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I’ll apologize up front if this subject is covered elsewhere in this forum, but not seeing it tonight.... I have an ‘09 LX570. I’m the second owner (since 50K miles) and have babied the car during my ownership up until today, with 125K miles.
I saw the “Check 4-Wheel AHC Control” light on my car recently, which is not the first time.... I had seen the same thing last year, and my Lexus dealer figured out (at that time) that it was a sensor. They fixed it, and all was fine until about two weeks ago when the light came back on. It was diagnosed to have a faulty AHC pump. I bit the bullet and had the pump replaced. Ouch! Very expensive repair....
Earlier this week, the light came back on AGAIN! Just now, I got a message from the dealer (haven’t talked to them yet) advising that the AHC COMPUTER is bad. Does anyone know the part number, or have any opinion on this sequence of events? Have you dealt with this before?? It just feels like the dealer is working on their profit margin here....
I’m bummed, because my previous ‘99 Land Cruiser had ZERO issues in 13 years of ownership (but no AHC system). I see some of the other threads about AHC issues, but no one who mentioned the AHC computer.
Aside from the light was the system functioning normally? Only time I ever got the light the fluid was a little low and topping if off took care of it. The reservoir is in the rear passenger wheel well and can be checked by removing the small plastic piece held on by one 10mm bolt.
After a repair estimate slightly south of $3K, I looked first into converting the AHC system to the Land Cruiser non-AHC suspension setup. There is good information on this posted by serious off-road people.
I spoke with the dealer and decided to just bite the bullet on this and replace the AHC ECU. When the AHC pump went out a few weeks ago, I elected to go ahead and fix it, instead of disabling the AHC system. So, having made THAT decision...I'm sorta stuck with now doing the ECU to make the system work the way it's supposed to. If I did NOT, I would have this brand new AHC pump that is rendered useless. Whatever.... I'm quite lucky because I have a family member who works at Toyota Corporate, so I've been able to get the "family pricing" on parts, which helps TREMENDOUSLY, because the AHC pump was ridiculously expensive and the AHC ECU is not far behind. Not every dealer will honor that pricing - it is their choice. In this case, because I had just bought my wife an RX 450h just a few months before...they were willing to work with me.
In the end, for both repairs, I'll spend about $3,500, for parts and labor (all in). If the dealer charged me straight retail for the parts, the two repairs combined would have been just under $5,000. My car is obviously paid off long ago, so it's awfully cheap to drive, beyond this ridiculous chapter. My hope is to continue with this particular LX for another 5 years (knock on wood) and/or take the odometer up to somewhere around 200K-250K (exactly what I did with my '99 Land Cruiser). We'll see. The LX is a FANTASTIC ride...just gotta get beyond this and continue to do all maintenance BY THE BOOK, as I normally do.
I spoke with the dealer and decided to just bite the bullet on this and replace the AHC ECU. When the AHC pump went out a few weeks ago, I elected to go ahead and fix it, instead of disabling the AHC system. So, having made THAT decision...I'm sorta stuck with now doing the ECU to make the system work the way it's supposed to. If I did NOT, I would have this brand new AHC pump that is rendered useless. Whatever.... I'm quite lucky because I have a family member who works at Toyota Corporate, so I've been able to get the "family pricing" on parts, which helps TREMENDOUSLY, because the AHC pump was ridiculously expensive and the AHC ECU is not far behind. Not every dealer will honor that pricing - it is their choice. In this case, because I had just bought my wife an RX 450h just a few months before...they were willing to work with me.
In the end, for both repairs, I'll spend about $3,500, for parts and labor (all in). If the dealer charged me straight retail for the parts, the two repairs combined would have been just under $5,000. My car is obviously paid off long ago, so it's awfully cheap to drive, beyond this ridiculous chapter. My hope is to continue with this particular LX for another 5 years (knock on wood) and/or take the odometer up to somewhere around 200K-250K (exactly what I did with my '99 Land Cruiser). We'll see. The LX is a FANTASTIC ride...just gotta get beyond this and continue to do all maintenance BY THE BOOK, as I normally do.
Again, appreciate the input!
Best,
Rick
So its been working without issue since this post . Also were there any symptoms other than the warning light?
For me, it was just the light. When the light was on, the suspension just stayed locked in the neutral position. By the way, in the end, another repair was required AFTER this previous post of mine. When the light came on AGAIN, the foreman of the Lexus shop did the FINAL repair. He felt that the pump was, indeed, bad, and I did some research that pumps CAN go out for a 200 series of my car's age and mileage. Maybe, maybe not, but...it is what it is. Regardless, he felt that the ECU replacement was a mistake on their part. Because the light actually came on again AFTER the pump and ECU replacement. In the end, they needed to replace a wiring sub harness that is part of the system. THAT repair ended the light problem, and the system has worked fine ever since.
Pretty sure that the factory recommends every 60K. I did that with mine, but...didn’t matter. Just bad luck, I hope, because I maintain mine to the factory recommendations/specs.
Yep.... No issues whatsoever since the repair (knock on wood).
Cheers!
That's great. What symptoms were you having other than the check ahc error? Was it lowering and raising at all? Trying to chase an AHC issue myself. Thanks.
See the previous reply above. For me, it was just the light. When the light was on...AHC did not work and the system was locked in the “N” position. I made the decision to repair, rather than just eliminating the functionality and going with new components (incapable of AHC). It cost bucks to repair, but...I’m a long-term owner and it didn’t cost THAT much money to repair vs. eliminating the system. If you take it ANYWHERE to repair it (dealer or otherwise), make sure that source HAS experience with this particular problem. In my case, even the dealer struggled to get it right. Good luck!
My 2013 LX570 is in the shop as we speak and has been there for 10 days. The light came on and then the car ended up sinking down to the lowest height and drove horribly as if there were no shocks at all. I took it in and they replaced some hose in the back driver's side wheel well but then determined that wasn't the only issue. They then replaced the AHC motor and the car rose and sank but wouldn't stay in the highest position. So they replaced the AHC motor again thinking it was a bad part but the problem persists. So now apparently they need to bring someone in from corporate to review and try to figure out what the issue is.... not good!
AHC issues on LX 570
