LX570 AHC Globe/Accumulator Replacement (2 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Used 2.5L during globe replacement. Last night bleed and refilled with another 2.5L. No difference in ride comfort this morning.

Fluid collected from bleeding is clear and new looking. I will make attempt 500 to get techstream working and see if there is anything there.
Did you bleed the 5th accumulator? If not bleed that one first on your next bleed cycle.
 
For those having trouble removing the globes, especially if you plan on trying an impact wrench do yourself a favor and try a 6 point 13/16 sae socket for fitment first. Here are 2 new, never used tekton 6 point sockets and the 21mm has noticable slop where the 13/16 sae has very little play. The same holds true for there deep socket counterparts.

View attachment 3874918
Great point. You definitely want to make sure the socket you use fits tight, and has little to no taper. Sometimes it helps to sand down the end of the socket to get rid of the taper.
 
Did you bleed the 5th accumulator? If not bleed that one first on your next bleed cycle.
If he's bled twice, there is little chance that he hasn't already evacuated the 5th accumulator. It would have expelled and refilled the first time he did a lift from L to N or N to H. The 2nd bleed certainly would have cleared all that fluid.
 
Used 2.5L during globe replacement. Last night bleed and refilled with another 2.5L. No difference in ride comfort this morning.

Fluid collected from bleeding is clear and new looking. I will make attempt 500 to get techstream working and see if there is anything there.
tell us about your tires and current tire pressure
 
If he's bled twice, there is little chance that he hasn't already evacuated the 5th accumulator. It would have expelled and refilled the first time he did a lift from L to N or N to H. The 2nd bleed certainly would have cleared all that fluid.
Have read thru entire post of several threads and others have had luck bleeding the 5th accumulator as a last resort with good success.
 
I should have known better than to expect this to last. The ride comfort has diminished, it' not to as rough as I believe it was before. But it's not like a as comfortable as it was the few days after the globes were replaced and bleed.

I'm going to do another round of bleeding next week. Not expecting that to fix it long term.

Thoughts on what to replace/check next?
Go back and read post 368 to 388 of this thread. Good luck to you.
 
Have read thru entire post of several threads and others have had luck bleeding the 5th accumulator as a last resort with good success.
The 5th accumulator, other than possibly holding old unchanged fluid has no affect on driving. Its only function is to help the pump lift the truck faster during changes from L to N and N to H. It’s completely isolated from the 4 corners of the suspension except when lifting.
 
The 5th accumulator, other than possibly holding old unchanged fluid has no affect on driving. Its only function is to help the pump lift the truck faster during changes from L to N and N to H. It’s completely isolated from the 4 corners of the suspension except when lifting.
Lets walk this thru, the 5th accumulator not being bleed would potentially have air trapped in the unit which when going from n to h would be distributed to both the front accumulators. irs not that hard to do and he has tried every thing else, what would it harm to try?
 
tell us about your tires and current tire pressure

BFG KO2 275/70/18 E rated on 18x8 Tundra Steel rims -60mm.
Running at 43psi based on a calculation from some tire standard converting from stock tire/pressure rating.

Have been running them for almost 2 yrs.

1743724040488.png
 
Did you bleed the 5th accumulator? If not bleed that one first on your next bleed cycle.
I did recall reading that may have solved the issue for another mudder I'll give that a try this weekend. I also hooked up the tech stream and drove around, toggled the mode between comfort and sport+, difference is quite noticeable between modes. No current codes, recorded the AHC live data, didn't see anything that seemed unusual.

Should I see any of these valves or actuators be cycling on and off on the live stream?

AHC Live View 1of2.JPG
AHC Live View 2of2.JPG
 
BFG KO2 275/70/18 E rated on 18x8 Tundra Steel rims -60mm.
Running at 43psi based on a calculation from some tire standard converting from stock tire/pressure rating.

Have been running them for almost 2 yrs.

View attachment 3876682
If you haven’t experimented with pressure I’d test some. Maybe try 39?
 
I should have known better than to expect this to last. The ride comfort has diminished, it' not to as rough as I believe it was before. But it's not like a as comfortable as it was the few days after the globes were replaced and bleed.

I'm going to do another round of bleeding next week. Not expecting that to fix it long term.

Thoughts on what to replace/check next?
I would get some spare fluid, and repeat the purge sequence
 
I did all 4 of mine yesterday. How in the heck did they install that skid plate on the assembly line?

Other than that, all went well.

Pro tip: Mark each box with a large F or R and then place them in position next to the globe that they will replace. This lessens the chances of placing them in the wrong position.
 
I did all 4 of mine yesterday. How in the heck did they install that skid plate on the assembly line?

Other than that, all went well.

Pro tip: Mark each box with a large F or R and then place them in position next to the globe that they will replace. This lessens the chances of placing them in the wrong position.
There is also a part number stamped on the side, different for F and R. I found out the hard way.
 
There is also a part number stamped on the side, different for F and R. I found out the hard way.
Yup, common mixup since they look just about identical.
 
