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I was able to replicate the droning by having the car in drive with my foot on the brake and revving it to about 1500rpm. Hopefully this makes it easier to diagnose for those who are bringing their cars in. Still working with the case manager on this issue.
Hey Alan, so interestingly enough, while fine tuning the exhaust clamps, I noticed that my spherical exhaust joint (the joint with the springs) is somewhat uneven. From my understanding, it does allow some freedom of movement, but it does make me wonder if it’s causing a slight buffering or interference in the exhaust.
So far, I’ve noticed that you only really need the damper weight installed right in front of the spherical exhaust joint (location #1). When I tried to have all 4 weights on the exhaust in location 1 and 2, it would cause some weird vibrations at about 1000 rpm when I back out of the driveway.
Location #3 does absolutely nothing in terms of the vibration or vibration at least in my RX.
When I get a chance tomorrow, I’ll see if I can install only 2 weights at location #1 and see how that goes.
Been following this for years, all along I thought it may have something to do with that joint. This issue seems to be worse in some cars and near non-existent in others, the tightness of that joint may influence how bad the vibration is. You do know that the vibrations are coming from the exhaust where it attaches to the engine, disconnect there and apparently no more problems. Well no more vibrations, obviously it's attached there for a reason and removing that attachment must create other issues, probably a weakness elsewhere and someone will fail longer term. This would also explain why some people, when they have the TSB done on older vehicles, don't get a satisfactory result, the tech may not tighten the joint correctly.
I was able to replicate the droning by having the car in drive with my foot on the brake and revving it to about 1500rpm. Hopefully this makes it easier to diagnose for those who are bringing their cars in. Still working with the case manager on this issue.
sounds oh so familiar! That’s exactly how you can hear and feel it without actually even driving the car. For that matter mine isn’t even very good even in Park. Maybe it’s because we both have a red interior. 🙄😂
Keep us posted on here if you ever find a solution and I will do the same. Sad because otherwise I really like the car, but this just makes me want to put my fist through the dash every time I drive it.
Finally managed to get the car looked at again 25 days later after starting the case with corporate Lexus.
Case manager and service manager helped schedule a drive with the shop foreman. I explained to him the droning and the vibrations I was feeling in the car. I also showed him how the car begins to vibrate while revving the car in drive. With the shop foreman driving, we went on a 10minute drive around the dealership listening for the droning sounds. He acknowledged that there is a drone, but also added that it is a “characteristic” of the car. He said that they would do a health check, look at the car and scan the car for any issues. I knew the moment he said that, that the droning was not going to get fixed. When we got back to the dealership, I asked if I could test drive another 2022 Rx350 fsport. Luckily (or unluckily, you’ll understand in a minute) they happened to have one sitting in the front with 35 miles of the odometer. The moment I start driving the car, I could already tell that the droning was present. We take the same route along the highway and believe it or not, this car’s droning was worse than mine! It had droning at 20mph, 40mph, and 60mph @ 1500 rpm!
I’m not sure where they are getting their exhaust parts or who’s installing them, but maybe they need to have someone QC these things before it leaves the factory.
So I leave the car at the dealership for them to do their health check and they give me a ‘22 RX350 loaner for the rest of the day. The loaner has a little bit of droning, but not enough for me to complain about. I would say that it’s about a 70% reduction in the droning vibration as I barely felt it in the wheel or the cabin. I would it’s like a 3/10 if I had to rate it.
I get a call about 2 hours later from the service advisor that my car is ready for pickup and that there wasn’t anything wrong with the car when they scanned for errors and looked underneath the car. They checked for loose hangers and the exhaust pipe but everything was tight according to them. I asked the service advisor how I should proceed with this case since I’m still not satisfied with how the car is driving. I also asked if it’s possible to get a car that doesn’t drone or something like that. He told me that I should speak with the salesperson and see what they can do since that falls under the sales department. Luckily, one of the reps I spoke to at the dealership when I bought my car was still at his desk. I explained to him the whole story and how I had to open a case with corporate about it. I told him how I wasn’t satisfied with the way the car is driving and that it wasn’t how I had imagined the car to be at all. He said he would talk to the service manager and the higher ups tomorrow morning to see what they can do. I thanked him for his time and drove back home in misery as the car droned the entire way back. Just to put into perspective on how bad my droning is, imagine you’re driving on some very fine rumble strips every time you get accelerate for an entire hour. I feel sick to my stomach (almost a pre-puke sensation) as I drive this car. I scheduled another appointment at a different Lexus dealership for this Saturday to see if a different set of eyes and ears can fix this (perhaps a version of Hoovie’s car wizard).
