$15,073.21 Repair Estimate For AHC - Looking For Input (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 2, 2020
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Location
Whitestown, IN
I own a 1999 Lexus LX 470 that came from Arizona. I'm in Indiana. It looks great underneath and I have had almost no issues with it since my purchase in May, 2020. It has 220k miles on it and in December, 2022 I began a personal project of getting it serviced and ready for a long road trip during the summer of 2024. I had a new timing belt, radiator, rebuilt ABS/Master unit from Andy Le, plus fluid replacements, etc. The final piece was to service the AHC...

After servicing the AHC, it would not return to normal ride height. I posted about this earlier in the week. The consensus was that there was air in the lines. I went through the process again, with no change. A third attempt resulted in the rear of the vehicle showing some upward movement. This is as far as I could get after getting showered by suspension fluid twice from the driver's side rear globe. I caved and took the LX to the local Lexus dealer and the result I have received is a $15,073.21 repair estimate to replace all things AHC related. Apparently this includes 4 hours of labor to bleed the existing system. I am being told the pump has failed and with that failure, everthing else must be replaced. I knew it wouldn't be cheap, this is more like double the "not cheap" that I expected.

Do you take the $15k estimate as legitimate? My LX was referred to a couple of times in the check-in process at the dealership as "vintage", as if to imply I was in the wrong spot. I know the dealership is going to be way more expensive. I just don't know of anyone else who can take a look and offer an opinion. I know it can be converted. In Indiana, I'll have to do some research on who might be able to do that if I go that route.

I'm not necessarily giving up on it, but at 23+ years old, I could be convinced to move on. If I were to move on, is it more attractive to someone who would want to do their own thing with a replacement suspension or would I be better to have that done first? It seems like the replacement equipment choice could be a bit personal and I hate to waste the money on the parts if someone wants it another way.

I guess I'm looking for thoughts and/or opinions to help make a decision. Thanks for your time.
 
That must be a new record for dealer shenanigans. The new AHC pump is $150 and does not need everything else replaced. You must have been dressed well or something, did they try to get you into a new Lexus?

I'm in CO otherwise I'd offer to help get your truck working again.
 
That must be a new record for dealer shenanigans. The new AHC pump is $150 and does not need everything else replaced. You must have been dressed well or something, did they try to get you into a new Lexus?

I'm in CO otherwise I'd offer to help get your truck working again.

I was in an AHC fluid-soaked t-shirt and jeans. I can't afford a new Lexus. My instinct was that it was a "go away boy" quote.
 
I’ll be the first to ask: Do you have Techstream? If not, it’s imperative you have it as a LC with AHC owner. You’ll be able to see the pressures and any failures, codes, etc.

I haven’t heard many pumps failing, more often it’s the tubes rusting which you shouldnt have that issue.

Probably still air in the system since it happened after the flush? There are a couple of threads here of someone battling with air after a flush. I think the recommendation is to park on a hill a certain way to get the air to head to the globe.

Anyway, Techstream first!
 
That's your "none of our techs have worked on this ever before so they're going to take twice as long learning on your truck" quote. Retail on 48910-60012 is around $4K so they're also charging that when it can easily be found for a lot less.

I got my entire AHC system replaced under warranty and the retail bill they charged to the third party warranty was either $11k or $13K. Of course that was something like $1800 per globe when you can get them for $200-250 each as well.
 
Step 1. Get techstream. Get an old laptop that runs windows xp or a newer machine that you can run a vm on. I had an old one laying around from college. Then get the cable from amazon that's recommended. All of this is laid out in the how to techstrem in five minutes thread.
Step 2. Try to figure out exactly where the leak is coming from. It would probably be a good idea to go ahead and replace the globes anyway if they've never been replaced.
Step 3. Follow the the abc's of ahc thread on bleeding and changing the globes. There's also a couple of really good vids on youtube. If there's any of this you're not able to do or if any of the lines are rusty it would be easier and cheaper to just convert to lc suspension.

It sounds like maybe you didn't have the bleed nipple tight when you tried to activate the suspension as the globes themselves never really leak. The lines around them get rusty and they can leak as well.
 
Step 1. Get techstream. Get an old laptop that runs windows xp or a newer machine that you can run a vm on. I had an old one laying around from college. Then get the cable from amazon that's recommended. All of this is laid out in the how to techstrem in five minutes thread.
Step 2. Try to figure out exactly where the leak is coming from. It would probably be a good idea to go ahead and replace the globes anyway if they've never been replaced.
Step 3. Follow the the abc's of ahc thread on bleeding and changing the globes. There's also a couple of really good vids on youtube. If there's any of this you're not able to do or if any of the lines are rusty it would be easier and cheaper to just convert to lc suspension.

It sounds like maybe you didn't have the bleed nipple tight when you tried to activate the suspension as the globes themselves never really leak. The lines around them get rusty and they can leak as well.

Thanks for the input. I think you might be referencing me getting showered with the fluid as the leak? That was when I opened the driver's-side rear globe to bleed. It came out under a ton of pressure and blew the bleeder hose off. No leak exists, that I am aware of prior to this process. Just clarifying in case that changes your thoughts. I do have Techstream on a VM. Just don't have the cable. I'm getting one on the way now.
 
