My Sc430 with 95k has a steering wheel wiggle . Tires balanced, worn lower ball joint and front end alignment been done. Seems to come and go at various speeds.
View 14 RepliesI test drove the sc 430 the other day, I found it very smooth and very soft ride. I noticed that when I accelerate the car feels heavy as if it lacks the torque. Is this normal?
Also, the steering felt loose at high speeds above 60mph. Is this normal?
Had the shaky steering wheel @ 50-65 MPH. I remember this happened to my other car after the brakes were inspected. The tech put the rim on without cross tightening the lug nuts.
Anyway I took off the wheel and noticed the brake rotor was not lined up with lug bolts. In other words the bolts were not centered on the holes of the brake rotor. So I broke the rotor free and lined up the holes. Put the wheel back on and now no shakes at 50MPH. I do get just a little of shake on braking at high speed but thats all.
I think the rotor can get stuck on the edge of the bore and not able to seat firmly on the spindle.
I recently purchased a low mileage 2002 SC 430. The steering will starts vibrating at about 65 MPH, and it lessens, or even quits vibrating at about 80. I am not sure if it is the tires needing balancing, or the current set of tires not being particularly good. I think the tire brand is Rotalla, or something very similar. I would like, when it is time to put a new set of tires on the car, to get some non run flat tires (I am not sure whether the current set are run flats or not), as I read on this forum that the ride is much better on non run flats. However, I do not have a spare in the trunk. Are the small, temporary spares easy to come by? Does Lexus sell them and how much? Is there any other alternative to consider as I do not particularly want to get a flat when driving in the country without a spare.
View 10 RepliesI had a issue today and it made me scared to drive the SC ever again. While I was driving this light came on that kept blinking and making a beeping noises, after a while of blinking (approximately 30 seconds) the steering wheel jerked to the left and right really fast, luckily there was no car around me. I immediately pulled over to the shoulder. After a couple minutes I drove home on the service road without incident. Why this happened.
View 6 Replies2002 SC430 with 50k miles. I have a set of aftermarket Dolce rims that are 18" with the stock size tires. I have the eccentric spacers on them as well. They have been mounted and balanced. I also have a set of Dunlop snow tires on my stock rims. Obviously I do a seasonal change over.
With either set of tires I am getting a steering wheel shake at 60-65 mph. By 80mph its gone and the car glides perfectly. There is no pulsation in the brake pedal and there is minimal wear on the pads. Below 60mph there is no issues as well.
Tires are wearing evenly. Some roads will make the movement worse, but it always goes away at around 80 mph.
Now both sets of tires were mounted and balanced by the same shop. I assume that could be it...there machine is faulty. But I would like some other possibilities before I try somewhere else.
2002 sc430 73k miles.
I have a slight steering wobble (not really shaking/vibration) at higher speeds and only when I turn the wheel to the left or right a little (maybe a 1/2 inch). If I am driving straight down the highway it is smooth at any speed 40-90mph no issues. If I move the wheel to the left or right I feel the the wobble in the wheel. If I go back and forth a little, constantly, with the wheel it continuously wobbles.
I had recently addressed some other vibration issues by installing new LCA #2, continental DWS tires, and had the front end aligned (front -.3L and -.5R for camber, Rear -1L and -1R camber, front and rear toe set to -.07, if I recall). I couldn't really remember if I felt this wobble before because the tires and LCA's needed to be done badly. I am not sure if I should replace the struts either since ride feels good.
My steering feels darn good and responsive at low speeds and does not wobble when turning the wheel slightly. I have purchased new oem steering rack bushings but have not installed them yet (purchased as a preventive maintenance part when i had some free time, before I discovered this issue).
I have read a few threads about alignment of the steering rack causing issues if it is not perfectly centered. Not sure if that would cause anything like this. Love driving the car but the wobble is rather annoying when i turn the wheel a little to change lanes at 75mph.
I have noticed that when pressing on the brakes at 50 MPH and higher my steering wheel starts vibrating and it feels like the car is being tugged a little to the left. This started a couple of weeks ago, what might be causing this?
View 14 RepliesI bought Lexus SC430 and am finding this weird thing whenever it hits a bumpy road wheel loses control and go right and left without much of my control. SC430 2003
View 5 RepliesMy friend with an 07 with about 109k miles on it now has started getting a "groaning" noise whenever the wheel is cut hard to the right or left, either sitting still or rolling. A local repair shop (not the dealer) checked it out and said there was some "stuff that needed to be lubricated". Not trusting this opinion he went to a Toyota dealer where he was getting new brake pads installed on all 4 corners (no Lexus dealer in the city where he lives), they diagnosed the car as needing 4 new struts and a new balljoint.
