I have used my Landcruiser Amazon with AHC system for slightly over five years now (actually five and half years) since June 2018.
I never had any AHC woes until the last six months after I decided to change the shocks and globes (sorry these terms can be confusing, but I understand the system better than I did before).
Prior to the last six months, I had simply been changing the AHC fluid, which really helped maintain the system in good condition for all the five or so years. It was always very comfortable, stable and fun to drive.
The reason I changed parts of the AHC system six months ago was because the car had started riding rough. I have learnt a lot more since that mega-exercise of changing parts. At first, I even regretted that I changed the parts, but now things are a lot better. I thought I should share my experience to help others.
1. You need to ready yourself to understand the system better. Join this great forum and be ready to read and experiment a lot ... and be ready to get dirty and do some of the work yourself.
2. In some parts of the world, whenever you buy an AHC car, you might find yourself on your own, without anybody to help you when in need. No mechanic around would have any idea of how the system works, although many would claim to do so. In my experience, all the mechanics here who have helped me with replacing parts of my AHC system have no idea the moment you start talking about neutral pressures, graduation tests, etc. I told one mechanic that my Forum members (this forum) advise that we should always check neutral pressures. The mechanic asked me "what is neutral pressure". Then he assured me that those advising me are not mechanics; that they are just ordinary car owners who do not know what they are talking about. This just confirmed to me that he did not know the technicalities of AHC. Yet this is one of the few expert AHC mechanics in town.
3. After doing some work on the system, e.g. replacing a part that leads to fluid loss or potentially introduces air into the system, be ready to bleed the system even if the mechanics tell you that it is not necessary. Here, all the mechanics insist that bleeding the system is not necessary, yet when I bleed it later, I find a lot of air - and the ride quality improves drastically after bleeding.
4. Equip yourself with a diagnostic tool (Techstream, ...) to help you monitor the system. It is unbelievable how much the ride quality changes after you adjust the pressures (through torsion bar adjustment). All these mechanics of mine here don't believe it.
5. Be very patient with the adjustments you make on the system. You need to adjust, test, adjust, test over and over until the system is in great condition. The only person who can tell whether the system has improved or not is the one who drives the car all the time (and that is you), not the mechanic who does not know how the car rides.
6. I have read a lot of online claims that AHC is the single part of a LandCruiser that fails too often. I think it only fails if you do not know what you are doing.
7. When a mechanic tells you that they know the system very well and they have worked on many similar cars before, treat it with a pinch of salt. You may certainly be lucky to get a good mechanic who knows the system (depending on where you are). But for me, that has not been the case, I now understand why cars similar to mine have mostly disappeared on the roads here.
8. Since I started getting the AHC woes six months ago, I now seem to be nearing a point where my system may be back in order - due to my persistence. Had I left it to my mechanics, I would possibly have discarded the car by now, just because of a lack of understanding of AHC.
Having shared the above, I believe many car owners in some places are lucky because they have mechanics who understand the technicalities of AHC. Our experiences may be different. These are mine.
I never had any AHC woes until the last six months after I decided to change the shocks and globes (sorry these terms can be confusing, but I understand the system better than I did before).
Prior to the last six months, I had simply been changing the AHC fluid, which really helped maintain the system in good condition for all the five or so years. It was always very comfortable, stable and fun to drive.
The reason I changed parts of the AHC system six months ago was because the car had started riding rough. I have learnt a lot more since that mega-exercise of changing parts. At first, I even regretted that I changed the parts, but now things are a lot better. I thought I should share my experience to help others.
1. You need to ready yourself to understand the system better. Join this great forum and be ready to read and experiment a lot ... and be ready to get dirty and do some of the work yourself.
2. In some parts of the world, whenever you buy an AHC car, you might find yourself on your own, without anybody to help you when in need. No mechanic around would have any idea of how the system works, although many would claim to do so. In my experience, all the mechanics here who have helped me with replacing parts of my AHC system have no idea the moment you start talking about neutral pressures, graduation tests, etc. I told one mechanic that my Forum members (this forum) advise that we should always check neutral pressures. The mechanic asked me "what is neutral pressure". Then he assured me that those advising me are not mechanics; that they are just ordinary car owners who do not know what they are talking about. This just confirmed to me that he did not know the technicalities of AHC. Yet this is one of the few expert AHC mechanics in town.
3. After doing some work on the system, e.g. replacing a part that leads to fluid loss or potentially introduces air into the system, be ready to bleed the system even if the mechanics tell you that it is not necessary. Here, all the mechanics insist that bleeding the system is not necessary, yet when I bleed it later, I find a lot of air - and the ride quality improves drastically after bleeding.
4. Equip yourself with a diagnostic tool (Techstream, ...) to help you monitor the system. It is unbelievable how much the ride quality changes after you adjust the pressures (through torsion bar adjustment). All these mechanics of mine here don't believe it.
5. Be very patient with the adjustments you make on the system. You need to adjust, test, adjust, test over and over until the system is in great condition. The only person who can tell whether the system has improved or not is the one who drives the car all the time (and that is you), not the mechanic who does not know how the car rides.
6. I have read a lot of online claims that AHC is the single part of a LandCruiser that fails too often. I think it only fails if you do not know what you are doing.
7. When a mechanic tells you that they know the system very well and they have worked on many similar cars before, treat it with a pinch of salt. You may certainly be lucky to get a good mechanic who knows the system (depending on where you are). But for me, that has not been the case, I now understand why cars similar to mine have mostly disappeared on the roads here.
8. Since I started getting the AHC woes six months ago, I now seem to be nearing a point where my system may be back in order - due to my persistence. Had I left it to my mechanics, I would possibly have discarded the car by now, just because of a lack of understanding of AHC.
Having shared the above, I believe many car owners in some places are lucky because they have mechanics who understand the technicalities of AHC. Our experiences may be different. These are mine.
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