Team Lexus,
So I was carryign my family to the beach yesterday, when I could not have avoided a Pothole on the left side of the road.


SYMPTOMS

This morning when I drove it, I noticed it was riding much more hard, the ride was not comfortable at all.
I also noticed that the car appears to be much higher than normal.


SPECS

96 LS400
Air Suspension
Stock Alloys and Tyres

ADVICE NEEDED
1) Is it my shocks that are bad and now need changing ?
If yes, what type of shocks, do I require?
A part number would be helpful.
As well as a link to either new or used shocks.


2) Is it my Air suspension that is bad and needs changing ?

 

If it had not dropped overnight the bag is probably ok. My suggestion would be to check the height sensor bar and verify that it has not been shifted from the original height setting. If you can snap a pic, then the members who's cars have that may also chime in for where theirs is at .

Yours is stock height?

 

higher means there is probably more air in the bags than normal which explains the harsher ride. a bent or broken height sensor could be to blame for this condition. as stated, check under the car for any broken linkages.

for example:


also check to see that something did not accidentally hit the 'high' setting on your height switch located on the shifter bezel.

 

RA 40 Thanks for your response.

1) If I am to get a pic of the height sensor, Id first have to know where to look . How do I go about accessing this height sensor ?

2) I haven't touched anything to do with suspension since I've had the car. The most I've done is change tyres. So yes, my air suspension is stock.


Timmy thanks for the response.
1) I would hope that its this easy. But how could more air have gotten in the bag ?

2) Im guessing the height sensor you guys want me check is that shaft with threading on both sides? But again, how do I access it from under the car to get a pic ?

3) The first thing I checked was whether or not the Air suspension by the shifter bezel was on "norm" and not " high" .


See pic of how high it is currently at "NORM"

 

yep it's too high alright yikes! something broke or bent to make the car think more air needs to be added to the system, or the valves are stuck open allowing all the air to fill the bags.

how about pulling the air suspension fuse (unsure if it's located in the underhood fuse box or driver's side kick panel fuse box) and see if it resets. a complete system reset might be in order too (remove the negative terminal on the battery for a few mins).

 

Thanks ttimmy......I removed the battery poles for 10 mins....however its still the same heght as in the pic.....should i even bother pullin the fuse?

 

Please show me where the AIR SUSPENSION fuses are located..thankss

 

Not likely a fuse issue. That pothole has damaged or changed the sensor height resulting in this exaggerated position. You'll need to pull the wheel or crawl under there to take a look at both sides. In this picture it is the black and silver threaded rod.

You should be able to see the prior position of the sensor and can adjust it back to that position. Depending how this was adjusted, you may also require an alignment once positioned correctly.

 

Just an FYI Matt, the airsus fuse is the 20A fuse in between the 15A and 10A.
For further clarification: 15A 15A 20A 10A (bold is the position of the airsus fuse). Well, thats the one in my ucf20. Upon searching on google, air suspension = 空気サスペンション. Those characters closely match the 20A fuse at the bottom of the fuse panel. Look closely at the the three 20A fuses located on the bottom. The middle 20A fuse has many of those same japanese characters.

Oh and this only applies to the fuse box under the dash, not under the hood. No air sus fuse there AFAIK. There is a 40A relay or something that sits under the drivers headlight on my UCF20, but I didn't really get a good look at it. Thats neither here nor there though.

Good luck either way.

 

Thanks for your time and advice Rugbydad and Ra40.

Whats really confusing me is that, I pulled the battery pole for an entire night. in the afternoon, after driving and parked up, it seems as if everything is fine now, see picture..


For future reference, RA40, how do i adjust this threaded rod ? Can i simply use a pliers by turning the black rod clockwise/ anticlockwise to meet the previous position ?

 

These may be of help:

http://www.justanswer.com/lexus/815c...link-back.html

http://www.evansweb.info/2009/11/23/...sensor-repair/

Looking at Sewell you can buy the replacement link for the sensor if yours is damaged/frozen due to age. 48907B section and select the appropriate side. As for adjustment yes, you would loosen the binding nut and adjust the rod then re-tighten.

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...S400-1997.html

 

This is very helpful !

Its because of this forum, that people like myself are able to keep their aged LS400's in top working order. There's alot of knowledgeable persons like yourself on this forum that contribute which make the forum almost better than the repair manual itself.

Cheers.