'97 Es300 Suspension

[BAMBANG]

Hey people, my front end makes dull rattling noises at low speed over jiggly surfaces....suspect it may be top strut mounts cause the struts themselves seem OK...anyone had this? Will standard Camry or Avalon top strut mounts from the Toyota dealer fit ( no Lexus dealer close to me ) ? also...anyone done a spring upgrade to stiffer springs ( would like it a bit firmer without losing too much ride-quality ) ? any suggestions appreciated !! also.....after a good mechanic in outer western Sydney to do a 150,000km timing-belt change ( what ballpark price should I be looking at and is it necessary to also change the water-pump at the same time??).....thanks for any input ! Steve.

[messerschmidtt]

I would suggest that the rattling noise is probably only those damned plastic wheel arch well covers/liners rattling away, that's all

[messerschmidtt]

yes, I have a 2000 es300 with 173000kms on the clock..I have pretty well the same problem and have yet to resolve it..and have a few people look at it so far..havent pinpointed the problem yet..and I am reluctant to start pulling the whole front end suspension to pieces in order to resolve it..I'm just about at that stage..I am so over this persistent rattling every time I ride over a little bump in the road..I would be happy to hear any constructive feedback that may help me with it bfore I go crazy..

[messerschmidtt]

yes, I have a 2000 es300 with 173000kms on the clock..I have pretty well the same problem and have yet to resolve it..and have a few people look at it so far..havent pinpointed the problem yet..and I am reluctant to start pulling the whole front end suspension to pieces in order to resolve it..I'm just about at that stage..I am so over this persistent rattling every time I ride over a little bump in the road..I would be happy to hear any constructive feedback that may help me with it bfore I go crazy..

"You might as well go ahead and replace the upper strut mounts. It was an extremely common problem - virtually 100% failure rate - on both the Toyota Camry and ES300 of that era. Lexus and Toyota dealers here in the U.S. replaced many thousands of upper strut mounts under warranty. The ones on our Camry were replaced a few years ago at 80,000 after years of rattling -- our Camry is driven little and was out of warranty by the time the rattle became apparent.

Your 2000 Aussie spec ES300 uses the same poorly designed upper strut mounts ("SUPPORT SUB-ASSY, FRONT SUSPENSION")- same part numbers - as our 1998 Camry that had the same front suspension rattle. You can check the part numbers at: http://www.toyodiy.c...TPGKQ_4803.html

I think the replacments are supposed to be "better" but I wouldn't know how to tell.

I checked the invoice for the repair on our Camry and see that the part numbers for the replacement upper strut mounts were 48609-33121 and 48603-33021.

It seems odd that the rattle on our Camry also seemed worse on the right side. I thought it might have been from hitting road defects that seem more common near the edge of the road but your having the same situation on your RHD ES seems to blow that theory. Maybe there is less sound insulation on the right side of the firewall"

(this is a quote from a lexus club of america member-1990LS400)

[peregrine]

I would suggest that the rattling noise is probably only those damned plastic wheel arch well covers/liners rattling away, that's all

see "reviews and other common stuff" was the thread above yours. Problem solved by replacing strut top mounts has part numbers etc and states they are exactly the same as camry.