If in fact he does need the struts and balljoint, I am thinking chances are there will be a bunch more suspension stuff that should really be done at the same time when everything is apart anyway - perhaps bushings, endlinks, etc?
Is he better off sticking with the OEM strut replacements or should he go aftermarket? He's not looking to slam the car or anything, and is more of a ride comfort guy than handling enthusiast.
drive an '05 sc430 and the steering wheel shakes at above 50mph when I lightly step on the brakes. I have recently had my brakes done and an alignment done as well as both rear shocks replaced.
View 14 RepliesStrangely, after my battery died and the car was jump-started the volume control on the steering wheel is not working correctly. When I press the volume up switch, the sound actually decreases, and the volume down button does not function. The manual volume control on the radio works fine.
View 14 RepliesMy wife just purchased an 04 w/27k miles in superb condition two months ago. This is a California car that had no mountain or winter weather service.
We live in Colorado & do a lot of mountain driving. At speeds above 65mph going down hill the steering wheel slightly vibrates or shimmies under heavy braking. The car is always heavily loaded.
Original brakes w/ well over 50% lining. I have not put a dial indicator on the disc surfaces.
CV joint boots are tight & no grease leakage.
Tires are wearing perfectly, so I do not think it is an alignment issue.
My GX470 steering wheel shakes/vibrates when I hit speeds over 50mph. What is causing it?
View 12 RepliesJust rotated my tires this weekend and noticed today that the steering wheel has a vibration in it at highway speeds, 65-70mph. It did not do this at all before I rotated the tires, why it's doing it now? Tires are fairly new and Bridgestones H/Ts.
I know my rotors are warped and need replaced but the vibration I'm referring to is when I am not braking.
I bought 09 GX-470 4K miles ago..has 50K on it. Ran perfect when we bought it. wife said it started doing it 1 week later. I drove it and felt like warped rotors to me. replaced front rotors and pads with cheap wearever brand...I Know...I was sort of trouble shooting..did nothing ...did the back rotors and pads and seemed to fix it..did proper bed-in of new parts but, never checked at speeds above 55mph. recent trip got us up to speeds above 55... at these faster speeds when brakes are applied we get a nasty wheel wobble and a pulsing pedal...braking below 55 it feels fine.. thought's ?? last car was a 4runner which has the the same rotors and pads and never had a problem...could it be ABS ?? should I go with new oem rotors and pads ?
View 10 RepliesI'm new to Lexus ownership and have recently purchased an 08 certified LS 460 L with the air ride suspension. It's a phenomenal car, I'm now a convert to the brand. One small thing I noticed though is a slight jiggle or vibration coming to the steering wheel at moderate speeds. It is very dependent on the road surface, Seems to dissipate on the highway. Alignment was checked before delivery and feels fine and the tires themselves feel balanced. It's not upsetting, I'm just curious if this is something normal to the air ride suspension. Other than this the car is an absolute gem with only 35,000 miles.
View 4 RepliesMy SC430 '02 has developed a problem with the VSC. Unfortunately it s not the light but the VSC engages at slow speeds. If I accelerate from low speeds, engine does not rev up and the VSC lights comes on. It works as if I was skidding and tries to correct the direction of the car. Just as it should if I was on ice or experienced aquaplaning, but I am on a dry road. I did a reset of the ECU, had the car at Lexus (they were able to duplicate my issue) for a zero-calibration. They found no problem with the sensors. All did not work. Presently I drive with the VSC disengaged. I do suspect the speed sensors to act up as I had Tein-Coilovers installed, but how can I get to the source of the problem?
View 12 RepliesI am having an issue with the car not feeling stable on the highway or at speeds over 50mph when I am on a curve and go over a roadwork patch. The cabin of the car seems to float way too much to the side, almost like hydroplaining although the wheels stay put on the road.
After describing this to a mechanic, he said it sounds like my lower control arm bushings are gone. He looked at them and confirmed it, the rubber bushings that control the side to side action are cracked and worn out. He said that he is unable to just replace the bushing and has to special order the whole arm from the dealer (approx 200$ each arm).
I went to get a second opinion and another mechanic basically told me the same thing except the price on the part went down to 175 per arm with 2-3 hours labor.
I replaced my rear brake pads this weekend. I used oem pads and used the shims with CRC lubricant. I also compressed the brake calipers and made room for the new pads. I also tried to take off one of the rotors but it would not come off even with putting screws in the rotor.
Everything seemed fine and brakes were strong but when I went for a test drove there is a clicking sound at low to medium speeds come from the rear passenger side. I checked the retainer pins and they are on correctly.
What the problem may be? I would like to spin the wheel but the parking brake is on. Is it okay to take off the parking brake while jacked up if I block the wheels??
I'm trying to find why my car's steering wheel vibrates. This happens at all speeds regardless or acceleration or breaking.
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