tsl95

2005 RX330 with 170K

Recently replaced both serpentine belts which solved the problem of a loud and long squeak on start up. Now, I have a very quick squeak that only happens when the car isn't started after a while, usually in the morning. But whenever I start the car for the rest of the day, there is no squeak. Also, if I turn the key to start and hold it longer in the ignition position, the squeak lasts longer.

Any idea how how I can fix this squeak?

777rx400h

Tensioner pulley, idler pulleys or maybe this:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...r-warm-up.html

mandyfig

Just tells you you need to apply more tension. Did you get quality belts, what brand are they?

tsl95

I purchased Bando belts from Amazon. Reviews were pretty good. Maybe I did not tighten all the way? Toughest was the power steering pump pulley and getting that tensioned back down.

mandyfig

Bando is a good belt. You need to adjust it to the right tension. You can google on how to verify the correct tension by measuring the deflection on you apply a force on the belt. They are actually tight normally.

tsl95

The tension is tight, but the noise still occurs. But after replacing the belt, the noise doesn’t occur at every start up, it occurs at morning start up and there is no noise when started throughout the day.

tsl95

SOLVED (well semi):

So to fix this start-up noise issue, you need to turn the key into the "On" position for about 5 seconds then start the engine. For some reason this adjusts whatever and there is no noise at all.

Hope this helps!

Trebbor

Now this is going to sound completely off base but hear me out. I too had a similar squeal that would only happen at startup and not every time. It drove me crazy. I replaced the serpentine belt and checked the pulleys, etc. but could not eliminate it. I lived with it for a couple of years and then heard that same squeal when I was playing with the settings for my tilt and in/out motion for the steering wheel.

Sounds can feel like they're coming from one place but could often be coming from somewhere unrelated. If you can believe it, it turned out that my "squeal" which I'm sure was coming from underneath the hood, was actually coming from the steering wheel housing as it moved into place when starting the car. There was a part of the housing that slid against the trim which was causing the squeak. A few minutes spent loosening the screws around the trim and putting them back with a bit more clearance between the housing and the trim, eliminated the noise.

Hope yours is as simple as mine turned out to be.

Happy Holidays,

Bob

tsl95

My RX has a similar "whirring" sound when the key is placed in the ignition and the steering wheel automatically moves. But the squeak in my case was/"is" extremely loud inside and outside of the car.