aderz

Thanks for that your a star :) Ill get the parts ordered.

Hello all, So I have the P0330 knock sensor failure codes so have the engine warning light on and limp home mode. Have reset this several times and it returns within a few minutes. So I want to change the knock sensors, my garage has quoted around 4 hours at £50 an hour so to dig out all the intake system that seems a good price. All I have to do is provide the knock sensors and I will also replace the harness (after reading other posts on the forum) .... oh dear this is where the fun starts.... All of the shops online do not list the RX300 going past 2003 (presume they get there model info from the USA or something) where it then swaps to the RX330 from 2004. So every knock sensor I can find online is made for RX300's from 1999 to 2003 (Denso part number 89615-12090). Does anyone know if this is just one of those glitches and this part will work fine in RX300's after 2003 or is there another part I need to search for? As Lexus is quoting £160 for a new one and the Denso part online is £23 I really want to get this online. I know Lexus like to multiply all Toyota and Denso parts by 2 when they stick a Lexus badge on it but even that looks a little stiff so makes me wonder if it is a different part. Thanks in advance.

That's a good deal. Time to get rooting around the internet and see if there is a way to turn the light off without cutting any wires.

I'll stick to my more "rustic" method of hiding my light. Every time I take dash's apart I always end up with either a rattle or a wobbly speedo. The coilovers are probably the path of least resistance to dumping the air suspension and if you only paid around £700 then that's a saving of around £500 over buying the individual shocks/springs. Also it saves on having to build the shock up and compress the springs. Just to be nosey, did this effect your insurance by the way?

Good Job, like the coilovers. How's the ride on yours? I managed to spend £1000 and take about 4 evenings of hard work just to make my car feel pretty much the same! Then again my pumps still bust so time well spent. Glad to see I'm not the only one that managed to rip up a 22mm, they do take a pounding on this job. How did you manage to get the light to stop flashing? If I could do this I can remove my high tech solution and take the strip of gaffa tape of my dash :)

The ML system is a pain as the CD player is packing up on mine and even though Ive found a supplier off a surround so you can fit an aftermarket head-unit I would have to change all the speakers as well. Did the SE come with satnav? Even though its a bit old now I love the layout of it and the ease of looking at a big screen (not to mention Lexys saucy voice!).

Yes the air shocks worked fine when I removed them, it was the compressor that failed. They look pretty rough though so I was going to clean and paint them before they went on Ebay. There is a bit of surface rust on the top and the droplink is still attached to each shock as I ground them off the anti roll bar to remove them. Waxoyl does stink for a bit and is messy as hell to inject into the box sections which is why I always got the garage to do it, after a couple of weeks though the smell has gone and it seems to last years. Yes I use a couple of layers of anti rust primer first on the bare metal. My Lexus dealer is Bristol was actually quite interested and not at all surprised so it maybe worth a chat. My brother uses Lexus Guilford though as I work for him (you can see which one has the money!) all he does is hand it over and tells them to fix it rather than myself going in asking for parts. He actually queried why I didn't just spend £2500 on a new compressor, how the other half live.

I've removed the fuses but left all the wires in and it still blinks "OFF" at me all the time. In the US forums the bloke who converted his RX cut the wire to stop it. Still if you come across a work round that does not involve me breaking a perfectly good dash then pass the info on :). Waxoyl works well in box sections. My Mazda Bongo has a lot of these in the chasis and the Waxoyl works really well as it gets in all the spaces you cant see or reach but flat open surfaces such as the sub-frames, I use a spray primer followed by a spray hammerite and then some stonechip over the top. Out of interest my brother has a 2012 (I think) LS430 and the car rides like a dream on air suspension, why you would change that to springs I don't really understand. The RX air suspension felt a lot more crude than in his LS.

