel vibrates, or buzzes when I accelerate. Especially on the highway, I feel a vibration in the steering wheel. At first i though it was the tires or wheels. I've had brand new tires put on and also rebalanced several times and even had them do two alignments, also did a force wheel balance. No joy. Still a very slight vibration. Eventually I realized it only happens when I'm on the gas, if I let up, it's smooth even on the highway.

Any ideas what the problem could be?

afaik

Just wanted to update just in case anyone else experiences something similar. It was fixed with a simple transmission flush.

mandyfig

MAkes sense, tranny fluid drain and fill will help this potential problem to go away!

visual

Where did you have the car flush? I read that it is not good to have the transmission flush. Drop the pan is the way to go. My 05 has steering wheel vibration on highway above 70 mph.

tromly

Hey visual, where did you hear about not flushing the tranny?? What are the consequences when you do ??

visual

I search this forum with "transmission flush". There are some threads that recommend not to do the flush. I just called toyota and they can do the flush for $160 with 10 qts. I am tempted to just do the flush and be done with it. With drop the pan, I have to do the fill and drain for at least 4 times to get 90% of the oil fluid out.

mandyfig

Drain and fill should work for most of us as long as you have no issues on your trannies. I do a drain and fill every 2 oil changes. Also, if your tranny fluid is pink and does not smell burnt, you are good for drain and fill.

mandyfig

Just my 0.02 cents

MRKilroy

That makes no sense to change trans fluid and the vibration goes away.

visual

yeah, it does not make sense to me either. unless the transmission is slipping. Mine has a slight vibration on highway above 70 mph. Plus I need to change my transmission fluid anyway.

MRKilroy

I'm having a similar issue that started today:
On way to work the steering wheel began to have a very bad vibration all of a sudden at aprox 60 mph. slowed to 50 and it got better.
Went to push on the brake to slow down and it was like I jumped on it.
When parked the car it had a metal smell to it. Don’t know.
I would normally say stuck caliper or caliper slider but all of a sudden vibration w/o touching the bake seems odd.

Pepsigirl

I was told by my Lexus dealer that my brake pad is a bit worn and probably will need to be replaced on the next service date. He said that if my steering wheel starts to vibrate on the freeway, to bring it in and have the pad replaced.

MRKilroy

are lexus front ends that sensitive?

visual

I rotated my tires today, and the vibration complete gone.