flamingobo

Hi there hope someone can help me?

I have had an ls430 in my ownership for the last six months and have loved every minute of it.

Around a month ago my suspension went rock solid and high, thanks to these forums I worked out that it was my rear height sensors and took it to my Lexus dealership, they agreed and changed both rear sensors, back to a perfect ride and loving my lexus.

The following morning I looked at my car, the rear right side had dropped to the floor, Lexus said that it was just an adjustment on the rear sensors, after around two hours of adjusting, the car was now perfectly level front to back and left to right, much higher at the back than before, before it sat low at the back, I believe like many other Ls's. I was in a rush so drove away, although the car looked perfect it had got all stiff!

I then drove eight hundred miles bouncing all over the place!!!

Back to the dealership who spent three days trying to diagnose the problem, Lexus say that they do not really understand how the system works, first they thought it was an ecu, big money!!! Luckily they had another ls430 on the forecourt and swapped it over from that car, result, exactly the same, bouncy, bouncy, so after further investigation they said that I needed to change both front struts as they were leaking, there was always a knocking sound from the front left strut. On removal I was told that one was pretty much locked solid, so that this was the problem.

Have the car back now and its better, but not good, the car still crashes and bounces, could driving around for so long with stiff suspension have now caused the rear shocks to fail. I'm now also wondering if adjusting the rear height sensors too high and levelling the car has over inflated the air bags and causing the firm ride. The firm ride appeared after the car was raised, I have been told that the airbags are independent to the ride, but my thoughts are that if the bag is over inflated the internal spring wont be working.

I have spent lots of money and time at the dealership and am still missing my magic ride!

Please help, I love the memory of my car, but this is making me want to get out of it!

Ty419

I had a very bad experience with the dealer and their lack of ability to diagnose or fix the air-ride. I didn't have a failure, just a ride that wasn't level.

As it turns out, it is actually really easy to adjust the height sensors yourself and get the car where you like it. There is a link in the FAQ thread that is stickied at the top of this forum that has pictures and instructions.

flamingobo

If the height sensors are set incorrectly, i.e. the rear ride height is set too high will this cause the ride to be too firm?

Also does anyone know what the standard ride height should be, and measured from which points?

Ty419

I'm not sure how much the ride height affects the ride. If it is considerably too high, I would think that would create some added stiffness, but never tried it.

My car is set at 27.5 inches measured from floor to the top of the wheelwell arch. It seems to look normal like that.