AHC faulty.. Please help!

[toyotavx]

I have a LCruiser 100 series and the AHC seems to have a problem. It initially started with the car lowering into L mode frequently and needed to be changed to N. It would usually do so automatically when i drive off.

THe problem then proceeded to get worse and the car would only move out of L sometimes. I had to go on a 700 km trip across Zambia recently (luckily it stayed high enough on N for half the leg). After this it went down to L and stayed there every since. At some stage the car felt very springy when i went over any little hump.. it gradually got very stiff and has stayed that way ever since. The "height control OFF" light flashes whenever i turn the car on.

Im quite converned as my cruiser is now riding very Low and the suspension feels very stiff so any little bump is little hitting a massive ditch! Unfortunately im in a very remote part of Africa and this problem seems to have come since i took it to the garage (220km away). Any help and assistance will be much appreciated.

 

[bonze]

I went through the same problem. Actuator globes have failed. I had to replace my actuators(the dampening globes for the AHC system). It was very expensive for Toyota OEM parts, cost of $900 US per globe X 4= $3,600 and that's parts only. I bought an aftermarket product at half the price, paid a tech another 500 for the labor and spent another 200 on fluid replacement. ONLY to have it fail again, globes were replaced..failed again, replaced..failed again. Moral to the story "DO NOT PURCHASE AFTERMARKET ACTUATORS!!" . Easiest fix for me was to replace the the suspension with standard LC suspension with a 2" lift. Cost <$2,000 total.
Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[tabraha]

Easiest fix for me was to replace the the suspension with standard LC suspension with a 2" lift. Cost <$2,000 total.
Hope this helps, good luck!

This is the consensus. My AHC is still good but when it does fail down the road I will replace it with a conventional setup, most likely with 1.5" lift. MANY stories of those who tried to replace failed AHC components that were left with lingering issues and the return is not worth the investment. I love my AHC but once it's gone; it's gone...

 

[toyotavx]

thanks for the reply bonze. not sure it would would out for me to try and find alternative suspension out here. thinking i should first flush out the system and replace with new AHC fluid as someone suggested..

 

[PADDO]

There are several AHC fault finding PDFs attached to some of the searchable AHC threads that might help, possibly narrowing the problem down. Either way, you have issues, running a couple of cans of Toyota suspension fluid through is probably your best and cheapest option at this stage. If your AHC system was contaminated with something other than AHC fluid at the last service you might be lucky and recover it with fresh fluid, but I'd starting thinking about lining up replacement options.

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD