Mr G

Hi mate, I've been experiencing the same squealing noise for the last few months with it gradually getting louder. Anyway, today I have had a front drivers side wheel bearing replaced and the squeal is gone! My mechanic and I came to the conclusion that it simply must be a bearing as we had discounted everything else. The removed bearing was surprisingly well loaded with grease but obviously was worn in some way. I also had none of the usual worn wheel bearing symptoms like a low down rumbling noise that you can sometimes feel / hear. See this thread for some background on my noise http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=70168&st=0&p=739016&fromsearch=1entry739016 Got the bearing off eBay for £50 which was the cheapest one going. Was an NSK bearing so good quality. Hope this helps, Graham

After finally having a chance to have a look behind the rear discs I can report that the brakes do not appear to be the cause of the squealing. Apart from not much copper grease on the pads everything is in fine working order. Plenty of life on the pads, shoes and drums. I also took the time to adjust the shoes / handbrake. Drum was not rubbing on backplate either. Re front brakes I didn't remove the discs, just swung the caliper up to check the pistons / pads. Again, all in working order apart from the absense of both Inner Anti-squeal Shim and Anti-squeal shim so I'll get those ordered and fitted ASAP. Not holding my breath that it'll fix it as I was under the immpression that the anti-squeal shims only prevent squeal under braking?

Thnaks ROYT, I'll have another prod around at the weekend.

LOL yes, I think (or at least hope!) that's what he meant.

Oh sorry, you're only talking about removing the disc/drum. Yeah that's no problem. I thought you meant cracking the main center hub nut and removing the hub / bearing altogether. Yeah I'll remove the disc and check for any rubbage! Thanks again.

Crikey, I don't know if I can be arsed to take the hubs off! So were the noises you heard similar to those I've described? I'll try the copper slip first and see how it goes. Still can't believe that the discs shouldn't be a tighter fit! Thanks for your help so far chaps! G

It's basically like a high-pitched squealing noise that starts at around 37mph and doesn't go away. When slowing down the noise disappears at maybe 15/20mph. It is neither rev or gear dependant. It doesn't matter if I coast in neutral at say 40/45mph, the noise will be there. Doesn't matter if I jump on the front brakes or pull the handbrake up whilst going along either. Re copper slip, there was some but not much. Need to pop down to my old man's and put some more on. I've also had all but one belt replaced under the hood. It's kinda like when you hear people driving with the handbrake on. That kind of noise but more high-pitched. The other half thinks I'm going mad as she says she can't hear it!!

In an effort to preserve my sanity and finally find out where this damn screeching noise is coming from, I decided to take a look to see if the rear discs were rubbing on the calipers. I found that although the rear calipers have corroded and flakes of rust were in contact with the disc, it wasn't the cause of the whistling / screeching sound I'm getting. I did however notice how loose the discs seemed to be on the hub. Almost like they've not been fitted properly. I always thought discs should have the little counter sunk screws in them that fasten them to the hub. Sure the wheel will pull it up tight but just thought it should be more secure. Anyway vid > words... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-yA6Funatc

Yeah I certainly can't grumble with the quote they've given me. I've just found out that the bit I've sheared off is actually the crankshaft dampener and plays a pretty important role!! Lexus price is £270. Breaker price is £70. You do the math!! I just hope that the Toyota garage can get the old pulley off.

In case there was ever any doubt, I have concluded that I do indeed fail massively at cambelt changes as today's shenanigans has proved. Decided to have another crack this time with a 1M length of scaffold pole. I have ended up shearing off the inner, holder part of the pulley that is bonded to the pulley with rubber. It's booked in with Toyota next week where they're going to change the belt, tensioner / idler, water pump and bypass o-rings for £287.00 Happy days.

Piece of cake. All the airbox stuff unbolts easily enough so you can get to the top of the engine. Then unbolt and remove the coilpacks remembering the order they're in. Then you can get to the plus. As far as I'm aware the plugs probably won't need gapping either and should be fine stright out the box.

Yeah we did try that hoping it would shock it as you say but no joy. Might have another go though.

IMO it's not that bad, sure it shouldn't have the chunks taken out of it but it could be worse... http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=57335

Yeah I know, I thought I had it covered. I read that it needs to be torqued to 220NM so was prepared for a battle! Funny thing is that my torque wrench only goes up to 210NM!! Re turning it the correct way, this has been a much asked question between us believe me!! I'm led to believe that it's a normal right-hand thread. Plus the starter trick would only work if it was right-hand thread so that's the way I've been turning it (anticlockwise). I know I just needed more leverage but I guess I just got a bit p!ssed off / disheartened with it and threw the towel in. I really don't want to take it to a garage if I can help it as I can do everything myself other than this bloody nut!! I'll sleep on it and consider getting a 3/4" socket and a bigger bit of pipe and having another go. Have you done your cambelt before then? How did you secure the pulley?

After taking a week off work, swatting up on the procedure and amassing all required parts I set to work yesterday morning in an attempt to replace my cambelt and a few other items. I'd consider myself fairly mechanically minded as I've replaced head gaskets, cambelts, turbo's, etc before. I also had my old man (retired mechanical engineer) at my disposal along with all his tools. So anyway, coolant drained, rad and fans off along with airbox gubbins. That was all straight forward. Get to the crankshaft pulley bolt and nothing but nothing (that I had access to) would shift it. I tried the trick of flicking the starter but it made no difference, I even made a tool from a bit of angle my dad had but even with extra leverage (1.5m piece of metal tubing) it wouldn’t shift. Like I've read in other threads on this subject even though you're able to lock the pulley in place there is still movement on the outer part of the pulley so shocking it doesn't have as much impact. I would describe it as being like the cush drive rubbers on the rear sprocket of a motorcycle. I got the idea for the tool from another thread on here This is the state of the belt - not bad I thought and although I'll still change it (83k) it's no longer the emergency I thought it was. So that's it. I have had to admit defeat. Yes I know I could have gotten a bigger bar and that it was simply a case of needing more leverage but I wasn't prepared to apply that kind of force. I'd rather let a garage have the hassle. I rung the local Toyota dealer and asked how much it would be to change the cambelt, water pump and bypass o-rings with me supplying all the parts. Because they didn't have a price on their system they contacted Lexus for an idea of what to charge. They rung me back and said the cambelt is listed as a 3 hour job and the water pump as a 0.7 hour job so near enough a 4 hour job all in. 4 hours labour is £350 (yes, really) but he said because of the age of the car they'd knock 20% off thus making it £287. I'll be honest I don't understand what they mean with the %20 discount but I wasn't going to question it! Does that sound reasonable? I'll contact a few other independent garages for quotes and make a decision. What pains me is that I'll effectively be paying a garage to undo a stubborn nut!! Oh well at least I changed the plugs...