Gotcha, understand what you mean now. If you hear the pump running but it's not coming up then it's either going to air in the line or a weak pump. If the fluid coming out is clean and you're bleeding into a clean container I would reuse the fluid. That stuff's expensive. It may take several times of bleeding to get all of the air out. But once you get most of it out it should come up unless you have a weak pump.
 
Echo the techstream as first step. It has helped me immensly in understanding AHC.

But, for $15k i’d convert to traditional suspension before i’d give up on the vehicle. I don’t know your financial situation, but i believe a traditional LC or OME is a fraction of that quote. Would lose some of the ride quality, but if you love the truck (which it sounds like you do), then that’s a much cheaper option even if you don’t do it yourself.

If you just want to get rid of it, i’d try to post in the classified section being very honest w/ its faults and price it accordingly. I suspect someone wanting a wheeling rig would jump at the chance for a deal on a truck with most of the must do maintenance recently performed. You will never get the $15k investment for the AHC repair back when you go to sell it.
 
I was in an AHC fluid-soaked t-shirt and jeans. I can't afford a new Lexus. My instinct was that it was a "go away boy" quote.
That's not how dealerships work. forgive me for not reading through all the details but just ask them for a breakdown of costs. From there you can make sense of the parts and labor they are trying to charge. They don't just make up super high costs to scare people away but for the record that price is just ridiculous.
 
That's not how dealerships work. forgive me for not reading through all the details but just ask them for a breakdown of costs. From there you can make sense of the parts and labor they are trying to charge. They don't just make up super high costs to scare people away but for the record that price is just ridiculous.

No, I know they don't work that way. What I got from it was that if the pump and/or motor are bad, Lexus protocol is to replace the pump & motor, 4 actuators and height control accumulator. At least that is what was written. Underneath there is a note of "16 hours". When speaking to the dealership service consultant, he mentioned the bleeding process was billed at 4 hours. So I don't know if the 16 includes the 4 or not. The consultant had the tech speak with me and the tech commented that they never bleed at the accumulators or any of the bleed valves. Bleeding only occurs from the side of the pump/motor. I may be stating that incorrectly but I do know he said they do not bleed from the bleed valves below the vehicle.
 
No, I know they don't work that way. What I got from it was that if the pump and/or motor are bad, Lexus protocol is to replace the pump & motor, 4 actuators and height control accumulator. At least that is what was written. Underneath there is a note of "16 hours". When speaking to the dealership service consultant, he mentioned the bleeding process was billed at 4 hours. So I don't know if the 16 includes the 4 or not. The consultant had the tech speak with me and the tech commented that they never bleed at the accumulators or any of the bleed valves. Bleeding only occurs from the side of the pump/motor. I may be stating that incorrectly but I do know he said they do not bleed from the bleed valves below the vehicle.
Even if they had 20 hours of labor at $300 per hour = $6k.

I wouldn't think the parts costs another $9k and I suspect their labor rate isn't even that high.


Something isn't adding up but I don't have experience with AHC parts. I think it would be insane to pay that money unless you have a nearly mint condition vehicle and really really REALLY like AHC installed by dealers. I'm not anti-dealer when it comes to repairs, but that costs is nuts .
>> Ask to see a breakdown of the quote and post it here.


You can either find an independent shop who can repair and replace all AHC parts for less or scrap all the AHC components and install OEM toyota shocks like the LC version has.
 
This evening I drained the suspension fluid reservoir and filled it with 2 quarts of Toyota suspension fluid prior to draining all 4 globes and the accumulator.

After draining, I started the vehicle and I hear it attempting to pressurize. While in low. After a minute or two, the "Off" light begins blinking and pump noise stops.

If I have missed an applicable thread, my apologies. I'm only finding stuck in low after having driven, or other instances. Not as a result of AHC fluid change.

I'm hoping just draining the fluid hasn't messed something up. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

Quoting your other thread (which is here). Sounds like you used quart bottles, which are a known potential problem:


Just to clarify, did you use fluid from a black quart bottle, or from a 2.5l metal tin? Fwiw, I'm sorry for your dilemma.
 
Quoting your other thread (which is here). Sounds like you used quart bottles, which are a known potential problem:


Just to clarify, did you use fluid from a black quart bottle, or from a 2.5l metal tin? Fwiw, I'm sorry for your dilemma.

Thank you. I used black quart bottles, not the metal tin. I was not aware of the possibility of bad AHC fluid.
 
That must be a new record for dealer shenanigans. The new AHC pump is $150 and does not need everything else replaced. You must have been dressed well or something, did they try to get you into a new Lexus?

I'm in CO otherwise I'd offer to help get your truck working again.
I agree and here I n uk the pump is around £150 and not difficult to do just a bleed job afterwards . Can we trust dealer got it right over pump?
 
For that price, I bet we could charter a plane to bring the AHC gurus from this forum to you with a whole new AHC system, install it, and have funds left for beer/coffee and snacks
For that price, I'll ship his truck to me, pay @patchagan to come help replace it in my garage, feed and beer both of us, send it back, and make a profit.
 
Found my bill. $11 or $13K was the original retail quote before it was trimmed for warranty pricing. You can see in the top left section that AHC parts alone (at dealership prices) are $7K plus.

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