Patsy

Morning all,
Over the last week I have noticed a clicking sound coming from the front of the car (a bit like the old card in the bike spokes).
It only happens on deceleration, it doesn't matter if the car is in neutral or engaged (auto).
Has anyone heard of anything similar?
I am thinking either a driveshaft or something in the gearbox (really hoping not the gearbox).
Thanks in advance for any help!

salimshah

Right, left or center?

You can jack up the car and try to spin the wheel [set the shifter in N]

Since you did not mention how loud ... it can be a pebble stuck in the treads.

Salim

HKPolice

Most likely related to the brakes.

Clutchless

Could just be a rock stuck in the caliper dust shield.

Patsy

I have it booked in with Lexus this week so I will post whatever I hear back.
The noise occurs only during deceleration, on straights and corners and in both neutral and gear (automatic).
I've had the car jacked up and can definitely hear the sound after accelerating and then taking my foot off the gas.
I've also noticed that it sometimes takes a few minutes after driving to begin clicking.

Hopefully it's just an axle that needs re greasing or possibly a drive shaft and not something in the gearbox!

xvimalx

I had the same issue. Greased both axel and the sound was gone!!

salimshah

If you did the job yourself, can you please explain how you greased the axels?

Salim

xvimalx

I had a local mechanic do it. He essentially took apart the wheel from the suspension, disconnected the axel from behind the rotor. Greased up that bit and reconnected everything. I apologize if I'm not explaining clearly.

salimshah

Reason I asked was that there are no grease nipples and no place to grease. The CV joints are sealed. I guess the spline on the shaft needed a bit of grease.
Thank you for the detail.

Salim

MellonC00

Mods: Shouldn't this be in the Hybrid section?

salimshah

When I started to be more active in 3rd gen, I asked the question on the same lines.

Conclusion was let the thread starter make the choice. There are enough things in common.

Salim

thequickad

I have the same clicking noise (2013 RX450h) and the clicking noise is very noticeable and reproducible if I drive on a dirt road with a washboard type surface. Possibly something to do with the front suspension?

rx450h415

I replaced my axle nut to fix this issue. The noise mine was making was almost like a ticking springing type noise at low speeds. At high speeds there is no noise. I removed my axle nut, i pushed in my axle as much as i could and i sprayed white lithium grease all over the space between the axle and the knuckle. i then used a 'brand new axle nut to re-tightened the axle. The noise is now gone.

Previously i tried simply tightening the nut, replacing brake pads, regreasing brake pin guides.

I have an rx450h. The noise will get louder and louder if not fixed.

Haard to sell or trade a car with that annoying loud ticking springy noise.

Clutchless

Recently there have been a few posts regarding noises that were traced to loose front axle nuts. Some just tightened them and others replaced the nuts.
Their getting loose must be a symptom of these aging vehicles and another item to add to the routine maintenance list.
Torque your front axle nuts. The setting is 217 foot pounds.

rx450h415

thanks for your reply. The first thing I did was to try tightening the nut. Didn’t work for me. I have air tools so I was able to easily replace mine with a new one plus grease the inside.