LX570 Valley plate Leak

[501LX]

That's a great quote. I paid a little more for my Indy shop to do the job. I got quotes varying from$1500-$2700 between dealerships (toyota and lexus). Shop rates in CA can surpass $200 an hour in the bay area.

I would get a few quotes and shop around to see if there is also a large disparity between rates for this job like I saw.

I posted this immediately after they called me and then looked at other threads and this seemed like a good price. I dropped it off Friday with a 9:00 am appointment to replace the windshield, oil change and AHC fluid change and they didn’t get to it so they had to keep it over the weekend since they aren’t open on Saturdays. They showed me the coolant leak under the manifold with a bore scope today. I had expressed my disappointment with them not getting to it Friday so maybe that helped with the price. They’re charging me $250 for the AHC fluid change which seems good. They insured me that they would bleed at all four points and it would be a complete fluid change of five liters. I drove to the top of Pikes Peak and Old Falls River Road two weeks ago in Colorado so this was a little embarrassing that a hadn’t checked the coolant to see it was running low. My temp was always good though. I stopped by Slee in Golden before I headed back to Arkansas and picked up some sliders. My wheel and tire budget has definitely taken a hit now

 

[lx200inAR]

I posted this immediately after they called me and then looked at other threads and this seemed like a good price. I dropped it off Friday with a 9:00 am appointment to replace the windshield, oil change and AHC fluid change and they didn’t get to it so they had to keep it over the weekend since they aren’t open on Saturdays. They showed me the coolant leak under the manifold with a bore scope today. I had expressed my disappointment with them not getting to it Friday so maybe that helped with the price. They’re charging me $250 for the AHC fluid change which seems good. They insured me that they would bleed at all four points and it would be a complete fluid change of five liters. I drove to the top of Pikes Peak and Old Falls River Road two weeks ago in Colorado so this was a little embarrassing that a hadn’t checked the coolant to see it was running low. My temp was always good though. I stopped by Slee in Golden before I headed back to Arkansas and picked up some sliders. My wheel and tire budget has definitely taken a hit now

Getting work done at Parker? , interested to know how it turns out.

 

[501LX]

Getting work done at Parker? , interested to know how it turns out.

I’ve had my run ins with stealerships, but have never been wronged by one after you call them out. It’s amazing how much they will drop their price once you tell them it’s BS. I used to go to Skip’s foreign cars for over ten years until he retired a couple years ago. Let me know if you have any private shop recommendations. I used to do a lot of repairs myself but money, time, and age have killed my “I can do it better myself” attitude . The Parker tech seemed very competent, the price seemed reasonable, and it comes with a one year warranty. Great to hear from someone else in Arkansas. We’ll definitely be talking more.

 

[lx200inAR]

I’ve had my run ins with stealerships, but have never been wronged by one after you call them out. It’s amazing how much they will drop their price once you tell them it’s BS. I used to go to Skip’s foreign cars for over ten years until he retired a couple years ago. Let me know if you have any private shop recommendations. I used to do a lot of repairs myself but money, time, and age have killed my “I can do it better myself” attitude . The Parker tech seemed very competent, the price seemed reasonable, and it comes with a one year warranty. Great to hear from someone else in Arkansas. We’ll definitely be talking more.

I use Jett's off Markham for general maintenance. Good work and honest/fair prices. But, I did bring my LX to them right after I got it for an AHC tuneup and they said they have a Lexus tech on staff and said they knew what they were doing, i don't think they did. But to be fair, they essentially fessed up to that and didn't charge me for the "work" they did (or didn't do as it was). I have used them for other more standard things and been extremely happy with the price/service. I'm planning to contact Little Rock Mud Connection 4x4 for a re-gear/locker project. I don't have the workspace for a project that big. Although I've never used them, they appear to be LC fans (they import older models from foreign markets for resale).

We'll have to start up an LX contingent at the Rigs and Coffee.

 

[501LX]

Getting work done at Parker? , interested to know how it turns out.

I had to take my LX back to Parker because the coolant reservoir was empty. I decided to check it about two weeks after the valley plate repair, but have been out of town for work the last two months. They told me that there was no leak and I said maybe they just didn’t add enough fluid to fill up the reservoir. The service rep said that it’s normal for the coolant reservoir to be empty. I get that there’s enough fluid to operate with it empty, but I’ve never heard of that being normal.

