My RX330 has been making cabin noises for the past few thousand miles after a minor from end collision (didn’t seem to cause any major mechanical issues but who knows, only the bumper was dented/scraped). My vehicle is a Canadian built 2006 RX330 AWD with 145k miles.
I have uploaded a video of the noises here: https://youtu.be/54xQnlcVT18
The first noise is a rumble from behind the center of the dash heard at idle in park or drive when the engine hovers around 1000rpm. Once the accelerator is pressed the noise instantly disappears. The rumble is more audible in cold weather but occurs in almost all driving conditions.
Update: Engine sounds fine from the outside of the car/in the engine bay, I can only hear the noise from inside the cabin.
Towards the end of the video you will also hear a chirping noise from behind the dash when in drive when going over any bumps or uneven road.
Maintenance has been kept up on and the power steering and serpentine belts have just been replaced due to age.
Only known issue are all sway bar links are worn and need to be replaced soon. Other than that, the car has been running strong and I’ve had no issues. Local mechanic says nothing mechanical seems wrong but it would cost a fortune to disassemble the dash to try and isolate the noise, and reassembly of major dash components creates the possibility of new noises popping up.
Any ideas as to what the noises could be? Sounds a bit too loud to be just rattling plastic trim. Thanks for the help!
-David, Massachusetts
Issue resolved, was a fuel line rattling around between the firewall and intake manifold, plastic clips had broken and the tension from fuel pressure caused the woodpecker sound. Noticed the loose pipe when changing the plugs as it’s hidden behind other parts <profanity removed. -mod>
that's good of you to report back. Thanks. But please follow the forum rules (language).
What something's definitely vibrating in the dash.I would get a mechanic stethoscope and try to pinpoint the noise and then that other noise man if that all occurred after the wreck take it back to the body shop they didn't fix what they should have fixed. I've never seen a Lexus magn noises like that but there are so many electronic and vacuum modulator parts inside the dash that could make noise it would make your head spin
Did you find the issue? I have a 2005 Scion Xb that has a similar problem, I posted a while Back and no real answer. I just posted to find a local mechanic.
My noise only happens when It's cold outside , once the weather warms up I don't hear it.
Attached is the sound I recorded. https://youtu.be/-4w1k3JCBeg
I pulled off both serpentine belts in my car (alt/AC and power steering belts), and the noise stopped.
Turns out one of those belts is not tensioned correctly. I will adjust the tension and see if that fixes it. If not I may need new pulleys for the belt!
I know it’s late, but my recent comment has the final resolution.
The source of the noise was actually a loose serpentine belt, when I removed both serp belts (ALT/AC and power steering belts), the noise stopped!
I’ll have to do a bit more investigating to see if it just needs more tension, or if one or more pulleys needs replacing.
funny thing is I just had the belts replaced at a local garage, I feel like they should’ve noticed if the belts were this loose, it was way too easy for me to twist the belt by hand. The idler pulley also has a bit of wobble and I’ll have to replace that eventually.
Lexus Stealership told me it was a dash rattle and would cost $1000+ to take the dash apart. Good thing I didn’t do that since the source of the problem was the belts. 🤔