A few minor IS200 Issues

iaind

iaind

iaind

Soldato
Joined
26 Feb 2009
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Location
Exeter
Hi Guys,

It's been ages since I've been around here, looks like a lot of the old names are still around :) Have asked about this on the owners forums but they're not the most active places so thought I'd see if anyone around here could help

First of all, the car is an 05 Lexus IS200 with 115k miles on it. Mechanically it's in really good condition but there's a few little annoyances which I'd like to sort out - guessing it's just some things beginning to need replacing because of the mileage

First of all, its started making a rotational mechanical scraping noise when turning left, but only at a particular angle. So a 90 degree turn wont do it, but a long sweeping left hand corner it will be audible with the windows open. Cant see anything obvious fouling behind the wheels - sounds like the disc backing plates but they seem to look like they should... any ideas how to narrow it down, or even what else it could be?

Secondly, there's a clunking from the front, think its the offside. Doesnt happen all the time and it's not that loud. All the bushes seem OK and cant find any play in any of the arms etc when it's jacked up. Apparently it's very common with these cars and is either the top mounts of the shocks themselves - but how would I go about narrowing it down? I prefer not to replace things as a diagnostic!

Finally, it feels like the engine rocks back and forth too much - anything but a perfectly smooth gear change or backing off at higher revs results in a wobble. It's not too bad, but it's not as smooth as it should be - I'm guessing engine mounts are the only thing here. Would replacing all of them be the right course of action here, or should I be narrowing down which one is the problem first?

Thanks for any help! :)
 
iaind said:
First of all, its started making a rotational mechanical scraping noise when turning left, but only at a particular angle. So a 90 degree turn wont do it, but a long sweeping left hand corner it will be audible with the windows open. Cant see anything obvious fouling behind the wheels - sounds like the disc backing plates but they seem to look like they should... any ideas how to narrow it down, or even what else it could be?
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I would double-check the CV gaiter.
 
The front end scraping is a bit odd, did you bend the heatshield back whwn you checked it? Could be worth doing so and maybe reseating the caliper, discs and pads checking for any oddities whilst you do so.

R.e top mounts / shocks if you can see no leakage from the shocks and the car doesn't bounce more at one corner then the only way I know of to check the top mounts is to physically take them out. Good news is knackered ones are usually very obvious, bad news is they can be a nightmare to get at if working at home without an impact gun. How certain are you on bushes and drop links etc though? Have you been at them with a sizable bar?

Any time I've had to change engine mounts there has been one particular mount that takes the most strain / wears the most. Do you feel virlbration through the gear stick? Can tell you that the mount nearest the box is worn.

Not sure what the arrangement is like. On the IS but generally all you'll need is a socket set, 2jacks and a bit of wood to change them
 
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Nah didn't think to bend them back - guess there might be a stone wedged in there - although when I've had that before it makes a noise all the time.

I'm relatively certain the bushes and things are OK, although not been able to have a good go at them myself. The knocking has been there since I got it - first thing I did when I bought the car was take it to a friend who runs a garage for a full service and a good once over - asked him to check the clunk out but he couldn't find anything when it was up on the ramp. I'd have thought a bush would deteriorate much quicker than a top mount though and the noise hasn't got worse in just under 10k miles.

The wobble is noticeable through the gear stick yep, but it's noticeable through the entire body of the car. When it's idling or normal running there's no vibration whatsoever to the cabin - a bit to the heartsick but nothing I wouldn't expect. It just makes it feel like I've spazzed up a change when I really haven't!
 
iaind said:
Oh yeah, but not really pertinent to this problem though surely?
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IMHO no, but sounds can appear to come from the wrong place when moving with the windows open so I would certainly check all 4 wheels for the scraping sound. If the wheel bearings are worn/loose then the disk can rub on the pads/calliper at certain lateral loads, so wouldn't rule out the back end in your investigations.
 
Good point. I'd have thought if it was weight loading related it would happen on tighter corners and/or higher speed, but it's even audible at manoeuvring speeds. It also doesn't change when the brakes are applied so can probably rule out anything to do with the calipers or pads etc.

Going to take it to my friends garage next week and we'll get it up on the ramp to see what's what
 
iaind said:
Good point. I'd have thought if it was weight loading related it would happen on tighter corners and/or higher speed, but it's even audible at manoeuvring speeds. It also doesn't change when the brakes are applied so can probably rule out anything to do with the calipers or pads etc.

Going to take it to my friends garage next week and we'll get it up on the ramp to see what's what
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It was early in the morning :o

But still, on some cars there is very little clearance around the axle shaft where it joins the wheel and if something is sticking out a little more than it should then at certain wheel angles it can scrape. Try putting it up on jacks and spinning the wheels at different angles and have a good look/listen to locate the sound?
 
Funnily enough that's what I've just done. Up on jacks, different steering angles. No noise, no play, nothing loose of fouling. Gah
 
iaind said:
Funnily enough that's what I've just done. Up on jacks, different steering angles. No noise, no play, nothing loose of fouling. Gah
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One thing to bear in mind is when you put it up on stands the wheels and axle stands obviously drop so if there is a part of the body hanging a bit low, it wouldn't make a noise while on stands. Don't think that applies here though. Odd.
 
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