They had also “changed” the AHC fluid when they did the Valley plate repair and the ride quality was noticeably bad when I picked it up. I called them and said I would bring it back in when I got back in town from work. Today they said that the AHC fluid has nothing to do with the ride quality and the system only changes the height of the vehicle. They also said that they couldn’t have done anything like introduce air to the system because they only lower it and suck out what’s in the reservoir and don’t bleed at the accumulators. The rep also said that you would have to turn the vehicle upside down to change more than the 2 liters that’s in the reservoir.

They just messaged me to let me know that they are pressure testing the coolant system, so maybe they are nervous about the coolant reservoir being empty. I’m hopefully picking it up before they close today, but that’s how it has gone having service done at Parker Lexus. Let me know if you have any thoughts about what they’ve told me please.

 

[05ls430518]

They have no idea what they are talking about, the fluid has a direct correlation to ride quality, they did not bleed or do anything if they just sucked fluid out of the reservoir not changing anything. If they sucked air into the system you should get a error message with the ahc on the dash. A telltale sign there is air in the ahc is lower the truck all the way, if there is air in the system the truck will be stuck in low mode. Maybe they put the wrong fluid in the reservoir hence the bad ride quality?

The overflow reservoir does not necessarily need to be full as long as when the vehicle is cold and there is fluid to the top of the radiator cap when you open it it is fine.

 

[TLC2013]

@501LX after I had my coolant valley plate resealed I had to top off the over flow three or four times over a month until the coolant level stabilized. Been fine since. Hopefully they don’t need to tear things apart again.

 

[lx200inAR]

Like the others have said, I think the coolant system can “burp” a few times after service like this. Air eventually pushes out and fluid takes its place, coming from the reservoir.

If they did what they said, then I agree they didIn’t likely get air into the AHC system. But also, if they did something wrong, then they probably know how to assert that they couldn’t have done anything wrong. I’m not making any accusations, just saying it’s a possibility.

Now on to the validity of the AHC service…

Ill caveat the entirety of below statements that while they may sound like I’m stating facts, I’m only stating how I understand the AHC system to work.

If all they did was replace the 2 liters of AHC fluid in the reservoir, then like said above they only changed out about half of it at best, and they changed very little of the fluid that’s actually working in the system. Any fluid in the reservoir and any tubes up until the height control valve and the fluid in the accumulator are “inactive” under normal conditions. All the fluid from the height control valves to the “shocks” is constantly active whether lifting or driving.

If you dont refresh fluid through the bleeders then all your really doing is changing out the fluid in the accumulator (which will eventually make it into the system)

Here’s what would happen in the first couple cycles of the suspension:

Put truck in Low - this will push a decent amount of fluid from the four corners back to the reservoir. Maybe a liter?

Change out that fluid. Now you have 2 fresh liters in the tank

Start truck up and raise vehicle from Low-N. Accumulator full of old fluid and some fresh fluid driven by the pump will be pushed into the “active” part of system and raise the truck. Then the pump will push fresh fluid into the accumulator. . So still mostly old fluid in the working part of the system.

So if you do another down and up you will push mostly old fluid back to the reservoir and now your reservoir will probably be about half old fluid and half new… and you’ll have 1 liter-ish new fluid from the accumulator mixing with the 2-3 liters that’s in the system in front of the height control valve..and you accumulator will consist of the half / half ish mix after it fills from the reservoir.

I’m not a chemical or hydraulics engineer.. so I don’t know what the benefits of replacing 1/3rd to 1/2 the fluid in the system is and waiting for it to mix while under pressure in tiny pipes, but I suspect it doesn’t work that great.

I also hope that they verified the fluid they used was good. (Ideally from the metal cans) or from plastic cans that were checked before dumping into your reservoir…

If it was me and I was pretty sure the fluid they used was okay, I’d cycle it up and down a few times and see if it’s better, and just know you probably might want to do a flush at a later date.

 

[501LX]

Like the others have said, I think the coolant system can “burp” a few times after service like this. Air eventually pushes out and fluid takes its place, coming from the reservoir.

If they did what they said, then I agree they didIn’t likely get air into the AHC system. But also, if they did something wrong, then they probably know how to assert that they couldn’t have done anything wrong. I’m not making any accusations, just saying it’s a possibility.