I almost at a breaking point where I’m looking at lemon laws to see if they can salvage this situation.
Finally managed to get the car looked at again 25 days later after starting the case with corporate Lexus.
Case manager and service manager helped schedule a drive with the shop foreman. I explained to him the droning and the vibrations I was feeling in the car. I also showed him how the car begins to vibrate while revving the car in drive. With the shop foreman driving, we went on a 10minute drive around the dealership listening for the droning sounds. He acknowledged that there is a drone, but also added that it is a “characteristic” of the car. He said that they would do a health check, look at the car and scan the car for any issues. I knew the moment he said that, that the droning was not going to get fixed. When we got back to the dealership, I asked if I could test drive another 2022 Rx350 fsport. Luckily (or unluckily, you’ll understand in a minute) they happened to have one sitting in the front with 35 miles of the odometer. The moment I start driving the car, I could already tell that the droning was present. We take the same route along the highway and believe it or not, this car’s droning was worse than mine! It had droning at 20mph, 40mph, and 60mph @ 1500 rpm!
I’m not sure where they are getting their exhaust parts or who’s installing them, but maybe they need to have someone QC these things before it leaves the factory.
So I leave the car at the dealership for them to do their health check and they give me a ‘22 RX350 loaner for the rest of the day. The loaner has a little bit of droning, but not enough for me to complain about. I would say that it’s about a 70% reduction in the droning vibration as I barely felt it in the wheel or the cabin. I would it’s like a 3/10 if I had to rate it.
I get a call about 2 hours later from the service advisor that my car is ready for pickup and that there wasn’t anything wrong with the car when they scanned for errors and looked underneath the car. They checked for loose hangers and the exhaust pipe but everything was tight according to them. I asked the service advisor how I should proceed with this case since I’m still not satisfied with how the car is driving. I also asked if it’s possible to get a car that doesn’t drone or something like that. He told me that I should speak with the salesperson and see what they can do since that falls under the sales department. Luckily, one of the reps I spoke to at the dealership when I bought my car was still at his desk. I explained to him the whole story and how I had to open a case with corporate about it. I told him how I wasn’t satisfied with the way the car is driving and that it wasn’t how I had imagined the car to be at all. He said he would talk to the service manager and the higher ups tomorrow morning to see what they can do. I thanked him for his time and drove back home in misery as the car droned the entire way back. Just to put into perspective on how bad my droning is, imagine you’re driving on some very fine rumble strips every time you get accelerate for an entire hour. I feel sick to my stomach (almost a pre-puke sensation) as I drive this car. I scheduled another appointment at a different Lexus dealership for this Saturday to see if a different set of eyes and ears can fix this (perhaps a version of Hoovie’s car wizard).
I almost at a breaking point where I’m looking at lemon laws to see if they can salvage this situation.
This forum is 135 pages and started in 2015. Since then many, many, many people have been complaining about the same thing.
Judging by how everyone else's done has been dealt with, you might be in a similar situation.
If you got the Mark Levinson stereo then you might have a fix for your drone. Just find the right tune and crank it up.
Come to think of it Lexus should make a service bulletin for this issue with this as a solution..........
Finally managed to get the car looked at again 25 days later after starting the case with corporate Lexus.
Case manager and service manager helped schedule a drive with the shop foreman. I explained to him the droning and the vibrations I was feeling in the car. I also showed him how the car begins to vibrate while revving the car in drive. With the shop foreman driving, we went on a 10minute drive around the dealership listening for the droning sounds. He acknowledged that there is a drone, but also added that it is a “characteristic” of the car. He said that they would do a health check, look at the car and scan the car for any issues. I knew the moment he said that, that the droning was not going to get fixed. When we got back to the dealership, I asked if I could test drive another 2022 Rx350 fsport. Luckily (or unluckily, you’ll understand in a minute) they happened to have one sitting in the front with 35 miles of the odometer. The moment I start driving the car, I could already tell that the droning was present. We take the same route along the highway and believe it or not, this car’s droning was worse than mine! It had droning at 20mph, 40mph, and 60mph @ 1500 rpm!
I’m not sure where they are getting their exhaust parts or who’s installing them, but maybe they need to have someone QC these things before it leaves the factory.
