ThePerfectionOfLexus

Hi guys I’ve been wondering about something in my LS430, ever since I bought it nearly 7 months ago. When taking a turn, the steering wheel doesn’t seem to return to center smoothly in the last 30 degrees. This worsens when the car is cold, especially in winter when temperatures are low. While the steering wheel centering improves when the car reaches operating temperature, it still doesn’t return to center smoothly all the way. I haven't encountered any problems with the power steering or anything else. Please check out the first video. I’ve had the dealer look at it. They couldn’t find any issues, as they told me. They only suggested that a wheel balancing would fix it. The power steering fluid and reservoir have been replaced about 7 months ago. The old fluid was completely dark. Is this a common problem on these cars, or is it just a normal thing on these? Another thing. There's a very faint whining noise inside the cabin when accelerating slowly between 60 and 70 km/h. It sounds almost like a turbo, but with a very low frequency. This noise is only present when the transmission is in Drive. However, if I manually shift to 4th gear, the noise disappears. Please check out the second video (headphones required). The noise is louder in person. Is this a normal thing? If any of you LS430 owners could chime in with any input, it would be highly appreciated. Does you LS behave the same? Thanks a lot. IMG_0619.mov IMG_0621.mov

No, the sound isn’t too loud. But it made me curious, reading about other owners not being able to tell, if the engine is running on idle. I’m kind of a perfectionist, and this LS really deserves the best. I had a shop investigate both mufflers last year when they did the timing belt and water pump. I was told, that the mufflers are aftermarket, but they didn’t leak. They were installed correctly by previous owner. I believe they are just not dead silent as stock mufflers. Will have to check out, how much it would cost to replace to stock mufflers.

Thank you all for the reply. Actually, I’ve turned of all accessories in the recordings. So what you hear, is actually the exhaust humming, not radio or ventilation. I’ve read online, that I shouldn’t be able to judge if the engine is running or not on idle. That’s how quiet these cars should be. This isn’t the case with my car, since the exhaust always makes a humming noise. The engine rpm is mostly at 900 rpm, and this is when the humming is at it worst. It’s more or less gone at 1000 rpm, and almost non noticeable below 900 rpm. As mentioned, the previous owner had the mufflers replaced at some point. But unfortunately with aftermarket ones. I’ve attached another recording to this post. It’s crucial to use headphones. It sounds like a small subwoofer on low frequency, hard to explain. Do you all with LS430’s have stock mufflers to compare with? IMG_0194.mov

Hi guys I’ve had this beauty for almost 5 months now. During this time, I’ve started to wonder about something. Am I supposed to hear the exhaust humming at idle inside the cabin, or should the interior be dead silent? The humming can only be heard at idle, loudest at approximately 900 rpm. There is no humming while driving. I know that my mufflers have been replaced at some point with aftermarket ones. This makes me wonder if they are the cause, but they have no leaks (checked at mechanic). Perhaps aftermarket aren’t that good to insulate noise. I’ve attached two recordings (require headphones for best result). Thanks a lot. IMG_0409.mov IMG_0413.mov

Well I’ve been monitoring the situation for a month now with the floor mat removed for clarity. We have had lots of rain and the AC has been on all the time. The carpet stayed fully dry all the time. So it seems to be correct what Ronnie said about condensation. Condensation seems to collect under the rubber floor mat, but when the floor mat is removed there is nothing to spot.

Thanks Malc. You might be right, but I’m having a hard time finding the source. The wet spot is in a very unusual location.

Thanks Ronnie, but it seems to be a bit more than condensation though. It’s not soaked, but very wet.

Thanks, the windscreen doesn’t seem to be wet anywhere on the inside. I’ve tried to find any spots. It just beats me, how water can end up in the marked area, without any trace at all. Specially the under part of the carpet being totally dry, which usually is soaked in these situations.

Hi guys I've noticed that the passenger floor carpet gets a bit soaked after a longer period of rain in my pre-facelift. I've been reading up a lot on this online and have checked almost all possible water drains on the car. The only place I've left behind to check is the rear sunroof drains. However, all the sources online seem to have an outcome of water under the carpet. The strange thing is that, in my case, the bottom of the carpet is completely dry, so the water ends up on top of the carpet only. While I had the carpet lifted up, I've checked the AC drain, and it's fine. I also checked the cabin filter compartment, as I had a suspicion of water dripping on the carpet, but the compartment is dry (picture attached). I've attached a picture with a marking showing where the carpet is wet and one with the floor mat. The floor mat is wet at the bottom only and always dry on top. Do you have any idea what the culprit could be? Thanks

Hi guys Anyone here with a pre-facelift LS430 having a creaking rear noise on take of? It doesn’t seem to be an issue on later models. My car has stock air suspension. I’m getting exactly the same noise as this guy. Fast forward to 0:24: https://youtu.be/1AAaVXhx6XA?si=3VEDwEP3iXkUvwko Thanks

Thanks guys. But I must say the RPM needle bounces, even when driving as a grandpa (which I mostly do), but just not that bad. 😀 However, I love the V8 sound at 6k RPM.

