If your LX identifies as female, you’re lucky if it kneels at all…
LX570 AHC Globe/Accumulator Replacement (9 Viewers)
- Thread starter NKP Garage
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Good point. Just added that to my description.
That's odd. Does it lower a little bit and then stop lowering? Or just doesn't lower at all?
dubyahard
SILVER Star
All or nothing. It's weir and a little annoying since the kneel mode definitely helps out when loading/unloading the littles.
I have heard some comments about battery condition affecting the AHC.
Would anyone be in the Los Angeles or Ventura County area and willing to help me do this? I'd love to tackle this job but I feel like I'm going to miss something and screw it up. I can do all the work, but having a second pair of eyes who have gone through it would make me feel better.
Are we following NKP Garage procedure in his video, otherwise there is a post earlier on in this thread on page 22 which seem to follow a slightly different procedure. Link to it is here . The Post from page 22 seems to suggest you bleed and then drive - that seems risky to the pump.
Are we following NKP Garage procedure in his video, otherwise there is a post earlier on in this thread on page 22 which seem to follow a slightly different procedure. Link to it is here . The Post from page 22 seems to suggest you bleed and then drive - that seems risky to the pump.
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I’m a fan of doing one globe at a time and then letting the system recover. It should probably be fine doing 2 or 4, but since you are putting the system in an abnormal state bleeding a corner all the way down, you are making the pump work the least by only doing one globe at a time.
Okay cool that makes sense. I guess I’m confused about bleeding one and then driving and moving up the height. Won’t that starve the lines/motor if you’ve bleed them?
I don’t know if you have to drive it between bleeds. But you have to recharge the system by starting the car and then cycling the height control up to N and then H, being careful to let it rise to each level before hitting the switch again. Make sure to add fluid to the reservoir after each bleed and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t run out. That is critical. Those red fluid transfer pumps from Harbor Freight are great for that. Also, I put my LX up on four of those black plastic tire ramps to give me some extra. Room under the vehicle. I probably climbed into the car to start it and cycle the pump after each bleed at least two dozen times. That’s where a second person would have helped. But as I said, I am not sure what driving between bleeds will do for you. Maybe someone else can explain. Just make sure you have 3 of the 2-1/2 liter fluid to start and be prepared to make a mess.
I am not near LA but if you follow the video you will have no issues. I was hesitant but was lucky to have a very mechanically experienced friend help me. But it didn't really matter, we just followed the video and I am sure I could do it again by myself without issue.
It is helpful to have a second person but it's not impossible by yourself. Only after we changed all 4 globes did we drive it around the block. But first we put it into HI back to N, LO and back to N, refilled the reservoir. After the test drive we bleed each accumulator (very little air) drove again and did one last bleed and filed the reservoir. I was lucky we had almost no air to bleed out.
A few tips from my "lessons learned"
1. Make sure the rears are bled well, as I mentioned in my post the first rear we thought it was done and when I took the globe off it shot at me and sprayed fluid all over.
2. Stubby 10MM wrench for the rears. A regular will work but a stubby will make your life much easier.
3. Transfer pump from Harbor freight worked great just verify the tube are inserted tight before pumping, another mess.
4. I did get the "check wheel AHC system error" when starting the car (after the first side globe change) Like the video says just restart it and engage the AHC switch, it will go away. Leave all the windows down so you can hear the pump engage.
5. Have a plan for stuck globes. I was fortunate all 4 came off with a breaker bar and not a lot of effort. But you read the thread about some car with rust/corrosion and it can be a pain. We had a strap wrench also in case it was needed.
6. Wear eye protection, the bleeders under a lot of pressure and there is not much room on the nipple for the bleed hose and they will fly off.
7. I found the light under the truck was not super helpful to accurately read the fluid level in the reservoir (even a super bright light) I used a min-mag light (LED I think) and put it through the wheel well right up against the tank. This allowed me to accurately read the level.
Def have enough AHC fluid in case the fluid you are taking out is nasty and you need to flush. I had two 2.5L can standing by but my fluid was clean so I didn't use very much.
I did check for leaks the next morning after driving home from my friends house (about 20 miles) and verified the fluid level again.
Good luck!
Not sure if this is helpful being so deep in the thread, but I took my truck into my mechanic and asked if he could get my stuck globes off. He used to work on semis and bigger deisels in general, and used a big oil filter wrench he used to use on those trucks, and he got em off no problem. Hope that might help someone.
Not a bad idea. I assume something like this. Being able to grab the outside of the globe definitely improves the leverage situation. And not too expensive to get your hands on one. I didn't do any measurements, so this may not be the right size. I suspect one of these 2 would be in the ballpark.
GEARWRENCH Heavy Duty Oil Filter Wrench | 5-1/4" to 5-3/4" | 2322D
GEARWRENCH Heavy-Duty Oil Filter Wrench 4-1/2" to 5-1/4" | 2321
Thanks to everyone who's contributed information here. (16' lx570, 120k mi)
I replaced the 4 Globes last week and happy to report suspension is back to normal.
Since about a month before the ride had become hard, jittery over irregular road surfaces, uncomfortable. After the replacement it's back to being a cloud.
I printed service manual as guide as well.
I replaced the 4 Globes last week and happy to report suspension is back to normal.
Since about a month before the ride had become hard, jittery over irregular road surfaces, uncomfortable. After the replacement it's back to being a cloud.
I printed service manual as guide as well.
Do you have a scan of that service manual guide? I know the service manual is listed on Mud, but it's via a Torrent download which I can do on my computer unfortunately.
Does this work?
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?
How old is the fluid? Old fluid with moisture can also affect the ride. Maybe flush with fresh fluid.
I'm gonna try on my home computer later. Didn't work on my work computer.
I was able to download from your link on a PC with Edge browser.
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.
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.