The biggest worry I had was that I couldn't find anyone who had actually done it just lots of "in theory" posts! The only one I could find was on the Lexus USA forums who only wrote one line "it all fits no worries"..... You going down the coilover route? Kudos to you if you do, there are loads of kits in the USA so it has been done. The only reason I didn't go down this route is I have heard that the ride can be a bit harsh on coilovers and its my family car. I'm allowed to fiddle with my own cars but not ones that could involve dogs/kids chundering if the rides to bumpy! To be honest if you can get a complete set of struts for less than £800 then bargain. I was offered a complete second hand strut set from an SE for £750 so it looks like a good deal and also no need to spend days trolling the net looking for those blinkin bumpstops (they were the a right pain to source). By the same token the whole point of coilovers is so you can change things like spring load and damper rate so as long as the spring isn't to harsh to start with you should be able to dial in a quality ride. Liverpool and Victoria are really good with suspension mods and only wanted to charge an extra £30 so if your own insurance are funny then you could give them a try. Yep bulb out or cut the wire to the light, I'm just lazy and as its dark in the instrument cluster you can't see the gaffer tape! I went with Brembo brake discs & pads when I did my fronts (I think Eurocarparts had a deal on at the time), one of the easiest brake jobs I've done to be honest. Check out the subframes when you get it all out, mine are ok but need to stripped and re-painted for sure as there getting crusty round the edges so that's another job for the summer and I've never known a Japanese car that didn't rust in the subframes. My brother has just changed the rear subframe on an old Subaru Forester Turbo (my beloved old car but no rear leg room so passed along the family) and it cost about £1000 to do the job at a garage so well worth sorting out if there ok now. May also be worth checking your anti rollbar bushes, mine are advisories this year and if your underneath the car anyway, maybe worth checking them out. There only about £10 each so if they do need doing its a cheap and easy job.

Droplinks as already stated, mine were easier to grind off than trying to get them out. They are £80 for a set though so if budgets are tight then give it a go. Create the shocks in advance and make sure you have all the pieces needed, the front shocks include the shock, spring, top mount, shock bumpstop, Shock boot, lower spring boot (giant rubber O ring that the spring sits on), spring cup. Rear shocks are shock, spring, all in one mount and boot, bumpstop, lower spring boot and a spacer that goes on top of the shock on top of the mount and the single shock nut holds it all in place. There are 2 (or maybe three fuses) to turn the air suspension off but none of them stop the yellow "OFF" light blinking, you have to cut a wire behind the dials to do that or just do what I have done and put some gaffer tape over part of the dial to block the view of the light. I have not removed anything of the old system (pumps, tank etc) as none of it gets in the way so do the conversion first so you have a route back if it all goes wrong. I will remove all the pumps etc during the summer. To be honest theres no point in pics as once your done it just looks like a Lexus RX300 SE suspension. The car chassis and suspension are the same so it really is a straight swap. I did not have to cut or modify anything the new shocks will fit first time (well mine did anyway). The front air suspension air lines just unscrew and are easy, the rear ones are different and I just cut the lines in the end, there is probably a less red neck way of doing it but there you go. My insurance has not increased like I feared, my insurance company has said that as long as you tell them and your moving from one standard Lexus set up to another and not changing the ride height there happy. Watch your years when ordering stuff, there is a model change in 2003 (I think) so make sure you get the correct year for your car. Everything is side specific so don't unpack everything (like I did) and spend hours trying to figure out what the hell goes where. None of it tells you what side it is once its out the packet and all the numbers are the same for both sides. Un-pack one side, build the shock, then start on the other side. (Doh) Buying all new stuff (KYB shocks springs etc) came to around £1200 and it takes about a day a shock, everything is either done up to a million foot pounds or weighs a ton. Its all done at ground level and does your back in after one shock. Fitting the droplinks once you have installed the shocks, this one I found the hard way, as you have a wheel in the air, the anti-roll bar is twisted (as it should) so the droplink will not be near the hole in the shock you screw it into. So fix the droplink to the anti-roll bar, put on the wheel, lower the car, climb underneath and attached the droplink to the shock as its all now at the same level, raise the car, remove the wheel and torque it all up. Rear shock spacer and front spring cups are a Lexus only item as far as I can tell. If you fancy ordering stuff from the USA there are many companies that supply Lexus parts at about half the price of the UK but whether they fit or not is anyone's guess. To be honest it may be worth getting a quote for all the bits from Lexus and then picking and choosing what you want to buy, in retrospect this was a better idea than scouring Ebay for hours at a time like I did. Whilst the shock is out it is a really good chance to re-paint any bits that look rusty, inside of the shock tunnels on mine were slightly brown so well worth 10 minutes with some sand paper and a can of hammerite. Diagram to rear strut is shown below. http://www.autozone.com/repairguides/Lexus-RX300-330-3-2000-06/Rear-Suspension/Strut-MacPherson-Strut-Assembly/_/P-0996b43f803793fb The ride quality is actually pretty much like it is with air suspension, to be honest after driving the car with both sorts I am at a bit of a loss to understand why air suspension was fitted in the first place? I presume its a keeping up with the Land Rover and the like. You would have to drive both cars back to back to notice any difference, the upside is I now go over speed bumps without worrying about what it has done to the air shocks.....

