Rx300 Se-L Height Sensor Fix

[Forbesy]

Howdy all,

2005 RX300 SE-L 80k

Thought I'd post this in case it helps anyone out - Considering a new height sensor is about 300 quid, I thought I'd open up my faulty one and see what laid within before shelling out.

Although I had no warning lights etc., the car was riding really harshly and kangarooing at the back from the tiniest bump, so something was clearly amiss..

Consulting my ebayed workshop manual: Straightened out paper clip connecting pins 4 and 13 on the OBDII port starts diagnostic mode (quite fun as it opens up a diag screen on the satnav which is interesting to play with).. The 'OFF' light for the air suspension flashes out code 14 telling me that the LH rear sensor is faulty.

Took about 10 mins to take it off and test its resistance according to the chart - Mins was in the 100's of Kohms, so manual recommends replacement. Nothing to lose at this point, so opened it up and found that it's a pretty rudimentary bit of kit, with some steel springs that carry the signal (apparently via some black conductive paint on the lid)

As you can see, it was all pretty rusty in there (and wet with WD40 in these pics!) So, I cleaned everything up, gave the springs a rubdown with some emery paper (If you do this, be careful when you take the lid off - Don't, as I did, let them ping out and have to spend half an hour trying to find one of them!) Do, however, pull them out and clean up the area where they sit into the base - I think this is where mine was losing connection.

Anyhoo, cleanup, reassemble, check resistance (all good now) and put it back on the car - All back to wafty floatiness !! If I ignore the spring-finding time, it probably took and hour in total and cost me... errrm.. nothing. Well worth a bash if you have height sensor trouble..

[Boxbrownie]

They are carbon tracks, not conductive paint, but excellent to see somebody actually taking something apart and curing a basic problem......darn sight more than the garage would do!

Great job.

[Forbesy]

Ah, carbon tracks! Indeed 'conductive paint' was something of a best guess ;) I'm no electronics whizz as you can tell..

[stringbender]

Many thanks for this post Craig. I have a 2005 Se-L so I may end up with a similar problem sometime. Sorry to be a bit thick but I'm not sure exactly where these sensors are in relation to the suspension. Are they exposed or under the protective gaitors ?

All I ever do is to clean off the mud and crud each year hoping that may help things last as long as possible.

Alan

[eskezz]

Hi Craig

You mentioned you 'ebayed workshop manual'. Any link or reference to where it can be found?

Thanks

Eric

[Forbesy]

hi folks...

Alan.. you can see the rear sensors if you look from the back of the car. Look along from that driveshaft gaitor towards the centre of the car and you'll see the cream coloured lid of the sensor before too long..

Eric, I just searched eBay for RX300 workshop manual and got a CD version for £4 from a seller called 'mattistheone'.. He doesn't have any up there at the mo, but I'll bet they come up regularly...

[Forbesy]

correction now I've checked. . seller 'mattstheone'

[stringbender]

hi folks...

Alan.. you can see the rear sensors if you look from the back of the car. Look along from that driveshaft gaitor towards the centre of the car and you'll see the cream coloured lid of the sensor before too long..

Thanks Craig, I'll check that out sometime soon.

Alan

[Timeboy]

I have a broken adjustable link on mine so height adjuster lever just swings this is only about 5 inches long and snapped on thread does anyone no if you can just get just the link arm connecting to body or try to put a new thread on the two ball ends if possible

[ChrisKaye]

Get some industrial heat shrink tubing and patch it for now!

[AsmaaRX300]

... Straightened out paper clip connecting pins 4 and 13 on the OBDII port starts diagnostic mode (quite fun as it opens up a diag screen on the satnav which is interesting to play with).. The 'OFF' light for the air suspension flashes out code 14 telling me that the LH rear sensor is faulty....

As useful as this post is, this bit stuck out for me. Is there any more information on how to get the menu up? I'm fascinated by this type of stuff.!

Cheers

[ChrisKaye]

There is another menu that you can get into when you turn auto lights off, turn the keys until the dash lights up but before the starter kicks in, and then flick the light stalk from off to sidelights between 6 & 12 times....

Be careful you don't mess anything up! Use your cam phone to take pictures of settings if unsure before changing them.

The best tool so far is a £10 data cable from eBay and the personal use version of Toyota tech stream (or TIS) software.

You can record codes, record live data, reset codes and test individual systems.

Using the air suspension computer you can activate one corner at a time to raise or lower, read the height level sensor, see how much air is pumped into a strut (and see it all leak out if you have a leak like me at the mo!)

All very cool!

[PCM]

There is another menu that you can get into when you turn auto lights off, turn the keys until the dash lights up but before the starter kicks in, and then flick the light stalk from off to sidelights between 6 & 12 times....

Be careful you don't mess anything up! Use your cam phone to take pictures of settings if unsure before changing them.

The best tool so far is a £10 data cable from eBay and the personal use version of Toyota tech stream (or TIS) software.

You can record codes, record live data, reset codes and test individual systems.

Using the air suspension computer you can activate one corner at a time to raise or lower, read the height level sensor, see how much air is pumped into a strut (and see it all leak out if you have a leak like me at the mo!)

All very cool!

WOW! Never knew all that. Sounds really useful!

[Godfrey Dingley-Jones]

Hi Craig

Regrettably a similar thing I believe has happened to my 'height sensor' at the offside rear.  The car is now about 1 foot higher at the offside rear than the rest of the vehicle. The car is now at my local garage to establish what is wrong. In your article  your photos show photos from a Workshop Manual and I note that you obtained if from eBay.  I should be most grateful if you could give me the exact title of the Workshop Manual and the  publishers, together with the IS number if available to enable me to track one down. The manual I have does not cover the air suspension.

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for any assistance you can give

Best wishes

Godfrey

[BrightonRX300]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332753634075

 

pair sensors bargain 

[connor p]

just want to know if anyone can translate my flashing code once I connect the pins the light flashes 4 times then a gap and then flashes once then repeats is this code 41 if so what dose it translate to any help would be lovely thanks

[unth]

This actually worked for me, and solved my issue on my Lexus RX400h. AFS light kept on flashing on and off after putting in the wrong tire size (which I actually did correct after all) AFS light just wouldn’t leave, and my head lights kept doing things they shouldn’t be doing pointing to several directions while I was driving. I then had my mechanic take the AFS sensor part down, open it up and it appeared those three springs were pushed far back behind and not having enough contact with the little top panel which also needed some cleaning. The part wasn’t wet, rusty or broken just needed some clean up. We gently stretched the springs out  to make them a little taller so they can have better contacts and cleaned the rest areas gently. Put it back on and everything went back to normal. I wouldn’t recommend changing the part unless its broken. A little clean up and following this procedure will do.