Jsmceleoy

2005 Lexus GX470 stays upright and seemingly level in the rear on sport mode. If I move it to any of the comfort settings, the rear passenger drops. If it's in comfort mode when I park it, I can hear what sounds like air seeping out and then the back passenger is lower than everything else.

I think it might be the passenger rear height sensor. If it is in comfort setting, It's almost like the vehicle tries to level itself out then the height sensor is telling it to lower so it exhausts out. In comfort setting, I watch the passenger side raise with the pump and then lower about every 45 seconds or so.

When it is in Sport mode, the passenger side rear is higher than the driver, but the pump doesn't cycle trying to level out the car. Almost like it is in "H" mode. When I park it in Sport mode, the passenger side does not drop at all. It looses no air.

So, I kept it in sport mode and raised it to "H" and the car leveled out (driver rose to level of passenger). Then I lowered it to "L" and watched the driver lower more than the passenger. Passenger side seemed to Lower to "normal" rather than "L"

My other thought is that there is a small hole in Passenger bag and when in sport mode, the strut stiffens enough to seal the hole. This one is a little far fetched but it is a thought.

I have been told by Lexus that the airbags and struts are in good shape. I do, however, have new front and rear struts in their way. The vehicle has 145k miles on it and the struts seem weak anyway.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

ALAN553

The shock setting has nothing to do with the ride height, it does not control the airbags....that being said, you must have a leak in one of the air bags. The hole is so small that it only opens up when in a given position, 2005, 145,000 miles, it's the air bags.

Jsmceleoy

I know they are independent of each other. I just didn't know if the stock could stiffen enough on the sport mode that it causes the little hole to seal up.

The bags look like they have been replaced at one time or another.

The confusing thing is when I park and turn the car off in sport mode the car stays upright and when on, the pump doesn't cycle as much on rear passenger. If in comfort mode, the rear passenger side drops (not on bump stops) and pump cycles quite a bit. Almost like the sensor and system is getting mixed signals. The rear passenger does not drop all the way to the bump stops when turned off. If there is a hole, it seals up as it lowers and only lowers to a certain point.