flint330

A few days ago I noticed a very definite creaking and rattling coming from either under the hood near the drivers side, or from under the console. I have counted myself lucky up to now after reading other posts about rattling that they had. My car just turned 3,000 miles. I called the dealer and they can't take in for a week. Just wondering if any of you have heard the same noise or have any ideas. I was also upset to notice a scratch on the passenger side yesterday. I wonder how it go there as I park miles away from everyone to keep the car safe.

ericjuenke

I only have 300 miles on my RX330 and the drivers seat has started creaking and or making a ticking noise. At first I thought it was coming from the center console area, but after a close listen I think it's the seat. Any others have a noisy drivers seat?

lamk

I had the Rx330 with multi-panel moonroof and Mark Levison audio. I only have 500 miles on it and my driver seat is creaking too. It is coming from the right side near where the seatback meets the cushion. Sounds like a hard plastic creak. I know one should never buy a first year model but between the Mercedes Benz ML dyiing on me and the moving of the production of the RX to my lovely province of Ontario, Canada in September I took the risk and bought the RX . So far the issues I have is the moonroof rattle which I gather is common and I am not too concern. This seat rattle is not a big concern but is annoying. The ride seems to be a bit harsh, will check the tire pressure. Please post if you had a fix. Will ask the dealer to take a look at the 1600KM(1000mile ) checkup.

ericjuenke

Keep me posted on the results of your 1000 mile checkup as you will probably get there before I do. Curious to see if your dealer will attempt to fix.

cotmc

Hello. I am completely new to this forum. We recently sold our '01 MDX and purchased a new RX 330 just over one week ago. It is the common FWD configuration with Premium Plus and 18" wheels; flint with light gray interior. I am still very impressed with all the features and luxury touches on this car. I enjoy the drive as well as the little extra "growl" of the engine.

Unfortunately, our RX 330 is also already experiencing a rattle problem. I don't think it is the same rattle described above. I could not find any mention of a similar rattle within this forum during a brief search attempt.

The rattle is on the driver's side of the car. It seems to be coming from either the very bottom of the "B" pillar (between driver and rear door) or just under the rear corner of the driver seat -- on or below the floor. It is not from within the driver seat, as I listened carefully while kneeling on the floor behind the driver seat as my wife was driving. What makes this more interesting is that this rattle seems to be dependent on wind or turbulence. We do not hear it at lower speeds, such as at 40mph, even when going over expansion joints or other uneven road conditions. It seems to only occur at highway speeds. Hence, I think it is coming from under the floor or outside near the base of the "B" pillar. It is VERY noticeable when it occurs, but it seems to be intermittant.

Any ideas?? Has anybody experienced a similar type of rattle? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Since this isn't a constant rattle, I am concerned my dealer may have trouble isolating it. Thanks!

nodefect

Just turned 400 miles on my RX 330 and noticed creaking in the drivers seat, it's driving me nuts !!!! I will take it in next week. I have owned 5 Toyota products, this will be the very first time I have taken one in for anything but scheduled maintenance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it. Just a bit dissappointed.

crkao

My Rx330 also had noise near the B pillar. It occured when the dirver-side door was shut. It turned out that the noise was from the thin metal shield under the floor. The dealer had to added two additional screws to attach this metal shield to the floor to fix it. This problem is the third minor problems of my RX330. The seconnd problem is that the multi-panel moonroom rattles when it is open. The last problem is with the rear door window, which is another story.

toy4two

Is the RX330 manufactured in Japan like the RX300?

JRB

So far all have been made in Japan. Beginning in September or thereabouts, most production for the North American market will come from Canada.

crkao

Mine is one of the early production run. All RX330s in Taiwan are from Japan. Taiwan is the first market that RX330 was on sale, so many of the early production run RX330 went to Taiwan. Many this is reason why my rx330 has so many (three!) minor problems.

About the rear windom problem, the automatic window is too sentive so that it will retract everytime I close the window. Now I have to close the window in small steps to avoid the automatic retraction.

jeffknet

As I've lamented in numerous posts - my rattle / wind vibration seems to come from the passenger side C Pillar - and it only comes at 60+mph

lamk

I think I have isolated the rattle down to the rear right hand mounting bracket of the seat to the floor. There are two pieces of metal that are riveted togather. I'll squirt some oil on it this weekend to see if it will get rid of the squeak. BTW CRKAO did you get your multipanel sunroof rattle fixed?

cotmc

I'm gonna guess that our rattle below the B-pillar area is due to the same problem that crkao described in his post. It seems to only happen at 65+ mph.

Our RX has a 06/03 build date. Too bad Lexus hasn't yet resolved all the early production bugs.

cotmc

We also had a small rattle or vibration near the C pillar during the first day or two of driving, but that problem seems to be gone (for now). For us, it was on the driver side.

Question: Is your rattle up at about the head level, or is it down lower? If it is up near the location of the window, try checking the trim immediately surrounding the rear triangular window along the exterior of the car, especially near the upper corner adjacent to the C pillar. Is there any "give" to this trim when you push or tap on it? Or is it completely secure to the rest of the car's body? I noticed a little play within this trim piece on our driver side (the side we previously noted a bit of a rattle), but the passenger side was totally secure. I admit it's a wild guess, but I'm wondering if strong winds (such as experienced above 60 mph) could cause the trim piece to vibrate -- creating a tapping noise that sounds like a rattle?

jeffknet

cotmc

it sounds like it comes from high up on the C-Pillar, almost at roof level

thanks for the suggestions - heck I've tried everything else....