The biggest problem was the lack of information anywhere, I found one post in the US forums from a bloke who did it but the only advise he said was "it all fits no problems" and a lot of other people were saying that "in theory" it would work. If your in the USA then you can be a preassembled shock for around £200 so the lazy way would to just order 4 of them and be done with it (quality though is unknown). You also need to contend with different model versions as I think there was a change in parts from 2003 when the Mk2 came out and I don't know how compatible any of it is which is why I went for all new for my year which is also why I have not mentioned KYB part numbers in my post as what works for my car may be different for others. The only headache I had was a knocking noise from the back which was due to the KYB rear suspension mounts having no rubber sleave only a ring of rubber for the spring to sit on it so allowing it to move sideways and hit the mount so I had to strip the back end down and fit new mounts. Then I still had a knocking noise and found out there should be a spacer between the mount and the bolt at the top of the shock that holds it all in place so I had to strip the lot down again and add the spacer. So I can now remove the shock, strip it down, rebuild it and refit the shock in 1 hour :). And just when I thought I was out of the woods, when I took it for its first drive yesterday there was still a small knocking noise, trouble is I can't see anything wrong. Went to get the car MOT'd today and the tester advised me the front anti roll bar bushes were quite worn, didn't I notice a knocking noise??? Didn't know whether to punch or kiss him.

Lurking around Radstock. Exactly why I did it, job done for the life of the car. It would have been easier to buy 4 second hand struts and just renew springs and shocks but the price for 2nd hand gear was insane.