Now on to the validity of the AHC service…

Ill caveat the entirety of below statements that while they may sound like I’m stating facts, I’m only stating how I understand the AHC system to work.

If all they did was replace the 2 liters of AHC fluid in the reservoir, then like said above they only changed out about half of it at best, and they changed very little of the fluid that’s actually working in the system. Any fluid in the reservoir and any tubes up until the height control valve and the fluid in the accumulator are “inactive” under normal conditions. All the fluid from the height control valves to the “shocks” is constantly active whether lifting or driving.

If you dont refresh fluid through the bleeders then all your really doing is changing out the fluid in the accumulator (which will eventually make it into the system)

Here’s what would happen in the first couple cycles of the suspension:

Put truck in Low - this will push a decent amount of fluid from the four corners back to the reservoir. Maybe a liter?

Change out that fluid. Now you have 2 fresh liters in the tank

Start truck up and raise vehicle from Low-N. Accumulator full of old fluid and some fresh fluid driven by the pump will be pushed into the “active” part of system and raise the truck. Then the pump will push fresh fluid into the accumulator. . So still mostly old fluid in the working part of the system.

So if you do another down and up you will push mostly old fluid back to the reservoir and now your reservoir will probably be about half old fluid and half new… and you’ll have 1 liter-ish new fluid from the accumulator mixing with the 2-3 liters that’s in the system in front of the height control valve..and you accumulator will consist of the half / half ish mix after it fills from the reservoir.

I’m not a chemical or hydraulics engineer.. so I don’t know what the benefits of replacing 1/3rd to 1/2 the fluid in the system is and waiting for it to mix while under pressure in tiny pipes, but I suspect it doesn’t work that great.

I also hope that they verified the fluid they used was good. (Ideally from the metal cans) or from plastic cans that were checked before dumping into your reservoir…

If it was me and I was pretty sure the fluid they used was okay, I’d cycle it up and down a few times and see if it’s better, and just know you probably might want to do a flush at a later date.

Thank you everyone for the replies. They pressure tested the coolant system on their own accord so I’m not worried about it. If they would’ve given me the explanation that you guys had about the overflow tank being empty I would’ve been fine with it but they wanted to pressure test it. They were probably hoping the radiator would spring a leak, lol.

I’ll probably replace the AHC fluid myself since from what Parker Lexus told me they didn’t do it properly. It’s just frustrating that I did this as preventative maintenance and it went from riding perfect to subpar, but adequate. If it doesn’t improve then I’ll replace the globes. It doesn’t make sense that they would’ve gone bad immediately after they serviced it, but it does have almost 130,000 miles. Little Rock Mud Connection is installing my Slee sliders next week. If I replace the globes at some point will I have to remove them?

 

[lx200inAR]

Thank you everyone for the replies. They pressure tested the coolant system on their own accord so I’m not worried about it. If they would’ve given me the explanation that you guys had about the overflow tank being empty I would’ve been fine with it but they wanted to pressure test it. They were probably hoping the radiator would spring a leak, lol.

I’ll probably replace the AHC fluid myself since from what Parker Lexus told me they didn’t do it properly. It’s just frustrating that I did this as preventative maintenance and it went from riding perfect to subpar, but adequate. If it doesn’t improve then I’ll replace the globes. It doesn’t make sense that they would’ve gone bad immediately after they serviced it, but it does have almost 130,000 miles. Little Rock Mud Connection is installing my Slee sliders next week. If I replace the globes at some point will I have to remove them?

Nope. It actually makes changing the globes a much easier job. Not sure if you got the AHC protectors. If so, those would have to come off, but then it’s easier to get to the globes and bleeders with the Slee sliders rather than the OEM AHC protection.

 

[501LX]

Nope. It actually makes changing the globes a much easier job. Not sure if you got the AHC protectors. If so, those would have to come off, but then it’s easier to get to the globes and bleeders with the Slee sliders rather than the OEM AHC protection.

I got the AHC protectors but those will come off easily for service. I just need to get tires/wheels now and skid plates, at least for the transfer case. Factory skids look decent on the front for now. Trying to decide between bronze icon vector 5’s with C rated LT285/70-17 or E rated LT275/60-20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers on the factory chrome 20’s. After that I should be good until the next weekend, lol.