Truck has 131k on it. Got new globes on it at 68k. Truck is very bouncy in uneven road. From low to high I count 7 ticks in hyd tank. When stopping at a red light front of truck will will drop and go back up. Does anyone have a recommendation, Height sensor or globes. Also to note just got a new telescopic motor from dealer, anything in column that could affect the height system?
AHC bouncing truck (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter scrappyslexus
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Did you bleed the system?
New oil?
New oil?
- Thread starter
- #3
Did not bleed or change fluid yet. Had dealer check it and he said it was clean at 130k. I took a look tonight. Fluid is not red and not black. It actually looks to be yellow/ motor oil color. Is this a sign it is time to change or it has broke down. Kind of smelt burnt. Truck goes up to high and down to low ok.
Fresh fluid/bleed system, vehicle height correct, TBs adjusted and rear coil spacers/new coils if necessary to get neutral pressures in spec and see where that takes you. Without knowing your neutral pressures and being confident your AHC fluid is fresh and there is no air in your system you can't really move forward. Invest in TechStream if you don't have it, you can't really maintain your AHC system without it.
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uHu
Bridgeburner
^^ @ Paddo.
But, if the heights are OK (lo & hi) and the neutral pressure is OK, then, with 7 ticks, the globes are busted. If they last so short time/miles, there is something wrong, either pressure or fluid.
Btw, you can not check fluid without bleeding - as all the gunk is down there, not up at the reservoir.
Sounds a bit like what happened to my 2000 when the dealer decided that it was a good idea to use brake fluid (hydraulic fluid, right?). It ate the globes' membranes. Exchanged all the fluid - even took off the shocks to pump out what was there, then changed the globes, and they were OK for many years - still are, in fact.
But, if the heights are OK (lo & hi) and the neutral pressure is OK, then, with 7 ticks, the globes are busted. If they last so short time/miles, there is something wrong, either pressure or fluid.
Btw, you can not check fluid without bleeding - as all the gunk is down there, not up at the reservoir.
Sounds a bit like what happened to my 2000 when the dealer decided that it was a good idea to use brake fluid (hydraulic fluid, right?). It ate the globes' membranes. Exchanged all the fluid - even took off the shocks to pump out what was there, then changed the globes, and they were OK for many years - still are, in fact.
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- #6
Would all 4 go at the same time? Is it possible for just the fronts to be bad?
FWIW, I read so much on this forum and ended up not doing any bleeding or anything. I just replaced the suspension with Land Cruiser conventional suspension and ride isn't so bad even though I still need to fix the torsion bars and adjust height.
Anything is possible if you had contaminated fluid or the fluid is original and so degraded it's not providing the lubrication and heat dissipation qualities it should. 7 ticks is not good, but to be accurate you must measure the number of ticks with.... Wait for it.... Neutral pressures in spec. And as uHu correctly pointed out, the fluid you see in the header tank reservoir "appears" in better shape than the working fluid that's stuck in the extremities of the system. Bleed a couple of ccs off the height accumulator and check it out yourself.
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- Thread starter
- #9
Truck at dealer. I asked about pressures, they said not familiar with testing this and they brought in an Lexus Engineer. They think 2 front accumulators bad. Can just 2 go bad? what would cause just 2 to fail? Anything else I should have them check? Springs? Torsion Bar?
Did you check with the mini VCI?
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- #11
No I did not. I am going to buy the one off ebay when my truck gets back. Not sure if a 2000 lx470 has a 16 or 22 pin plug. Would you know? I did send all the testing procedures to dealer and hope that they perform the test.
Have a look under your steering wheel. There is the MODB plug.
It is the square white plug attached to a bracket close to you pedals, facing down.
It is the square white plug attached to a bracket close to you pedals, facing down.
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- #13
Will do. Dealer will change from two accumulators and bleed system. Then wil recheck pressures and adjust torsion bars. Do you folks think I need all four changed?
Only if they realy have failed, as they are expensive.
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- #15
Ok, everything pointed to front 2 accumulators. I got both font 2 replaced all the bouncing gone. Still not sure if I should of chaned all 4.
uHu
Bridgeburner
Check the graduations count - that will answer that question. If the heights and neutral pressure are within specs.
I have no experience with the AHC but it sounds like a dampening issue, are your shocks good to go?
The accumulators/damping globes have a little better life than regular shocks... so 50-100K miles depending on how hard they have to work. If you're killing it off road or are armored up they don't last as long.
On the plus side they are insanely easy to change; you can do it on the side of the road if needed (need strap wrench and bleed-plug wrench)
I have no data to back it up but since they will have hit all the same roads when the front two go the back two are probably 6 months to a year behind at most. They are expensive but, since you probably have some time, you can save a bundle ordering through Amayama. They ship the OEMs direct from Japan; the pricing is great but it takes 4-8 weeks to get them. No affiliation but I'm cheap and had a good experience so I can recommend them. =) http://www.amayama.com
If you need them faster then the site sponsors are great
The sensors wear out also. I don't know what average life is but I had the original rear go bad at 130K so I replaced all three. Pretty cheap as parts go and I figure 130K is a pretty good lifetime.
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- #20
Well new accumulators are making the ride great but wife hear some metal on metal noise. Looked under truck and see that the bolt holding the sway bar? is sheared off on the passengers side right under the height sensor. Does anyone have a diagram or a part number? Can I do it myself or does it need to go to dealer?
