Hello Mudders! I bought a 2002 LX470 a couple years ago, and ever since, I had been following this forum for all my maintenance on the truck. Recently the ride had gotten rough. First I tried changing fluid but the ride did not improve. I finally bit the bullet and purchased 4 AHC globes from Impex. Installation of the globes went smoothly. I only bleed out about a quart of AHC fluid from the 4 corners to release the pressure from the system before unscrewing the old globes and screwing the new globes on( Note: I did not bleed the accumulator ). Immediately I took the truck out for a test drive. The ride is improved but underwhelming. Surely there must be a lot of air pockets still in the system.
Since I got relatively new fluid in the system, I decided to try removing air from the system without bleeding more fluid. Basically my method relies on Henry's Law which states the amount of a gas absorbed into a liquid is proportional to the pressure on that gas. These are the steps :
1. Start engine, raise vehicle to H. This ensures maximum amount of fluid get drawn into the system.
2 Stop engine and wait 30 min. This is to ensure sufficient time for the air pockets to be absorbed into the fluid.
3. Start engine and lower vehicle to L. This would expel maximum amount of fluid to the reservoir.
4. Stop engine and wait 30 min. This allows the fluid in the reservoir to air out to the atmosphere.
I did 5 cycles of these 4 steps and then took the truck out for a test drive. The truck drove wonderfully. For the first time since I bought the LX, I fully experienced the smooth and excellence ride that Lexus is known for.
Since I got relatively new fluid in the system, I decided to try removing air from the system without bleeding more fluid. Basically my method relies on Henry's Law which states the amount of a gas absorbed into a liquid is proportional to the pressure on that gas. These are the steps :
1. Start engine, raise vehicle to H. This ensures maximum amount of fluid get drawn into the system.
2 Stop engine and wait 30 min. This is to ensure sufficient time for the air pockets to be absorbed into the fluid.
3. Start engine and lower vehicle to L. This would expel maximum amount of fluid to the reservoir.
4. Stop engine and wait 30 min. This allows the fluid in the reservoir to air out to the atmosphere.
I did 5 cycles of these 4 steps and then took the truck out for a test drive. The truck drove wonderfully. For the first time since I bought the LX, I fully experienced the smooth and excellence ride that Lexus is known for.