danjasmus

Greetings All,

I have learned a great deal about my 2006 GX470 from this site thanks to all you contributors. Thank you!

I did search the forums prior to deciding to post, and went down many a rabbit hole. I didn’t find anything that seemed to be helpful, so here goes:

About a year ago I was driving from Wisconsin to Florida with a reasonable load of ‘stuff’. My GX started driving like a buckboard wagon! Really harsh in the back, seemed to be bottoming out. Not having the luxury of time or a place to work on it, and guessing it had something to do with the air suspension, I chose to take it to a dealer. They diagnosed it quickly as a right side rear Ride Height Control Sensor. They had it in stock, and fixed it before I was able to finish my breakfast at a nearby diner.

A year later, same symptoms, though it works intermittently. I was able to get it to inflate again while parked in my driveway, so I inflated it as high as it would go and quickly put some jacks under the frame!

I was able to located the Ride Height Control Sensors pretty easily, and could tell the right side was fairly new, and the left side pretty well gunked-up. I took it off, took it apart, and it all looks pretty clean. Considering how difficult it as to take it off (the left side is kind of tight near the fuel tank), I have decided for my troubles and piece of mind I would rather install a new part. Lexus P/N is 89408-60011. Retail is $599, discounted as low as ~$450 at some Lexus and Toyota dealers. Amazon, eBay, and several outlets have ‘claimed’ OEM parts as low as $20-$50. Not taking that risk. But Rock Auto has an AISIN part for a much more reasonable price, about 1/3 of dealer part. I know Aisin makes many OEM parts for Lexus and Toyota, and would feel pretty comfortable knowing I was getting a quality part.

Has anyone used the Aisin Ride Height Control Sensors as a replacement part on their vehicle? Any input or feedback is much appreciated!

ALAN553

Are you sure it’s not the air bags leaking?

danjasmus

Thanks for the reply. I have considered that, but based on my (limited) experience and observations as compared to the previous failure of the RH Ride Height Sensor, I am leaning toward that.

I primarily use this vehicle for long trips out west and up north from Florida. Piece of mind is a big part of it. My philosophy on this is similar to replacing headlights in pairs, brakes in pairs, etc.; if the RH Ride Height Sensor failed a year ago, the LH was probably not far behind, and if I can get some piece of mind for a reasonable amount, it is worth it. Piece of mind = pretty sure it is not going to fail on my next 5,000 mile excursion!

It does make me consider a possible air suspension delete kit from Strutmaster or similar, and end this possibility of future air bags, compressors, solenoids, etc.

ALAN553

Understand, but the sensors are farther down the failure list in a 16 year old truck than the air bags. I have owned 2 GX’s and sensors never went…only springs

chiph9

Checking the airbags for leaks isn't hard - get a spray bottle and dilute some dishwashing liquid so that you can spray soapy liquid.
Make sure you can safely crawl under the truck with the airbags at their lowest setting (safety first!), then change it to the highest setting. Spray the soapy water all over the air bags and the lines to them, then look for bubbles.

Chip H.

danjasmus

Great idea Chip! Same way I check my waders for leaks. My airbags have a protective curtain over them. I imagine I can find a way to hold them up somehow while I do the soap test. Because I have had some intermittent operation with the system, once I got it to work again I inflated it all the way up, then put some jacks under the frame to hold it high enough to crawl under. Save me a lot of jacking. ;-)

It is not really a daily driver, so getting it repaired isn’t urgent. It hasn’t been started in a few days, so I think I’ll crawl under tomorrow to check pressure and do the soap test.

I shut the engine off in the highest position. Will the vehicle autolevel back to normal even after shutting the engine off?

Thanks for the reply.

Dan

ALAN553

It does auto level, I hear it when I shut it off and get out.

IanB2

It will auto level back down to N position, if you have a leak it may leak down further. Even if you do have a leak, the folds in the airbags can seal a leak, and it may hold air while parked, makes it tough to track down.

chiph9

If the airbags are leaking, you'll want to fix or replace them fairly quickly. If the height sensors detect the vehicle is too low it will run the compressor to inflate them. If the bags have a leak, the compressor will run forever -- until it burns out.

By "fix" I mean replace them with OEM or aftermarket airbags like from Arnot. A dealer, Toyota specialist, or a 4x4 shop can do this.
By "replace" I mean replace them with steel springs & new shocks. There's lots of threads here on doing this.

Chip H.