193k on my rig with some bounciness to the ride, so I decided to change the globes and bleed AHC fluid.

It was going pretty well until I attempted to remove globe with 21 mm socket and rounded the hex head. The hex head is just 4.5 mm tall, so there isn't much to grip with the typical chamfered socket. Like others have done/reported, the hex rounded/stripped. Grrrr. Had to remove globe with a 21mm nut extractor socket - which performed flawlessly.

I missed the tip in this thread of using a 13/16" socket with the chamfers ground off. So here is a visual aid of it working fabulously with a 18" - 24" long 1/2" drive breaker bar.
Screen Shot 2025-05-04 at 9.25.32 PM.png


The old AHC fluid was rather clean, which pleased me.
Screen Shot 2025-05-04 at 9.27.43 PM.png


New globes installed and coated with fluid film.
Screen Shot 2025-05-04 at 9.30.24 PM.png



Bonus coverage: after bleeding all the fluid, suspension dropped a bit lower than "L". I didn't notice if this was all the way to bump stops (full squish), but the tires tucked into wheel wells pretty far. Tires are General Grabber ATX size 275/70R18 (SL).

Front
Screen Shot 2025-05-04 at 9.36.02 PM.png


Rear
Screen Shot 2025-05-04 at 9.36.16 PM.png
 
A
193k on my rig with some bounciness to the ride, so I decided to change the globes and bleed AHC fluid.

It was going pretty well until I attempted to remove globe with 21 mm socket and rounded the hex head. The hex head is just 4.5 mm tall, so there isn't much to grip with the typical chamfered socket. Like others have done/reported, the hex rounded/stripped. Grrrr. Had to remove globe with a 21mm nut extractor socket - which performed flawlessly.

I missed the tip in this thread of using a 13/16" socket with the chamfers ground off. So here is a visual aid of it working fabulously with a 18" - 24" long 1/2" drive breaker bar.
View attachment 3899111

The old AHC fluid was rather clean, which pleased me.
View attachment 3899114

New globes installed and coated with fluid film.
View attachment 3899116


Bonus coverage: after bleeding all the fluid, suspension dropped a bit lower than "L". I didn't notice if this was all the way to bump stops (full squish), but the tires tucked into wheel wells pretty far. Tires are General Grabber ATX size 275/70R18 (SL).

Front
View attachment 3899120

Rear
View attachment 3899125
Be very keen to hear updates on the ride etc.
 
Great info in this thread. Did the globes in the driveway after work in about 2 hours.

Just want to reiterate the new globes do not need backup washers. Got globes from Japan via eBay. My LX is a ‘14 and didn’t have backups on existing. I tried to use backup washers on the new ones and trashed an o-ring. This info is in the middle of the thread. I skimmed through the beginning and end, missed it initially.

My bad for not measuring the channel. Night and day difference in ride. Tons of air came out when I depressurized the system before removal. Found that interesting. Wonder how much improvement just a bleed would have net. Fluid was wrecked at 112k. Believe it to be original. I’ll definitely be looking to do this on a 75k or less interval. And maybe fluid exchange in between.
 
My 2014 LX570 is just under 120k so the time has come to replace the accumulators (globes). I have changed the AHC fluid twice in the 120k of use but the ride quality is becoming quite poor, especially over washboard surfaces and abrupt square-edge impacts. Hopefully new accumulators make it ride like new again. Two quick questions:

Is there a comprehensive list of parts that should be ordered for this job? Obviously the four accumulators and a can or two of AHC fluid but are there seals, gaskets or other hardware associated with the job 'while you are in there' ?

Can someone recommend a good Japan-direct source for OE the parts?
 
193k on my rig with some bounciness to the ride, so I decided to change the globes and bleed AHC fluid.

It was going pretty well until I attempted to remove globe with 21 mm socket and rounded the hex head. The hex head is just 4.5 mm tall, so there isn't much to grip with the typical chamfered socket. Like others have done/reported, the hex rounded/stripped. Grrrr. Had to remove globe with a 21mm nut extractor socket - which performed flawlessly.

I missed the tip in this thread of using a 13/16" socket with the chamfers ground off. So here is a visual aid of it working fabulously with a 18" - 24" long 1/2" drive breaker bar.
View attachment 3899111

The old AHC fluid was rather clean, which pleased me.
View attachment 3899114

New globes installed and coated with fluid film.
View attachment 3899116


Bonus coverage: after bleeding all the fluid, suspension dropped a bit lower than "L". I didn't notice if this was all the way to bump stops (full squish), but the tires tucked into wheel wells pretty far. Tires are General Grabber ATX size 275/70R18 (SL).

Front
View attachment 3899120

Rear
View attachment 3899125
That’s a solid write up. I thought you wanted to use a 6 point socket to start with if you were concerned about rounding the nut. Is this not correct? Either way, good pull on going to standard to get that last bit of tightness.

Edit: apparently there’s new sockets that use weird rounded protrusions to grab the faces of the nut. Looks like my old school thoughts are in need of updating?
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom