Noise coming from the back

[Bader]

Hi,

I purchased an IS 300h a few months ago. I had it serviced at around 100k miles, and a few weeks later, I started noticing a very irritating noise potentially coming from the back which is directly linked to the car's speed.

I have not been able to connect it to pressing the accelerator pedal. The noise remains present and only fades away when the speed drops below 30 MPH. It sounds like a whirring noise, a howling noise, or even similar to the noise of a washing machine!!

I took it to the dealer again to have my air con condenser and the exhaust heat shield replaced and I explained to them that I would like it to be investigated.

They carried out the replacement and upon picking up the car they reassured that the technician did a road test at various speeds as best practice once work was completed and he didn't find anything abnormal!

The noise appears to be coming from the speakers even though ASC is turned off. Numerous individuals who have ridden with me have confirmed the audible noise. I recently replaced all tyres as I suspected this noise could be related to them as I had two different tread pattern tyres on the rear of the vehicle and they were also due for replacement. Despite this, the highly irritating noise persists!

Any advice, recommendation or guidance would be highly appreciated!

What would you do if you were in my place?

Btw I live in Kent.

 

Thank you

 

[Spock66]

Possibly a wheel bearing, but that would not be coming from the speakers.

I assume you have tried driving with the sound system off to confirm.

[Bader]

11 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

Possibly a wheel bearing, but that would not be coming from the speakers.

I assume you have tried driving with the sound system off to confirm.

Thanks for replying. The noise has a slight similarity to the ASC but definitely not from the speaker. I drive for long distances I can hear it all the time with the sound system on and off. What would you recommend? going to the dealer again? They obviously did not bother to do any investigations! However, I am hesitant to bring the car to a nearby garage as I do not have any trusted recommendations.

[Spock66]

If it's under warranty, I would say take it back to the dealers again.

[Scotlex]

1 hour ago, Spock66 said:

Possibly a wheel bearing, but that would not be coming from the speakers.

I assume you have tried driving with the sound system off to confirm.

It does sound like a wheel bearing.

[Notamech]

As pointed out potentially a defective wheel bearing alternatively it could be a leaking exhaust or something. Maybe record a clip and post it here if you can.

[Bader]

7 minutes ago, Scotlex said:

It does sound like a wheel bearing.

Thanks for confirming. Out of curiosity, I hit a curb with one of my rear wheels (at an extremely narrow junction) and this left some damage on the wheel, could this be related to the problem? This noise didn't start straight away though, maybe a good few weeks later.

[Bader]

 

24 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

If it's under warranty, I would say take it back to the dealers again.

Unfortunately, it is not. Thank you for your advice

[Bader]

13 minutes ago, Notamech said:

As pointed out potentially a defective wheel bearing alternatively it could be a leaking exhaust or something. Maybe record a clip and post it here if you can.

I actually did a lot of research on YouTube and other forums and I am kind of concluding it could be the wheel bearing. I just wanted to have more opinions from the same car owners. I will try to post a clip soon. thank you

[wharfhouse]

Try steering left then right when doing about 50mph and see if it increases or decreases the noise as loading and unloading the wheel bearing through the weight transfer will often change the tone / level of noise. If it does then chances are it's a wheel bearing that's on the way out. 

[tHomBleached]

Where is the fan for the hybrid Battery on an is? Could be that (be a good excuse to clean it out anyway - if that fails your in trouble)

[Bader]

On 7/6/2024 at 2:38 PM, Notamech said:

As pointed out potentially a defective wheel bearing alternatively it could be a leaking exhaust or something. Maybe record a clip and post it here if you can.

 

On 7/6/2024 at 1:36 PM, Spock66 said:

Possibly a wheel bearing, but that would not be coming from the speakers.

I assume you have tried driving with the sound system off to confirm.

 

On 7/6/2024 at 2:37 PM, Scotlex said:

It does sound like a wheel bearing.

 

22 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

Try steering left then right when doing about 50mph and see if it increases or decreases the noise as loading and unloading the wheel bearing through the weight transfer will often change the tone / level of noise. If it does then chances are it's a wheel bearing that's on the way out. 

Please guys have a look, thank you

[agent_dess]

If you hit the rear wheel then most likely wheel bearing... it might be a slightly bent.

I would start with the corner that you hit.

jack the car and spin the wheel and see if you can hear the noise.

[wharfhouse]

From the videos it sounds like the noise I had on Honda Accord when a rear wheel bearing needed replacing - that was quite a loud drone that changed pitch with speed of the car (not the engine) which if I am hearing the right sound on your video appears to be happening. Have you tried the left right steering as per my earlier comment to see if the noise is more prominent on one lock or the other?

