ryfj40

Check post 270. It has all the info.

mthukral

I just bought a 2017 Lexus RX350 with 50k miles. Noticed 2 things right off the back - one, the drone and vehicle always trying to go to the highest gear and lowest RPM, causing slower down shifts and a drone sound. Quite irritating. Turned off eco mode and drive it in sport all the time. It has helped but still not perfect. Second, the vacuum pump went out, which has now been fixed at a cost of $1,500. While my car was in the shop, I did get a 2021 RX350 to drive for 5 days. Here are some of the differences that I noticed right off the back.

1. Driving both cars at 45 mph, sport mode, my 2017 runs at 1800 RPM and 2021 ran at 2100 -2200 RPM, felt much better. Shifting was smooth and faster as compared to the 2017.
2. Even at higher speeds (65-70mph), the RPM was much higher and shifting was quicker and smoother. No Drone sound.

Is this an issue with all 2017 vehicles? Can I get data on Gear to RPM for this car for normal and Sport mode. This RPM issue is very irritating and gives the impression the car is getting ready to die on you. Any help would be appreciated.

autotech13

Do a research here on excessive drone and vibration. Will tell you everything you need to know. Good luck!

toyotaman7

Read this short thread:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...ation-129.html

gnguyen

I've been manually shifting my 2019 RX350 at the 2K - 2.2K RPM range; that is how I've been able to tolerate this crap car. Anything below 1.8K RPM drives like a tractor. I don't believe the inherent drone/vibration issue is fixed in the 2021 model year; I drove a 2020 loaner and experienced the same issue at lower RPM. I wonder if Lexus is willing to reprogramm the 2016-2020 year to drive like the 2021.

GSFRX350

Have a read of this thread if you have the time - basically your 2017 is normal, been designed to do exactly what you said with the aim of improving fuel consumption. I can drive mine in flat areas, gentle throttle, no rushing around and it's fine, try to go harder or more hilly areas and I notice the symptoms you have. Everyone has different driving styles and the software mapping is suited to gentle, slow paced driving.

There's a TSB listed in this thread somewhere but you can go to your friendly Lexus dealer, ask about the TSB and have them update your ECU. This will make Normal Mode more like Sport Mode (I believe) and alleviate your issues.

There's also a TSB for the droning/vibration but you may find after the ECU update that may not be as big an issue for you.

bkhenry

2017 RX 350: I had the Exhaust Center Pipe replaced under the L-SB-0003-18 Service Bulletin to help with the drone noise and it helped some.
So, I added a 17581-31010 Damper with and exhaust clamp as seen on post #270 to the opposite side (180 degrees) from the factory Damper and now the drone noise is hardly detectable.
Amazing at the difference this made.

gadgetman1

Thats awesome! Is there any way you can post photos of what was done, so that others on here can see what it looks like & understand if their vehicles have had the modifications or not?

bkhenry

You can see I added the damper 180 degrees from the factory damper. This eliminated all the drone in my RX. I’m in love with my car now.

satek

Would like to add another success story to this. I originally had the TSB done where they added one weight after the catalytic coverter. That didn't do much so then I added another weight in front of the catalytic converter. This made a huge difference and knocked the drone down about 60%. I was able to live with this for about a year and half and eventually had the idea to try adding 2 more weights, which I did for a total of 4 weights. This probably reduced the drone / vibration by over 90% and I am finally happy with this aspect of the vehicle!

GSFRX350

Yes, the one small weight is not enough to dampen the vibrations. I made my own (looks crude but effective) using an old rubber mallet head and a couple of pieces of old gym equipment steel, bolted them together and clamped onto the exhaust. Works a treat, although my vibration was not as bad as some seem to say.

gadgetman1

This is great to hear & see! Thanks for posting this! It’s sad that customers have to beg & plead with Lexus to do this simple fix, but perhaps this post will help others suffering from this ongoing issue.

satek

I'd love to see a picture of that! Was curious on how you clamped it onto the exhaust.

@gadgetman, Yep, when I purchased the vehicle, I was very surprised of this as well since none of our other Toyota products never had any quality issues like this. Glad I could help others!

777rx400h

my 2022 has it, so its not over yet.

cec327

My 2016 does not have a " drone noise" or ' excessive vibration". At first, after reading complaints on this forum I thought that the vehicle had problems but the vehicle runs smoothly and is quiet. I guess that I was lucky.