2016 RX 350 Excessive noise and vibration
03-01-19, 10:31 AM
#1471
&
Awesome! I completely understand what you mean about a properly tuned exhaust system. Our Camaro SS has a ferocious sounding exhaust on the outside of the car, but not much on the inside. I rode in a guy’s Corvette (with loud aftermarket generic exhaust) on the Interstate for about 20 miles and if frazzled my last nerve. Outside, it was just loud & muscular sounding, but inside, God that was an awful sounding car!
I will attempt to do so. As lexnewbi mentioned, it is not near as noticeable as others.
I used to customize cars when I was much younger and one piece of tuning we did was the exhaust system. Tuned headers was a must so every cylinder explosion converged into the collector without conflicting with another cylinders explosion. Look at it like the zipper technique when merging into traffic and how that works, (or not
The droning noise is very faint but it brought back memories of countless hours removing the annoying harmonics of poor exhaust systems after you built/tuned an engine for performance.
Again, most of this may be my over sensitized ear. Thanks for letting me join in on the conversation.
btw, really love my RX. It has been on my list for a long time.
I used to customize cars when I was much younger and one piece of tuning we did was the exhaust system. Tuned headers was a must so every cylinder explosion converged into the collector without conflicting with another cylinders explosion. Look at it like the zipper technique when merging into traffic and how that works, (or not
The droning noise is very faint but it brought back memories of countless hours removing the annoying harmonics of poor exhaust systems after you built/tuned an engine for performance.
Again, most of this may be my over sensitized ear. Thanks for letting me join in on the conversation.
btw, really love my RX. It has been on my list for a long time.
03-02-19, 07:04 AM
#1472
Driver School Candidate
I trying combined Wal's weight and TSB.The result came out great( vibration at 1500 RPM reduce a lot, very minimal)
Acceleration: no more rough vibration throughout pedals and feeling of lost power when reach 1500 RPM. Car very smooth right now even with ECO-MODE.
Drone: still have a little but not annoying like before and don't have buzz noise when reach 1500RPM.Cant even feel vibration if you don't focus about that.
Transmission: When applying Walt's weight and TSB . The transmission is shifting perfectly.The needle pass 1500RPM really smooth.
My car ride like what I expect and really enjoy it .
Thank You for all information I got in this group. Really helpful.
HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY.
Hello there,
Can you share all the TSBs that where applied to your car?
Thanks in advance!
03-09-19, 10:42 AM
#1473
Driver School Candidate
2016 RX 350 Noise and Vibration - TSB repair w/service record
All, I recently purchased a 2016 RX 350 FWD with 31,000 miles. It had the vibration. I read through this thread. Very helpful. thank you all for posting.
I decided to take it to the San Diego Lexus dealer armed with the TSB info.
They did the repair under warranty. The car now has ZERO vibration at any speed. Very satisfied with the result.
My work order is attached.
Thank you again all for contributing. I learn a ton from this site and this is my first post. Thought it was time to give a little back.
I decided to take it to the San Diego Lexus dealer armed with the TSB info.
They did the repair under warranty. The car now has ZERO vibration at any speed. Very satisfied with the result.
My work order is attached.
Thank you again all for contributing. I learn a ton from this site and this is my first post. Thought it was time to give a little back.
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ravenuer (03-09-19)
03-09-19, 02:02 PM
#1474
Driver School Candidate
Since the Lexus fix doesn't seem to work for a lot of people including me, I wonder if anybody has tried taking their RX 350 to a regular muffler shop to see if they can solve the problem?
I took my 2017 RX 350 AWD in for the fix. When I picked it up, the dealer told me "it's much better now." However, I found it to be much worse than before but I'm afraid to have them do any more for fear of them making it even worse.
I took my 2017 RX 350 AWD in for the fix. When I picked it up, the dealer told me "it's much better now." However, I found it to be much worse than before but I'm afraid to have them do any more for fear of them making it even worse.
03-14-19, 10:56 AM
#1476
Pole Position
The ES is on a completely new platform with a complete redesign. The current RX is just a warmed over Gen3, which is a warmed over Gen2..well you get the idea.
