Props to PADDO's AHC fluid replacement method! (1 Viewer)

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

I'm happy to dig in techstream for some other data if it would help. Sounds like by super bad luck my pump went bad at the exact same time I flushed the fluid but I'm having a hard time believing this...

I realize this isn't a very helpful reply but one of my trusted shops didn't want to do my fluid because they were worried this would happen, and it was working fine otherwise. I took a chance and did it myself but I'm guessing from their much more experienced point of view it wasn't worth the risk based on having exactly this happen before.
 
HELP!!! I just did this procedure today while wrapping up baselining a new to me 07 lx. 160k no documented AHC maintenance. Things went more or less fine but now AHC is inoperable!!! I turned the truck on the first time after the left side blead and it took about 2 min or so to go from l to n. Turned it back off to do the passenger side quick bleed and when I got back in the truck it would not go from l to n. Previous to this procedure AHC was working and I had 9 grads with just barely out of spec rear pressures and spot on front pressures. I am at a loss. The pump also seems much louder than usual...😭

I'm getting this code:
c1751 - Continuous current to compressor motor

I've tried the "bleed air of AHC" in case it is suffering from air lock. The ahc does not seem to respond to this procedure. Since doing the procedure I am also getting the

C1762 - Abnormal Oil Pressure for Pump
and
AHC off flashing even with jumper pins removed from the above procedure
in addition to
c1751 - Continuous current to compressor motor

I'm happy to dig in techstream for some other data if it would help. Sounds like by super bad luck my pump went bad at the exact same time I flushed the fluid but I'm having a hard time believing this...
You created a separate thread about this, so you should remove the duplicate info either posted here or in the new thread.
 
Having read about every thread I can on this I still have a question @PADDO. I am based in Scotland (cold, rains a lot, funny accent !) and I have a LC200 4.5 turbo diesel 2014 which is I think similar if not identical to the US LX570 suspension wise. I'm due a fluid change and I have two new front accumulators to fit.

Looking at the vehicle I'm not seeing what I expect in that I have two front units and two rear, mounted outboard on chassis rail but no main accumulator only two No.2 gas chambers mounted either side front inboard chassis rail. (see below)

I'm presuming that the bleed process only involves these four bleed points; have I missed or not located yet another bleed point ?

1606769108121.png
 
Going on from above am I looking for a bleed on the Height Control Accumulator mounted inboard centre chassis rail LHS ? (not found but only quick look) see below: ????

There seems to be some odd descriptions in the manual.

We have:

Height Control Accumulator
Centre Cylinder
Suspension Control Pump Accumulator (maybe mounted by the pump ?)

Which one, if any am I looking to bleed ?

Thanks

1606769693770.png


Or this one ?

1606769714749.png


OR this one ?

1606769735818.png
 
Might have answered my own question. I've marked up the possible five bleed am I correct ?

Interestingly it as some detail in the text about how this is emptied and refilled on going from L-N and N-H only discharges once a set pressure has been reached.

1606771064012.png
 
PADDO has not been around in a while. Try posting in the 200
Having read about every thread I can on this I still have a question @PADDO. I am based in Scotland (cold, rains a lot, funny accent !) and I have a LC200 4.5 turbo diesel 2014 which is I think similar if not identical to the US LX570 suspension wise. I'm due a fluid change and I have two new front accumulators to fit.

Looking at the vehicle I'm not seeing what I expect in that I have two front units and two rear, mounted outboard on chassis rail but no main accumulator only two No.2 gas chambers mounted either side front inboard chassis rail. (see below)

I'm presuming that the bleed process only involves these four bleed points; have I missed or not located yet another bleed point ?

View attachment 2511577
Try posting your questions and searching AHC in the 200 series forum. Our AHC system is a bit different in the 100 series.
examples:


Good Luck
 
Last edited:
PADDO has not been around in a while. Try posting in the 200

Try posting your questions and searching AHC in the 200 series forum. Our AHC system is a bit different in the 100 series.
examples:


Good Luck
thats a good link many thanks very helpful
 
thats a good link many thanks very helpful

The Lexus LX570 AHC/ACS systems are a significant evolution with many differences from the LX470/LC100 AHC/TEMS systems which first emerged 20+ years ago. There is great information on the fundamentals of the early system in this "100 series" forum but you need to see what the "200 series" forum has to offer to get into the detail of the next generation of these systems. Post #163 and onwards shows that @swiftie has read widely and maybe already has seen the attached two descriptive documents. If not, they may be of interest. In Australia -- and maybe some other parts of the world -- the LC200 cannot be had with AHC/AVS. These systems are available only on the Lexus LX570 (3UR-FE gasoline V8 5663 cc) and the more recent (since 2018) diesel variant (1VD-FTV diesel V8 4461 cc) designated here as the Lexus LX450d .....
 

Attachments

  • LX570 AHC-AVS Suspension Description.pdf
    634.4 KB · Views: 83
  • AHC - General Description and Diagrams.pdf
    319.4 KB · Views: 99
Just flushed my 06LX at 223k. Previous flush was at 181k. Fluid was dark golden brown, like old brake fluid. Not nearly as bad as many here, but still old.

