^ yep, that's what I heard for a few months before mine blew on my ES300...

 

Moved this earlier post to here even though I'm in a different generation

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I'm a "newbie" at this Forum and my RX ('13) just turned 3 K. Not sure I'm at the correct Thread,
but the sound coming from under the hood is a major disappointment with my new luxury vehicle.

At start-up, we get a humming/whining sound which gets higher in pitch with acceleration.
The Tach. actually resembles a frequency meter.
This continues for approximately 8 - 10 miles and eventually disapates. Can't blame it on the weather since it did it @ 80 degrees back in August and @ 24 the other morning.
Had it back to the dealer once but the Tech supposedly could not hear it.

Has anyone else encountered this problem or have I purchased a soloist ?

 

Chazman6:

I don't honestly know if my car always made this sound or if it just started. I am sitting tight for now. The clear advantage I see that you have is that your car is still under warranty and I would not hesitate to take it back to your dealership and ask them to look into it. If you do, please report your results here.

Thanks,
JBL

 

chazman6, you said it yourself your problem start when it's at startup, I assume it's cold startup, so no way a service tech can hear the problem if you've already drove it for a while engine is all warm up and all. I would ask service department to let you leave it overnight give you a loaner then have the tech with you start the car in the morning and reproduce the sound/problem.

 

The correct forum for your vehicle is the "third generation". You might do a search there to see if any other 3rd generation RX350 are having this problem. Here is the link:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...eneration-212/

 

Thanks to my 2 responders for your input and pointing me to the proper thread'.

FYI, my visit to the Dealer was an overnighter since they were told the problem begins @ start-up.

My big concern is that someone started the RX, went to another job, and returned 30 minutes later
after the vehicle was hot.--- and heard nothing.

 

That is a prototypical belt issue. Have them look at the belt tension. Then see if the A/C has enough refrigerant oil in it. I bet the noise changes when you turn off AC.

 

Don't beleive the AC is an issue.

The AC is is rarely ON at start-up but if it were needed, most likely would still be running during an 8 - 10 mile ride.
I will definately look into the belt tension since it should be less after the warm-up stretch.

 

Did you figure out the noise?

 

Took it to a respected tranny shop last year, the guy test rode it and wanted to do about $500 in diagnostics. It is the transmission and nothing else. I just looked at the first thread, and it was in November 2013, and by the time I wrote that original post I had noticed it for almost a year...It's now March 2018 and the noise is still there. I am nearly convinced that the car is going to sing like this for the rest of it's natural life, or die. I decided not to chase the problem down - if the tranny takes a dump I'll have it replaced or rebuilt. It's bee a really long time since it started - I almost think if something was going to happen, it would have happened by now.

 

Noise still there. Car runs great otherwise. Ignoring the noise.