I have now converted from air to springs, got my new MOT today. I went with all new suspension as the cheapest quote I got was £750 from a breakers for a second hand set or I could buy a brand new set in individual parts from around £1200 less the money back for selling the air shocks. It feels pretty similar maybe a bit more vibration over bumps but all I have really done is swap out the SEL struts for the SE ones. It is all physically the same size so it all fits first time with no cutting just a straight swap and other than undoing 12 year old rusted on nuts was no bother just a pain in the back as it was all done at ground level so you can only really do one corner a day, its not that bad a job just a lot of time. You will need a good quality socket set and a good breaker bar. Also a wobble socket is handy as some of the nuts are slightly hidden by panels (front top mount bolts), maybe using a smaller socket set would get you round this. An impact gun speeds up getting nuts off and on but the initial loosening an final tightening must be done by hand so its of limited use. Make sure your Jack and axle stands are all rated at over 2 tons. Things I wish I had known before hand... Shocks/springs/front mounts/front bearing/bump stops and front rubber boot are all KYB. Rear KYB mount does not include a boot and the spring rests on the metal mount so buy the non KYB mounts that are an all in one mount/boot. Front spring cups are from Lexus only and you will also need a spacer between the rear shock mount and the nut that holds it all down (Lexus again or root around your junk nuts and bolt box to find one that fits). My local motor factor could get most of the KYB stuff but the bump stops and rear mounts were off Ebay. The bump stops and front boot kits were from a French/German company and took a couple of days to get here. The front springs are REALLY strong and I ended up using 4 spring compressors as my old pair was visibly bending and my bottle went so I bought another pair just to make sure, rear ones are fine and a lot softer. Droplinks... oh dear god... They were working fine but the hole to fit the key to hold them whilst you unscrew the nut was rusted to mush and the threads had rusted off the bolt so after and hour of trying to get one off I broke out the redneck toolbox and just angle grinded them all off and spent £80 on all new ones. I also found minor surface rust around the turret area front and back on the inside so whilst the shocks were off I re-painted these areas. Insurance has not been an issue and has cost me an extra £40 a year due to "suspension modifications". Is it worth it? In my case maybe as the car is 12 years old and over 100k miles, all the air compressors on Ebay were either pretty grubby or mad priced so my thought was to just get rid of the current and any future problems and change it all out. The body, engine and transmission are all in good working order so there is no reason to get rid of the car I really like. Obviously if your car is still worth good money then just fix the air suspension but spending £2500 on a car worth around £3000 hardly seems worth it especially as I could then blow a shock in six months and get another £1000 bill. Its been a really interesting project and I'm happy with the results though obviously I understand this is not the solution for most people. Out of interest the one thing that made my choice for me was when I was in the Lexus showroom and noticed that a brand new RX400h has springs and dampers so it can't be that bad!

Ok been to see Lexus, Air compressor failure is the diagnosis costing £2500 for the new compressor.... that's a lot for a compressor. Still the system works until I start to move so I either have a bad connection somewhere around the compressor, maybe a leak from one of the lines out of the compressor or a weak compressor that can create just enough air pressure at a standstill but not enough on the move. The car drove completely level there and back (2 hour round trip) with the off light flashing so the struts are ok. So looking on Ebay a new compressor is £650 for a genuine Toyota part, will take a look around and see how much a Toyota main dealer will sell them for if I can't get the compressor working on the move by cleaning all the connections and checking everything is as it should be. I'm happy to throw some money at the car but I feel that £2500 for a simple air compressor + the labour charge is pushing the limit of taking the mickey. I also have a work mate in Texas and the Lexus parts there are a steal compared to the UK so may purchase through him to save the headache of trying to ship something from the USA. Does anyone know if I should I replace the dryer as well as the compressor or is there no need?

This was with Toyota Bath part of the Platinum group so maybe a local company policy within the group. As far as it never being done, it is a drastic step (and a last resort). The car is completely level after a week of sitting so I don't think its the struts. The compressor goes on and off and it only flashes once the car moves. If you leave it for a couple of days it works again (until you move). Yesterday it was all working on the driveway and the suspension went from low all the way up to high and back to normal good as gold by using the control. Reversed it onto the road for a test drive and the it started flashing again and this morning is now flashing off all the time from start up. This suggests a wiring fault either with one of the units or the wiring between them, either way an error code will help a great deal. Its only the SEL that has air ride so in theory it is possible, swapping parts around is easy. The problem that worries me is the actual hubs or body that the struts bolt to are different. At that point it either becomes a headache (if I have to change hubs) or a non starter if the top strut mounting point (on the chassis) is a different shape. If the chassis is a different shape and will not fit the spring shock then that's that, the only option then would be to weld new ones in and that becomes a huge task. Still that's step 4, I'm still at step 1 so there's hope yet :).

