servante

Intermittent problem.....while driving my 2006 RX 330 with 65,000 miles....over a long distance at freeways speeds, a vibration occurs like a flat tire. Pull over to the shoulder, put the car in park, then back into drive....get back on the freeway and the vibration has disappeared not to return for who knows how long.

Thoughts?

Carver

Some sort of harmonic vibration when conditions are correct. As always, start with the most inexpensive possibility, wheel balance and alignment. Bad tires can also cause instability at speed although that usually isn't intermittent.

mmarshall

Welcome to CL as a new poster.

Do you have self-sealing tires on your RX? (I'm assuming that with 65K miles, you aren't still on the originals). The sealant-goo that is used inside that type of tire can heat up on long drives and get soft enough to slide around the inside of the tire, causing balance problems which then may even themselves out and repeat the process again with more miles and tire-heat.

alchemist

iTrader: (1)

Check out my thread on steering vibration...sounds like what i had. If so its the axles.

servante

In thinking further about the problem, the RX has new tires and the tires and car performed perfectly on a 2,000 mile road trip through the Pacific Northwest. Upon my return....My mechanic performed a "Lexus recall service bulletin" dealing with the break switch.

After the recall service bulletin" was performed is when the vibration issue started and its intermittent and only happens on long trips at freeway speeds.

I'm heading back to Seattle, so the car is at my mechanic's shop to see if they can isolate the problem. Will keep you posted.

servante

Thank you for your suggestion. The dealer instated new tires prior to the cars purchase. They are high performance Cooper tires. As mentioned in an earlier response, I'll see what my mechanic has to say and as he has all the necessary tire machinery onsite, have him check the balance of the tires.

CARspec

A balance issue will present itself consistently above a certain speed. I'd suspect a failed strut letting a front tire bounce up and down - it can stay hidden unless you hit a bump big enough to set off a resonance.

Any reputable technician should be able to handle this for you easily.