03-14-19, 12:00 PM
#1477
Oh dear, no wonder there are vibration/noise problems! I was under the understanding that Gen 4 was all new from the ground up...
03-14-19, 12:42 PM
#1478
Pole Position
03-14-19, 04:52 PM
#1479
Comparing an ES to an RX?? They are a different animal, one being the latest in a sedan platform, and the other and old platform in an SUV body (rear wheels in cabin).
03-15-19, 07:23 AM
#1480
Pole Position
It isnt that the platform is old that's causing the vibrations. Just Lexus trying to save some money to offset the cost of modifying and producing old platforms.
03-15-19, 07:48 AM
#1481
Intermediate
Military/civilian aircraft and ships can easily go fifty years with the same platform. Nothing wrong with keeping the same basic components as long as they are good ones.
03-15-19, 08:08 AM
#1482
I wouldn’t argue with that logic. In my own aircraft experience, I have seen where a platform is continuously improved & flaws are eliminated with each new update. However, this doesn’t appear that good & the same flaws carry over from year to year. I’m not trying to be critical of the RX, it’s just an observation. I haven’t had anything major with my RX, but I’m not sure I would go jump on a new one. Everything that I was lead to believe about the RX being extremely well built & reliable is out the window. I just noticed that my rear seat cup holder is broken AGAIN for the 2nd time! No one hardly sits back there. The design is stupid & totally unreliable. My biggest complaint is that Lexus is ignoring the little things that add up over time.
03-15-19, 10:55 AM
#1483
Pole Position
I wouldn’t argue with that logic. In my own aircraft experience, I have seen where a platform is continuously improved & flaws are eliminated with each new update. However, this doesn’t appear that good & the same flaws carry over from year to year. I’m not trying to be critical of the RX, it’s just an observation. I haven’t had anything major with my RX, but I’m not sure I would go jump on a new one. Everything that I was lead to believe about the RX being extremely well built & reliable is out the window. I just noticed that my rear seat cup holder is broken AGAIN for the 2nd time! No one hardly sits back there. The design is stupid & totally unreliable. My biggest complaint is that Lexus is ignoring the little things that add up over time.
03-16-19, 05:06 AM
#1484
Intermediate
I wouldnt compare a car platform to aircraft and ship platforms that was designed to handle extreme conditions constantly. The 2 times I had an RX, 2010 and 2011-2013, I was very disappointed. It had a lot of road and wind noise and lots of impact harshness over bump. And watching video reviews of the current gen, that doesnt seem to have changed.
I think part of the problem is that we expect an SUV to behave like a luxury sedan. The RX was not designed to be like an LS. The RX, by design, rides a little stiff, and is a little noisy, but it’s an SUV. I do think there are problems with droning, and shifting hesitation, that Lexus is trying, unsuccessfully, to address, but the basic RX platform is fine.
Last edited by rxtimes2; 03-17-19 at 02:48 AM.
03-16-19, 07:23 AM
#1485
You have a point, but I flew my 1949 Cessna 140A for many years, and it is still flying. Likewise I rebuilt my 1949 Harley Flathead, and 1957 Harley Panhead, rode them, and they are both still on the road. A lot of maintenance - you betcha, but pretty good platforms.
I think part of the problem is that we expect an SUV to behave like a luxury sedan. The RX was not designed to be like an LS. The RX, by design, rides a little stiff, and is a little noisey, but it’s an SUV. I do think there are problems with droning, and shifting hesitation, that Lexus is trying, unsuccessfully, to address, but the basic RX platform is fine.
I’m convinced that Lexus hasn’t really tackled the droaning at the level required. I worked with some university engineering departments to try to solve harmonic oscillation cracking, where metal poles vibrate in the wind and eventually crack. All metal oscillates. Some frequencies are destructive and some are not. Usually, some form of dampening stops most destructive frequencies (similar to installing Dynamat). This is why I’m hesitant to go further with another Lexus. The RX isn’t their most expensive, but they sell at least 3X more RX than any other model. Why wouldn’t they just solve this?! This problem has come down losing customers vs. spending money for a solution. That usually doesn’t end well for a company’s reputation.