Out of interest I called a Toyota main dealer and asked for a diagnostic and possible repair estimate. Refused point blank (even just for a diagnostic which I offered to pay for) as they don't have the correct diagnostic tool... Never heard such a stinky pile in my life. The minute I mentioned Lexus they just wanted me to hang up even when I explained the safety issue of driving a car another 10 miles to Lexus (rather than 1 to the Toyota dealer) with a big blinking light of death flashing on the dash. So am booked into Lexus in Bristol for next Tuesday who were obviously a lot more helpful. Kind of rubbed a bit to be honest as I have had Toyotas before and used them so as a returning customer I thought that was a bit shoddy. Its not like I was bringing in a Honda or something.

Thanks steve2006 you are a true gent. Car still happily level so will clean up the ride height sensors and the pump and disconnect the ECU and see where it leads me. Then a trip to Toyota if that doesn't work for any error codes then depending on that will make a decision. Other than that the car is in great shape so I'm not giving up on her.

Agree about dirt in the ride height system, lets hope that a trip to Toyota will give me a clue. I did notice that the struts are caked in mud as the school run involves a tight back road where you have to get on the verge if you come across tractors, busses, Audi drivers and a Porsche Boxer driver who will drive down the middle of the road to avoid puddles....

Completely agree about using second hand suspension, but this way I can test fit the lot and get all the annoying bump stops and covers that you cant get anywhere else for a couple of hundred pounds. I can then swap the springs/shocks and top mounts at my leisure for KYB items which comes to £750 for all four corners. So I would spend around £950 in total getting all the suspension and then should be able to get around £400 or so for the old air shocks that are not leaking. This way the whole job has a net cost of around £550 for all four corners to convert it back to the standard Lexus springs and dampers setup with all new parts so no fears of it then riding like an old dog. Weird thing is that the car is still rock solid level at the moment, have spent the morning bouncing up and down on the bumpers front and back, the engine has not been switched on since yesterday morning so no new air being sent to the struts. Looks more like an electrical fault or a ride height sensor. I am going to book into my local Toyota dealer tomorrow as there only down the road and see what there diagnostics can tell me and get an estimate on a fix. Would go to lexus but there a lot further and I don't fancy a trip through heavy Bristol traffic in a car that could collapse at any moment! Shame as the Bristol Lexus guys have always seemed to be good guys, when they changed my cam belt and ordered some new rear tyres as I wasn't happy with the age of them, instead of blindly changing them as per orders they called me to tell me not to worry they were fine and to save myself the money.

Agree that it may be cheaper to fix things, if its an electrical issue or an issue with the compressor then I'm good. If the issue is with one of the air struts then it could well be time for a change. The car is level at present but is locked in the normal position. The compressor fires at start up then turns off and the flashing "OFF" starts so I think it is more a compressor or sensor issue but until I get the error codes I'm keeping my options open. I've got a 100 mile journey on Monday to a very posh office to train an important customer and at present I'm turning up in my 1997 black and rust Bongo camper van..... I'll give it a wash and hide the kids scooters.

Hello, I'm new to this forum but have been lurking for a while :) I have the dreaded "OFF" light blinking at me on my 2004 RX300 so will be taking it to a local garage for the diagnostic code to see why (my scan tool doesn't find the suspension codes). Now as each part of the suspension seems to cost around one first born child and a kidney I was thinking of swapping the air suspension out for a normal strut and spring set up. Obviously I will only do this if the replacement parts needed for the fix are the struts as these seems to be the killers and they all look to be basically as bad as each other so even if I change the one that's leaking now there is nothing to say another won't fail next week. So my question is this, to convert from air to spring suspension, is it just a case of swapping the struts themselves and the top mounts or is there more to it than that? I know I will have to pull the fuse on the air compressor to stop the warning light blinking at me but are the suspension turrets the same physical shape on air and spring cars or are they different?Looking at other posts on the subject people who have looked at this in the past have talked about changing to a coilover setup but I can't find any in the UK. I was going to find a scrap yard that had a RX300 there and just take all the of the struts with springs attached as one unit, ive swapped out shocks before so it doesn't present a problem other than trying to undo 14 year old rusted on bolts in the rain...... Thanks in advance.