Knocking

[mooranger]

I'm not having much luck with my local Lexus dealer - trying to get them to identify where a slight knocking is coming from (front offside area) but they haven't yet identified it. Any ideas what I should suggest they change? I've seen some discussion on sway bar bushes - is this a good starting point? The car has done 77k - I can't be the only one to have this problem :duh: . All suspension is standard set up. Could it be the strut or is this unlikely?

Ta for any help :D

[ColinBarber]

May just be something a bit loose, but could be a strut or ball joint

[Whitebeam]

Sounds familiar .....

Took mine in a few weeks ago with (sounds like) a similar problem. They said there appears to be an oil leak from the passenger side shock absorber, although both myself & the service manager reckon the noise was on the drivers side.

Anyway, they're replacing the front shocks on Friday.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[Stu]

I had this problem, sounds similar anyway, it was knocking quite badly when i went over bumps or into dips in the road, so i took it in to Lexus, and they said it was a shock absorber gone, so they replaced the qhole lot under warranty, and it's been fine ever since. (Touch Wood!)

Stu

[Martin W]

I had severe knocking on nearside on my Gs300.Garage could not trace it. Found the problem myself after a lot of crawling around underneath.

I found that by sticking my hand through the wheel I could rock the brake calliper very slightly . Took it back to my Lex garage I told them about the play.They striped down the calliper assembly & found that the slider pins were badly warn which in turn had worn the insideof the calliper housing itself. The sideways play was about 2mm which was enough to create an alarming bumping / knocking noise when going along on badly scored roads & uneven surfaces.

B4 I had the work done I found that if I put my foot slightly on the brake( just enough to stop the calliper housing from moving) the knocking sound stopped at once. I found that if I drove with window down alongside a fence / wall the knocking sound was frightening!!!

Hope this may help. MW.

[andrewis200]

Mine has done this from new. The dealer didn't believe it was the offside front suspension so took everthing out at the rear and replaced bushes on the rear shockers. No difference, so he part removed the dash and replaced the nearside front suspension. Still no difference so he replaced the nearside suspension. Problem goes away but it has returned on the nearside today - yippee and only done 4000 miles. I have noticed, however, there is a lot of slop in the front brakes. When going from reverse to forward the nearside clunks when first applied. I'm not sure if the two are related and will let you know when I find out. This could be difficult though as my dealer never believes what I say until he has tried everything else.

To add insult to injury, I now have to put up with a rattling dash since he removed it.

[andrewis200]

Sorry - the second time he replaced the offside front suspension

[mooranger]

I agree with you - suspension kncking can be a real pain as you only really experience it by driving for miles on all road types. The dealer rarely understands the problems just be taking it for a short spin. As far as the clunking from the brakes goes, I think this is caused by the disk rotating slightly on the hub when you go from forward to reverse, and can sometimes be sorted by toghtening the wheel nuts. Sounds odd, but the wheel holds the disk tight against the hub. I'm just about to have the disks and calipers swapped to try to sort the knocking, but doubt whether it will. Just one more thing to try. Godd luck in getting yours sorted, and let me know if you get any joy!

[Whitebeam]

mooranger - just PM'd you. Mine seems OK after two days (front shocks replaced). I'll see how it is after a few more miles.

Good luck with yours.

[craig2810]

Dont know if this is similar to my problem i can brake in a straight line without any problem, but if i happen to be turning the wheel at all when braking i get a knocking noise coming from the front end ofthe car. Any ideas?????

[mooranger]

Is knocking when on uneve ground or when on the flat as well? My brakes used to creak (sounded like knocking) when I applied them, and I found the disk had a bit of rust behind it so was not flat against the hub when the wheel was back on. Another cause could be worn caliper slides, which is why Lexus just changed my calipers. My knocking is still there though so I now suspect one of the front shocks, even though the handling sees OK now. Could be ball joint wear as well - as you see it's worth getting the local Lexus dealer on the case!

[craig2810]

Think its a job for the lexus dealer, it definately seems to be a lot worse when on uneven ground

Didnt really want to be spending fortunes on the car, ive only owned it for a month, but the knocking doesnt sound healthy at all

[andrewis200]

Took mine back to the dealer last week and he is sure it's the front shocks and is replacing them again. It would appear this solves the problem because it always cures it - but not for long.