The other thing that can make that sort of sound related to the road speed is if the wheel alignment has gone out then the rear tyres can become "cupped" and the noise that the cupping makes on the road surface is a very similar sound. I also had this on the Honda too after a tyre place completely screwed up the alignment. I mention that as you said you had hit a kerb but the sound didn't come on immediately - but depends on how many miles you have done since then. Cupping can be felt on the tyres as you run a hand one way around and then the other - you may need a decent tyre place to diagnose that though - or have the alignment checked - if it's cupping you will also need new tyres after alignment.

There is also the possibility of something rubbing slightly - maybe the dust shield on the rear brakes got knocked too when you hit the kerb and is now catching?

Finally, when I noticed what I thought was a wheel bearing noise on my IS 300h I asked Lexus to take a look. Initially they said they couldn't hear anything, but it wasn't very noisy at the time (nothing like as loud as on my Honda, though similar in tone and just road speed related - also it was more prominent on one lock that the other) and so they offered me the chance to take a tech out with me to demonstrate the noise. Once he had "tuned in" to the noise (like I had) then he agreed and on further checking did indeed find a front wheel bearing was on the way out. Worth asking for a tech to ride with you if you haven't got any further forwards.

If you haven't already found the culprit hope the above might help - let us know what you find.

[Bader]

On 7/23/2024 at 11:06 AM, wharfhouse said:

From the videos it sounds like the noise I had on Honda Accord when a rear wheel bearing needed replacing - that was quite a loud drone that changed pitch with speed of the car (not the engine) which if I am hearing the right sound on your video appears to be happening. Have you tried the left right steering as per my earlier comment to see if the noise is more prominent on one lock or the other?

The other thing that can make that sort of sound related to the road speed is if the wheel alignment has gone out then the rear tyres can become "cupped" and the noise that the cupping makes on the road surface is a very similar sound. I also had this on the Honda too after a tyre place completely screwed up the alignment. I mention that as you said you had hit a kerb but the sound didn't come on immediately - but depends on how many miles you have done since then. Cupping can be felt on the tyres as you run a hand one way around and then the other - you may need a decent tyre place to diagnose that though - or have the alignment checked - if it's cupping you will also need new tyres after alignment.

There is also the possibility of something rubbing slightly - maybe the dust shield on the rear brakes got knocked too when you hit the kerb and is now catching?

Finally, when I noticed what I thought was a wheel bearing noise on my IS 300h I asked Lexus to take a look. Initially they said they couldn't hear anything, but it wasn't very noisy at the time (nothing like as loud as on my Honda, though similar in tone and just road speed related - also it was more prominent on one lock that the other) and so they offered me the chance to take a tech out with me to demonstrate the noise. Once he had "tuned in" to the noise (like I had) then he agreed and on further checking did indeed find a front wheel bearing was on the way out. Worth asking for a tech to ride with you if you haven't got any further forwards.

If you haven't already found the culprit hope the above might help - let us know what you find.

Thank you for replying. It turned out to be the wheel bearing as expected and I bought the part from Lexuspartsdirect. I went to a local garage to install it and it is all sorted now. However, my sincere advice if anyone ever comes across such an issue, exercise extra care with the ABS sensor as my mechanic almost broke it, luckily avoiding that. When I drove the car afterwards, the light came on the dash and I returned to him (it was a Saturday late evening) and I was panicking. He took off the wheel checked the sensor and found it to be bent! Just needed some adjusting and luckily it worked fine. It was not a pleasant experience!!

[matt8]

Also replaced a wheel bearing recently. 

I opted for a JTEKT part from Amayama Japan. It cost me £55 plus £58 delivery. No customs due. 

My research showed that JTEKT are a merger of two companies that have been around for circa 100 years, and that merged company is now part of the Toyota Group.

My indie mechanic was very impressed with the part quality. 

I could have got OEM for about £115 but I wanted to give this a shot. If it goes bad soon, I’ll pay for OEM but based on JTEKT’s background, I’m fairly confident all will be fine. 

[OliCT200h]

I have exactly the same noise on my 300.

 

Just need to find best way to find out which bearing is bad - how did you do this? I need to get it done, drove over 20k like it and it's driving me nuts!

[Bader]

7 hours ago, OliCT200h said:

I have exactly the same noise on my 300.

 

Just need to find best way to find out which bearing is bad - how did you do this? I need to get it done, drove over 20k like it and it's driving me nuts!

Hi there, well I did not find it out myself, the mechanic at the garage did that. He simply lift the car up on the ramp and started rotating the tyres with his hand to find out which one was the culprit. When he rotated the one it was making a unique noise that was not similar to the others and he showed me the difference. One more thing, the bad wheel bearing was not as smoothly rotating as the others. I hope this helps. Be careful with the ABS sensor when you replace the wheel bearing, it can easily be damaged. I think it is located somewhere behind the wheel and you have to unplug it before you can remove the wheel.