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Latest Member Posts
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Stock Ground Clearance RCF
I've just purchased a 2015 RCF that is lowered a long way. Can anyone tell me what the stock measurement is from the ground to the center of the wheel arch front and back? This will help me to get an idea of where my clearance is. -
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What Mods i should add
Hey guys this is my first post, to be honest i don’t know much about cars and i’ve just bought an Altezza RS200, I was looking to add some Mods to it from the little bit of research i’ve been thinking of adding HKS Hiper exhaust and a APEXI Power Intake, please let me know what you guys think! Also looking for some new wheels any advice? -
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Diagnosing "Wheel of Fortune" noise
Hi all, back in July 2024 I purchased a 2011 RX 350 and have absolutely zero regrets - it is a fantastic car! I purchased it in Sydney and drove it back to Brisbane with zero issues, and have done a decent amount of suburban / city driving since, as well as several coastal trips. In October 2024 I got the car serviced by Lexus Springwood, who complimented it's perfect service history and remarkable mechanical condition for its age, sentiments that were also echoed by the pre-purchase inspection report I arranged prior to purchase. However, since December 2024, the vehicle has developed a noise I am trying to diagnose. It's not quite a rattle. It's not quite a click. It's not quite a tapping, a knocking, nor tick. (Sorry, Dr Seuss just spoke through me there!) I'll use the term "tick" from hereon out to denote an individual instance of the noise for simplicity. I've come to dub it the "Wheel of Fortune" noise, however in looking for some media to help communicate to the forum what it sounds like (it's volume and pitch mean I can't catch it on recording), perhaps the "roulette wheel" noise would be more appropriate as this video is a really good approximation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2QnNhPzwmk I have compiled the following observations so far: 1) The sound is never occurs when the vehicle is stationary. I only ever hear it when the vehicle is in motion. 2) The tempo / frequency of each individual "tick" changes relative to the speed of the vehicle. Going faster reduces the period of time between each tick, slowing down of course does the opposite, the ticks occur further apart from one another. So gradually breaking sounds much like the example roulette sound effect in the video above. 3) It is somewhat intermittent, but occurs the overwhelming majority of the time. It might be my imagination, but it seems to be louder and more pronounced when breaking. 4) It is most noticeable at lower speeds, partly because there is less engine noise to contend with. But also possibly because at higher speeds, the tempo / frequency of the ticks would be occurring so fast, it would blend them into a more constant sound (although I can't say I can identify one). 5) It can occur at any point in a driving session, provided one is traveling slow enough. It is most noticeable at the beginning and end of a trip, because those are the two times in any trip one is typically driving most slowly, and when all other engine noise dies down. This would seem to rule out an issue related to a cold start. An example trip would be a 1.5 hour journey from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast, and still being able to hear it at the Sunshine Coast end of the journey - more than enough time & Motorway KM's for any temperature related issues to resolve, I would have thought? 6) The sound is rather quiet, but still noticeable. I have tried driving with the windows down to get a better idea on where it might be coming from, or if it is louder outside the vehicle, but even at slow cruising speeds, there is too much atmospheric noise to isolate it. It is most noticeable sat in the car with the windows up. But it is still noticeable enoygh 7) The sound is hard to pinpoint, but sounds like it comes just left of centre of the dash, possibly within the engine bay (i.e more to the passenger side). 8 ) Given points 1, 2 & 3 above, I suspected that the noise is related to something catching in the wheels as they rotate. I have jacked up the front of the vehicle on both sides, put the car in neutral, and manually spun the front wheels with my hands, and could not get the sound to occur. I may not be spinning them fast enough to trigger it, if it is indeed related to the wheels. I did not perform this test on the rear wheels as the sound seems to be coming from the front of the vehicle, but I can't say 100% where it is coming from. I suppose point 2 also doesn't necessarily point to the wheels either, as various components adjust their rate of completing a cycle in relation to the speed of the vehicle, but in my laymans opinion, point 1 supports wheels over most other components, as other components continue to cycle when the vehicle is stationary, and point 3 supports wheels over other components, if breaking does increase the volume of the noise as I believe it does. However, I'm no mechanic, so these assumptions may be flawed. 9) At one point I believed it might be the black plastic cover in the engine bay flapping in the breeze, as one of the clips was missing, and rapidly applying pressure on it with a finger towards an edge was enough to replicate the sound to some degree. However, after ordering new OEM clips and re-securing it, the problem persists, and in hindsight the noise is distinct enough to not be related, plus the noise is present when driving slow enough to not have airflow significant enough to rapidly shake the cover, and one would expect that noise to be even louder and more pronounced at high speeds, which it isn't. I have looked at quite a few posts on these forums chasing down similar rattles / clicks / ticks, but the evidence in videos / descriptions they have provided does not seem to align with my mystery noise. Any insight would be greatly appreciated! -
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