RX300 Air Suspension Shock Absorbers

[Godfrey Dingley-Jones]

Hi My air suspension on my RX300 seems extremely hard and the car seems higher than normal. I took the car to a Lexus dealer today for a diagnostic test on the suspension. They have advised me that the two front shock absorbers are 'solid' and do not move and the rear ones are moving perhaps 40% of what they should. The have quoted me more than the car is worth to replace all the shock absorbers.

The front nearside suspension leg was replaced about 2 year ago and I find it hard to believe that has 'failed.' The offside rear height control sensor was replaced in November 2018.

Has anyone experienced this problem before and is the diagnosis plausible?  The car is 2004/5 and has covered 102k miles.

Is anyone aware of any garage in the West Midlands which has the Toyota/Lexus diagnostic equipment to set up the suspension heights etc?

Any help appreciated.  Thanks

Godfrey

 

 

 

[Herbie]

I had an RX300 albeit without air suspension, but I've read enough posts on here about the air suspension system to know that repairs to it are astronomical in costs, so much so that some people such as the guy in the thread below strip it all out and go to coils instead - and it's a lot cheaper than repairing the air system.

 

 

[PCM]

I'm down south.

Had a corner replaced at about £500...

 

[BachelorDays]

18 hours ago, Godfrey Dingley-Jones said:

The front nearside suspension leg was replaced about 2 year ago and I find it hard to believe that has 'failed.' The offside rear height control sensor was replaced in November 2018.

If you've had this work done yourself then the first port of call is whoever has done this work.  The Lexus diagnosis is ominous. All 4 shocks gone. I'd really want to know why? 102k isn't that much. Maybe a rust issue?

As for next steps I think you should investigate the non air option. Too much wrong with the current one. But please do check with a couple of local suspension specialists and Lexus/Toyota specialists for a second opinion.

As our cars get older there are more people looking for a coils conversion. Have only read about ad hoc solutions thus far but hopefully standard options out there too.

[BachelorDays]

3 hours ago, PCM said:

I'm down south.

Had a corner replaced at about £500...

 

That looks much better than normal quotations. Was it a new part?

[PCM]

1 hour ago, BachelorDays said:

That looks much better than normal quotations. Was it a new part?

It was... new. A Lexus part.

[Godfrey Dingley-Jones]

Hi,

Thanks for your input.  I have now emailed the local Lexus Dealer asking questions, also incorporating the points you raised.  When I first purchased the car in 2016 my garage, who look after my other cars, advised me of 'more than the normal' amount rust around and behind the front suspension and suggested that the car had been in some water at some stage, for example driving regularly through a ford or a flood.  Of course I have no knowledge of this and have since had the car professionally waxoiled. I will keep you advised of progress

[The-Acre]

2 minutes ago, Godfrey Dingley-Jones said:

Hi,

Thanks for your input.  I have now emailed the local Lexus Dealer asking questions, also incorporating the points you raised.  When I first purchased the car in 2016 my garage, who look after my other cars, advised me of 'more than the normal' amount rust around and behind the front suspension and suggested that the car had been in some water at some stage, for example driving regularly through a ford or a flood.  Of course I have no knowledge of this and have since had the car professionally waxoiled. I will keep you advised of progress

I do know the early RX is susceptible to rust on the top of the shock absorbers. I saw the conversion that was done in Brighton, it was very impressive and seemed to sit nice and level.

[Neil E]

23 hours ago, Godfrey Dingley-Jones said:

Hi My air suspension on my RX300 seems extremely hard and the car seems higher than normal. I took the car to a Lexus dealer today for a diagnostic test on the suspension. They have advised me that the two front shock absorbers are 'solid' and do not move and the rear ones are moving perhaps 40% of what they should. The have quoted me more than the car is worth to replace all the shock absorbers.

The front nearside suspension leg was replaced about 2 year ago and I find it hard to believe that has 'failed.' The offside rear height control sensor was replaced in November 2018.

Has anyone experienced this problem before and is the diagnosis plausible?  The car is 2004/5 and has covered 102k miles.

Is anyone aware of any garage in the West Midlands which has the Toyota/Lexus diagnostic equipment to set up the suspension heights etc?

Any help appreciated.  Thanks

Godfrey

 

 

 

If the car is high, it's usually a fault with the height controller in the highest corner. I would get another opinion unless the dealer explained why the car is high and why the front struts are 'solid.'

As a quick check, park the car on level ground and measure the wheel arch lip to tyre gap for each corner. If it looks high at the front, is one side higher than the other? 

Coincidentally, I had to replace the rear offside height controller on my RX300 last night. It took 15 minutes and fixed the issue immediately, no special diagnostic equipment required. I replaced the rear near side controller when that one failed some time ago.

I first encountered air suspension through owning a V8 Soarer. Height controller faults usually result in the car being higher. When the car goes very low in one corner then that tends to be a strut failure. 

[PCM]

14 hours ago, Neil E said:

If the car is high, it's usually a fault with the height controller in the highest corner. I would get another opinion unless the dealer explained why the car is high and why the front struts are 'solid.'

As a quick check, park the car on level ground and measure the wheel arch lip to tyre gap for each corner. If it looks high at the front, is one side higher than the other? 

Coincidentally, I had to replace the rear offside height controller on my RX300 last night. It took 15 minutes and fixed the issue immediately, no special diagnostic equipment required. I replaced the rear near side controller when that one failed some time ago.

I first encountered air suspension through owning a V8 Soarer. Height controller faults usually result in the car being higher. When the car goes very low in one corner then that tends to be a strut failure. 

Good points.

If it's low, I might be the air strut - if it's high it ma be something else.

LOVED my Soarer.

 

[The-Acre]

17 hours ago, Neil E said:

If the car is high, it's usually a fault with the height controller in the highest corner. I would get another opinion unless the dealer explained why the car is high and why the front struts are 'solid.'

As a quick check, park the car on level ground and measure the wheel arch lip to tyre gap for each corner. If it looks high at the front, is one side higher than the other? 

Coincidentally, I had to replace the rear offside height controller on my RX300 last night. It took 15 minutes and fixed the issue immediately, no special diagnostic equipment required. I replaced the rear near side controller when that one failed some time ago.

I first encountered air suspension through owning a V8 Soarer. Height controller faults usually result in the car being higher. When the car goes very low in one corner then that tends to be a strut failure. 

It would seem to be the case that height sensors are more likely to play up than the strut.  I still can't understand why they cost so much. Did you keep the old one Neil?  It'll be interesting to see if you can take it apart to clean and reseal. It's what the garage did on my very first LS430.

[Neil E]

Yes,I suspect on this occasion, cleaning it might have fixed my controller. The problem with air suspension is that so few people know what to do with it. I'm no expert but experience with the Soarer, LS430 and the RX has kept me floating on air okay so far. 

If a strut fails, usually the pump will be going full time to get the air back into it and the air leak usually traced to the low corner. Struts don't usually fail in pairs. Unless it's something obscure, a dealer that knows their stuff should be able to diagnose the problem and explain it properly.    

The rear height controllers cost £200 new. I vaguely remember cleaning a Soarer controller that worked for a while but I need to keep 2 cars on the road ready to go anywhere so prefer to fit new and accept the cost. Electrical component cleaner like the cleaner used for MAF sensors I think is what I used. There's a tutorial somewhere in the Soarer forums. A sticking (or broken) controller rod linkage is another possibility, I think this may have been the case with mine the other day. I've known this happen following vehicles being jacked up for tyre fitting, new brakes, etc or going over very rough terrain with the controller rods being extended to the maximum. (I've only seen them actually break on a Soarer and it's very obvious)