So I leave the car at the dealership for them to do their health check and they give me a ‘22 RX350 loaner for the rest of the day. The loaner has a little bit of droning, but not enough for me to complain about. I would say that it’s about a 70% reduction in the droning vibration as I barely felt it in the wheel or the cabin. I would it’s like a 3/10 if I had to rate it.
I get a call about 2 hours later from the service advisor that my car is ready for pickup and that there wasn’t anything wrong with the car when they scanned for errors and looked underneath the car. They checked for loose hangers and the exhaust pipe but everything was tight according to them. I asked the service advisor how I should proceed with this case since I’m still not satisfied with how the car is driving. I also asked if it’s possible to get a car that doesn’t drone or something like that. He told me that I should speak with the salesperson and see what they can do since that falls under the sales department. Luckily, one of the reps I spoke to at the dealership when I bought my car was still at his desk. I explained to him the whole story and how I had to open a case with corporate about it. I told him how I wasn’t satisfied with the way the car is driving and that it wasn’t how I had imagined the car to be at all. He said he would talk to the service manager and the higher ups tomorrow morning to see what they can do. I thanked him for his time and drove back home in misery as the car droned the entire way back. Just to put into perspective on how bad my droning is, imagine you’re driving on some very fine rumble strips every time you get accelerate for an entire hour. I feel sick to my stomach (almost a pre-puke sensation) as I drive this car. I scheduled another appointment at a different Lexus dealership for this Saturday to see if a different set of eyes and ears can fix this (perhaps a version of Hoovie’s car wizard).
I almost at a breaking point where I’m looking at lemon laws to see if they can salvage this situation.
so basically, you’ve confirmed that I am wasting my time to even have a factory guy look at my car because they’re going to tell me that’s just the way it is. This is really unbelievable. If it was a brand new model, I would understand it, but this is been going on for seven years and they still don’t have a solution or even admit they have a problem. I’m about ready to trade the damn thing off because I’m sick of being pissed off every time I drive it, and I don’t think it’s ever going to get fixed unless I took it to a good independent mechanic that can jury rig the exhaust system somehow. What’s weird is the car seems good when I first leave the house, and then it always starts droning later. Another weird thing is I went to Florida for 2 1/2 weeks, and when I came home, it actually sounded and felt normal for the first day, and then went back to its old tricks. Have you tried putting the Toyota weights on the exhaust system and fooling around with different locations? I have one on there now and it honestly didn’t do much good, but I might mess around with it more if I don’t get rid of it before I have time to try. I can tell you one thing if I have to get rid of this and take a bath because Lexus won’t stand behind their product, it is going to be a very long time before Toyota gets another dollar from me.
i still dont know what you guys are talking about as im unable to reproduce it on my RX. BUT i have tried this and it seems to make the shifting smoother (maybe less droney for you gents?)
put it in sports mode
if that doesnt work
put it in sports mode and then move it over to manual shift and try rowing your own gears. We have 8 gears to play with, im sure you can engage at a gear when youre cruising that doesnt drone. When i use manual shifting, the engine and tranny are both buttery smooth. Although the shifting is a bit "laggy" compared to a dual clutch, its still adequate for driving.
so basically, you’ve confirmed that I am wasting my time to even have a factory guy look at my car because they’re going to tell me that’s just the way it is. This is really unbelievable. If it was a brand new model, I would understand it, but this is been going on for seven years and they still don’t have a solution or even admit they have a problem. I’m about ready to trade the damn thing off because I’m sick of being pissed off every time I drive it, and I don’t think it’s ever going to get fixed unless I took it to a good independent mechanic that can jury rig the exhaust system somehow. What’s weird is the car seems good when I first leave the house, and then it always starts droning later. Another weird thing is I went to Florida for 2 1/2 weeks, and when I came home, it actually sounded and felt normal for the first day, and then went back to its old tricks. Have you tried putting the Toyota weights on the exhaust system and fooling around with different locations? I have one on there now and it honestly didn’t do much good, but I might mess around with it more if I don’t get rid of it before I have time to try. I can tell you one thing if I have to get rid of this and take a bath because Lexus won’t stand behind their product, it is going to be a very long time before Toyota gets another dollar from me.
Yes see below.