Thanks for confirming that, Dom. Yes, my RPM gauge is bouncing, seems normal on pre-facelift. Don't know, if there's actually a fix for it?

Thanks for all the input guys, appreciate it. I've had the Lex for a week now. One thing I've noticed. Despite being in Power ECT mode, the engine doesn't seem to rev above 6k RPM at kickdown and full throttle. Isn't it suppose to reach approx 6.500 RPM or even around 7k, please check my video below? IMG_4114.mov

Thanks. What you've mentioned, works as expected. Yes, it's a pre-facelift 2001 model. Don't worry, the car has been moved long ago. That picture is taken directly from the sellers ad 😀.

Well, I happened to buy the car last night, and drove it home for approx. 300 km. The transmission shifts very smooth in lower RPM, but rougher during acceleration, seems normal to me. Some other things came to my mind on the way home. 1: The RPM gauge isn't actually fluctuating as previously mentioned, but it kind of bounces when letting of the gas, on it's way down from 3k rpm and above. Seems to be normal according to some other threads/only the needle itself, due to not being able to keep up with the quick shifts. Although I've never experienced this with other cars. Can anyone confirm, if this actually is a "feature" on the LS430? 2: Am I supposed to feel any difference when changing the 3 possible modes: Suspension = Sport/Norm Height = High/Norm, tested setting this to High activated the air compressor. I didn't test anything further, just switched back to Norm. ECT = Pwr/Snow, tested this last night, couldn't really feel any difference.

Thanks for confirming this. I suppose the tranny is ok on this vehicle then, and gives me a peace of mind. How is the Jaguar compared to noise, was the LS quieter?

Thanks Colin. Will need to check it out, if I choose to buy the car. In relation to the shifts. Yes, I would say, that the shifts were more noticeable under higher rpm, from 3k and upwards. They were smoother in lower rpm, but still noticeable, kind of like butter smooth, just like the BMW. Maybe I had the wrong impression, that the shifts should be 100% unnoticeable, from all the reading about the LS430. The car has now reached 230k km, and the tranny fluid was replaced first time around 154k km, according to the owner. It should still have around 25k km to go, before next fluid service, if the magic number to fluid change is 100k km.

Thanks for the reply. 1: The gauge was fluctuating during driving, there was nothing on idle. I believe, a throttle body/MAF/fuel injectors would give some symptoms during driving as well? Could it be something electronic, sensor related? 2: Thanks for letting me know, gives a piece of mind.

Hi Guys I finally had the chance to test drive the Lexus LS430 for the first time, which I'm considering buying. However, I have some observations, I've noticed during the test drive: 1: The RPM gauge was fluctuating a bit at the beginning of the test drive, but seemed to stabilize later on. What could be the cause for this? 2: The speedo was a bit off with the reading, driving 130 km/h on the speedo, read about 122 km/h on the gps. I've read, that this is common, and is not an actual problem, however most cars in Denmark are off about 5 km/h and not 8 km/h. What's your opinion? 3: This one surprised me a bit. I've read, that the gearbox shifts should be unnoticeable/seamless, this was however not the case in my opinion. Coming from a BMW e38 735i steptronic, I would say the LS430 is as smooth as the BMW in regards of shifting. You can feel the shifts, specially at higher rpm, but not much. Still, I wouldn't call it seamless. Can anyone chime in, that has moved from e38 to LS430, or simply owns both to compare, if the shifts should be more or less the same between these two cars? Thanks a lot guys, really appreciate your help. rgds, Mario

Thanks, I'll go with replacing the radiator with another stock part. According to Lexus in my department, the issue should have been fixed by now, and the stock radiator has a different part number. Regardless, I'll stick with replacing the coolant every 5 years, and hope to keep a good preventive maintenance this way.

Just an update for anyone reading this thread. I've been in contact with my local Lexus department. I was told, that the stock radiator has been improved and has a different part. no, compared to the old radiator. They couldn't tell exactly, what has been improved, but they're sure that the corrosion issue has been fixed.

Is this guaranteed, any idea when it happened?

That's definitely something to consider, thank you for the input. So what would be a good guaranteed preventive thing to do in my situation? Simply replace the stock radiator with another stock every 7 years, and change the coolant every 5 years? I would normally drive the car 4.5 - 5k miles per year, not much, and mostly short trips.

I've been in contact with Paul Frost, the owner of Autotek- Lexus Spare Direct. I've read he should be very knowledgeable. They sell an external transmission oil cooler for the LS430, which sits in front of the radiator. According to his knowledge, the external oil cooler won't cause any issues with the transmission heating up Summer or Winter. However, I would like to hear from some of you guys, that already have an external oil cooler, what is your experience?

Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciate it. I came across this interesting thread, and posts from "The-Acre": https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/115946-ls430-transmission-failure-total-fluid-loss/?page=2#comment-1052780 He has replaced his radiator as a precaution, and seems to point out, that the issue begins at the unions on the radiator themselves. To me this sounds like a gamble really. It's not guaranteed, that I will be able to see any corrosion in time on the unions, before the failure happens. Now I'm seriously more into installing an external tranny cooler, however the tranny oil won't be able to heat up properly this way during the Winters here i Denmark, so this is another concern.