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wierd clunking noise from under the car when moving

14K views 28 replies 22 participants last post by  King P 
#1 ·
right after i turn on the engine and start the car moving in reverse or drive, the car make a slight (or sometimes loud) clunking noise that seems to be coming from either the brakes or the transmission. i cant tell because its subtle sometimes and frickin loud other times.

anyone else have this problem ? it seems to occur only within the first 5 minutes that i start the car.

btw, i have an 02 e shift.

thanks

eugene
 
#2 ·
Sounds like you are talking about the brakes. If so, it is normal, Lexus uses a floating caliper desing. When you first depress the brakes, they make that noise.
All my lexus' have done it.
 
#4 ·
does this usually happen when you go to drive your car after it has sat for awhile?

does it happen when you put the car in drive and slowly drive off its a clunk and a bit of a "errr" noise?

does it also happen when you brake (this usually makes the "err" noise more noticeable/drawn out/speed up)

it sounds unsettling, but the general consensus is that this is a normal characteristic of this car.
 
#8 ·
I've had my used 2002 IS300 sportcross for about a month and have been concerned because I hear that eaxct thing. Usually after the car has been sitting for awhile. When I back out of my driveway in the morning for work I put the car in drive, go a couple of feet and "clunck". It's a hard sound to discribe. ZY
 
#9 ·
Question too?

When I park on a steap hill or driveway and put on the parking break, I feel the car roll back about 1-2 cm and it makes a creek noise sometimes. I'm thinking its the breaks, but I just got the car in Feb'04. Is this just the type of breaks?
I try to pull the parking break harder but doesnt seem to help as much.
 
#10 ·
Hi, I have purchase my used 02 IS for about 4 months now. I have exactly the same problem. I didn't occur to me that this noise would be a cause of concern when I bought it becase I was so excited about the car. Anyway I have taken my car to the dealership for this problem. After 3 hrs of waiting the service dept rep brushed it off as a brake problem. I wasn't satisfied so I checked with the sales rep who sold me the car and he was kind enough to test it out with me. He too reconized that this is abnormal and he had consulted their so call "master technician". Their conclusion was that it was the electrical system of the car calibrating, and that there is nothing that they can do about it. Again that left me unsatisfied but I had to leave due to all the time already wasted. Sorry for the rant but has anyone been able to find out further what the cause of this problem and the remedy may be? Thanks in advance to helping out.

Eric
 
#15 ·
OMG.. I thought I was the only having that problem. I have the same problem. I just recently bought an '02 IS300 at the dealership. Whenever I back out of my driveway I hear a clunck sound as well. Thats the first thine I noticed. I know I have a 30 day grace period with the dealership. So, I'l bring it up and I'll come back and let you know wat they said. Takecare guys.
 
#16 ·
That Kid said:
OMG.. I thought I was the only having that problem. I have the same problem. I just recently bought an '02 IS300 at the dealership. Whenever I back out of my driveway I hear a clunck sound as well. Thats the first thine I noticed. I know I have a 30 day grace period with the dealership. So, I'l bring it up and I'll come back and let you know wat they said. Takecare guys.
Its completely normal. As said, the design of the brakes encorporates "floating rotors" which make that noise (they're a much better design). Not a worry there's NO fix.

Nice bump of the thread BTW ;)
 
#17 ·
Fyi, (not a brake related noise) these cars have a pretty loud transmission(when shifting). Of course mine is a 5sp :rolleyes: maybe its different for an auto. If that is any help
 
#19 ·
Im fairly new, but i have a 2005 is300, and my car was doing the same thing. i took it to the dealer about a month ago, and they said it was a problem with my steering wheel, they replaced my signal switch. However when doing so, they messed up and put one without a fog light, and the car was still making the same clicking, ticking noise. i returned my car to the dealer and havent heard from them in about three weeks now!
 
#20 · (Edited)
gernade300 said:
Im fairly new, but i have a 2005 is300, and my car was doing the same thing. i took it to the dealer about a month ago, and they said it was a problem with my steering wheel, they replaced my signal switch. However when doing so, they messed up and put one without a fog light, and the car was still making the same clicking, ticking noise. i returned my car to the dealer and havent heard from them in about three weeks now!
Did you bother to read anything? We have listed the cause of the click about 10-15 times throughout this thread. THERE IS NO PROBLEM The noise is part of having floating rotors. Floating rotors dissipate heat faster, and are much, much better for performance cars. Most performance high end vehicles have floating rotors and guess what, they make this noise! ;)
 
#22 ·
bartkat said:
And all this time I thought it was floating calipers.

Besides, there are other parts that can cause a similar sound, under different circumstances. Mine turned out to be a loose sway bar mounting bracket.
Sway bar braket? Was that from the factory? Is it floating calipers? I've always read and heard it being referred to as floating rotors.
 
#23 ·
YellowIS300 said:
Sway bar braket? Was that from the factory? Is it floating calipers? I've always read and heard it being referred to as floating rotors.
I got the car when it was a year old. I thought the front sway bar needed lubed, but that didn't fix the noise. Then I discovered the bracket bolts were loose where it mounts to the frame/body.

I checked up and it appears that both floating rotors and floating calipers are used on high performance brakes. So, I guess either is correct. The reason is to isolate the brakes from the suspension.
 
#26 ·
I hate to bring back a dead thread...but this one should be stickied. I swear this clunking noise had me worried when I first got my car. I thought...such a nice car and now I have to fix something already. It wasn't until my brother drove my car and told me "hey, the IS has that brake/rotor system that clicks when you first drive it". That made me feel so much better knowing it was normal.

To the other guy who's had his car with Lexus for 4 weeks...that's BS man. Lexus should know of this noise by now and just be more forward explaining it.
 
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