Originally Posted by alan2955
. Here’s a picture underneath my car. As I stated, Lexus already changed the catalytic converter section to have a weight mounted on it, but it didn’t really make any improvement. I guess that would be your position number three. It might help yours, but it did not help mine. So the new weight needs to be put to the left side of the joint with the springs? In other words, the far left side of the picture which is closest to the engine.
So if I’m understanding you right, I need to mount another weight to the far left side of what you see in this picture just to the left of the spring-loaded flex joint. Also, do I have to break out the fiber washer that is on the Toyota part? Looks like it might make it too thick to get a nut on it.
Originally Posted by Badhobz
i still dont know what you guys are talking about as im unable to reproduce it on my RX. BUT i have tried this and it seems to make the shifting smoother (maybe less droney for you gents?)
put it in sports mode
if that doesnt work
put it in sports mode and then move it over to manual shift and try rowing your own gears. We have 8 gears to play with, im sure you can engage at a gear when youre cruising that doesnt drone. When i use manual shifting, the engine and tranny are both buttery smooth. Although the shifting is a bit "laggy" compared to a dual clutch, its still adequate for driving.
It’s a workaround, but it’s only just that, a workaround. Doesn’t solve the fact that it will still drone at those RPMs. I would’ve bought a Porsche if I wanted to shift gears all day. Mine has gotten worse over time (the droning) in my opinion.
i still dont know what you guys are talking about as im unable to reproduce it on my RX. BUT i have tried this and it seems to make the shifting smoother (maybe less droney for you gents?)
put it in sports mode
if that doesnt work
put it in sports mode and then move it over to manual shift and try rowing your own gears. We have 8 gears to play with, im sure you can engage at a gear when youre cruising that doesnt drone. When i use manual shifting, the engine and tranny are both buttery smooth. Although the shifting is a bit "laggy" compared to a dual clutch, it’s still adequate for driving.
.
yes, if we want to reduce gas mileage and wear the engine out faster we can always keep the RPMs above 2000. But I bought an automatic transmission, and I really don’t want to be manually shifting at all the time to avoid a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place. What I don’t understand is why the car sounds normal the 1st mile or so, and then starts doing this. Even if the engine is pretty much warmed up, if the exhaust has cooled off, the noise is not there.
I have noticed that when the temperature outside dropped to below 35 F the vibration I was feeling when at idle at the stop sign etc. was much less. Even after the car warmed up it was still less, but it went up to 40 F and it came back. I don't understand why this vibration varies with outside temperature. I have resigned myself to live with it until I am ready for a new car. Will never totally enjoy driving this car.
has anyone of you guys tried a new mid pipe or cat removal? i dont know if there's an aftermarket option for the RX but that might be worthwhile to look into.
Maybe eventually lexus will release a better fix, but i doubt it. It doesnt impact their reliability or performance numbers, they wont do to much about it.
so basically, you’ve confirmed that I am wasting my time to even have a factory guy look at my car because they’re going to tell me that’s just the way it is. This is really unbelievable. If it was a brand new model, I would understand it, but this is been going on for seven years and they still don’t have a solution or even admit they have a problem. I’m about ready to trade the damn thing off because I’m sick of being pissed off every time I drive it, and I don’t think it’s ever going to get fixed unless I took it to a good independent mechanic that can jury rig the exhaust system somehow. What’s weird is the car seems good when I first leave the house, and then it always starts droning later. Another weird thing is I went to Florida for 2 1/2 weeks, and when I came home, it actually sounded and felt normal for the first day, and then went back to its old tricks. Have you tried putting the Toyota weights on the exhaust system and fooling around with different locations? I have one on there now and it honestly didn’t do much good, but I might mess around with it more if I don’t get rid of it before I have time to try. I can tell you one thing if I have to get rid of this and take a bath because Lexus won’t stand behind their product, it is going to be a very long time before Toyota gets another dollar from me.
If you have the time/ability mess around with the weight or weights, put two on and see how it goes.
I have noticed that when the temperature outside dropped to below 35 F the vibration I was feeling when at idle at the stop sign etc. was much less. Even after the car warmed up it was still less, but it went up to 40 F and it came back. I don't understand why this vibration varies with outside temperature. I have resigned myself to live with it until I am ready for a new car. Will never totally enjoy driving this car.
I noticed that as well. It’s been 32-38*F lately in NJ and the droning has been reduced. Maybe it’s because the exhaust pipes have shrunk a bit causing a change in resonance?
12-01-22, 10:36 AM