New fluid is light pink and the fluid at the end of my flush was a slightly pink-tinted gold. Definitely still plenty old fluid in the system. I'll do another round of flushing in a while when I have new bleeders and caps on hand. A couple of my bleeders were pretty rusty, but all broke loose easily and sealed well.

Thanks @PADDO for lining out the process and making it easy! My only hiccup was it took a few attempts to get the height control accumulator to fill. I kept opening the bleeder and very little fluid would come out. Then I went for a short drive and watched via Techstream. Once I saw the pressure build, I pulled into the garage again and bled. Boom, ~250ml.
 
Thank you for those pdf's. I hadn't seen the general discussion pages on the AHC before and it filled in some gaps on my understanding so very grateful thank you. I hadn't realised that the front left right shocks were controlled by a valve during cornering but that was one of the main issues I had on the vehicle handling in that the front would dip into the corner quite severely and that combined with poor shocking response made for a very unpleasant driving experience on some road surfaces. Certainly changing the fluid has restored a lot of functionality to the suspension but I'm surprised about just how much improvement there has been. Someone who is knowledgeable on fluids and how they degrade could maybe explain why but looking at new versus old fluids visually there doesn't seem to be much to see apart from colour.
 
Thank you for those pdf's. I hadn't seen the general discussion pages on the AHC before and it filled in some gaps on my understanding so very grateful thank you. I hadn't realised that the front left right shocks were controlled by a valve during cornering but that was one of the main issues I had on the vehicle handling in that the front would dip into the corner quite severely and that combined with poor shocking response made for a very unpleasant driving experience on some road surfaces. Certainly changing the fluid has restored a lot of functionality to the suspension but I'm surprised about just how much improvement there has been. Someone who is knowledgeable on fluids and how they degrade could maybe explain why but looking at new versus old fluids visually there doesn't seem to be much to see apart from colour.

Hydraulic fluids and their characteristics and differences for different applications make up a deep field of study. Here are a few thought starters on different properties:

As well as the fluid properties including age of the fluid, the properties of seals and valves also are important, as well as the operating conditions, especially high temperatures.

Mixing different kinds of fluids can lead to unintended consequences. For example, if brake fluid has entered the AHC system inadvertently or by simple mistake, then some breakdown of the diaphragm in the 'globes' and some O-rings can occur. In turn, fine particulate matter may cause blockages of tiny orifices in various parts of the system and/or build-up of sludge in the small filter 'socks' within the oil passages in the AHC pump.

New, correct AHC fluid is a pink-red colour -- anything else is due to fine particulates, oxidation of the fluid, or other fluids being present, including water.
 
Interesting read thanks, I was aware of some of that as I'm from an agricultural engineering background. The fluid was definitely contaminated after 95K miles but nobody had been near the system from new, not even the dealer (the access panel to the reservoir had never been opened) . I suspect it has picked up contamination internally from seals or other components. Oxidation through constant cycling of the fluid to and from the reservoir I think is also a factor which explains the darkening of the fluid maybe ? Lower viscosity is not helpful in a suspension system and maybe the primary cause of damping problems ?

(from your link)

1607077350973.png
 
It is getting a bit off topic but parts of the following well-illustrated thread may be of interest if not seen previously -- suggest start around Post #67. This relates to AHC pump issues and even though the LC100/LX470 AHC system is quite different to the LX570 AHC system, the AHC pump itself is similar. Some pictures of pump internals and the tiny internal filter 'socks' or 'strainers' are shown:

 
Last edited:
Sorry to revive this thread but this was the easiest and fastest method of flushing\bleeding the AHC I have stumbled upon.

Here's the old AHC fluid from my new to me 03 LX470. Feels like it was never replaced by PO. Bnew fluid from Toyota was light red.

1611893281849.png
 
Thanks Paddo !Accomplished this dreaded maintenance item this morning.The only thing that I did in addition was to remove and clean the reservoir ,as it appeared to have some sludge and was heavily stained.I’m amazed at the ride difference!
 
Ok, I just attempted this yesterday and still working on it till this morning. Seems like my vehicle (2005 lx470 with 215000 miles) is stuck at L. When I start my vehicle I hear the pump kick on and it'll shut off after a minute and the OFF light will come on blinking. I tried to continue bleeding out the system thinking that there is air trapped somewhere but no luck. It seems like my accumulator is not filling at all. Do I need a new accumulator or is there something I'm missing?
 
Ok, I just attempted this yesterday and still working on it till this morning. Seems like my vehicle (2005 lx470 with 215000 miles) is stuck at L. When I start my vehicle I hear the pump kick on and it'll shut off after a minute and the OFF light will come on blinking. I tried to continue bleeding out the system thinking that there is air trapped somewhere but no luck. It seems like my accumulator is not filling at all. Do I need a new accumulator or is there something I'm missing?
Replied by accident...
 
Did my measurements in N mode. 19.5" front and the rears one side is 21" and the other is an inch lower. Do I need to mess with the rear sensor?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom