I have a 04 4Runner V8 Ltd which I bought in Sept 2004. It only has 12K KM until now. Last Thurday I started to feel that the car became very bumpping and I sent it for service on Friday. The dealer found out that the rear air suspension has problem. They said that the valve used to keep the air in tight was worn and the air leaks. The result is that there is no air pressure in the air pump. That's why the rear air suspension has no effect and I can feel every bump on the road. On the other side, the height control does not work either sine there is no air pressure to lift the car. I can see the tailer really sits down. They are ordering a whole new part and I will send in the car aftet it arrives.

I was wondering anybody else has the similar situation? Is it normal considering it is a fairy new car and low km too?

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Funny you should bring this up. My dads 2005 Limited had the same problem after 20,000 miles. One day, he lowered the truck and it seemed like all of the air escaped from the system. When he went to raise it again, it wouldn't budge. I drove it to the dealer and I didn't think I would survive that ride. Everytime we went over a bump, I held on for life! I think there was a computer board that was shot and a few faulty sensors that caused the problem. I don't know how you were able to drive your truck around like that! You would still be bouncing around 30 seconds after you hit a bump. This is definitely not normal, especially for a Toyota!

Thanks, Mark.

How did they fix your dad's car?

I am still waiting for the dealer's call back for the part to arrive. Not sure if it will fix the problem if it is the computer or the sensor malfunction and whether they have ordered the right part. The driving is terrible and lucky it was less than 5 mins away from my home.

I will sure post the update.

David

They replaced a few sensors that control the ride height and a computer board in the kick panel that is associated with the ride height. It took them over a week to fix it though. I don't know how true it is, but the dealer blamed the remote starter that they installed for causing this problem.

i havent had that problem just yet, hopefully i wont. but do you guys feel that when it goes up and down that its kinda bumpy? its not a very smooth movement. kinda jerky. the dealership said its normal cuz it doesnt have bags. is this true?

The problem I was referring to was the truck being stuck in the down position. Once you lowered it, all of the air would be released from the system and you had no suspension in the back. Whenever you hit a bump, you would be bouncing.

I had a problem on mine after only a couple hundred miles. It just sank to really low while I was driving. It took a couple times to restart the vehicle before it corrected itself. I haven't had any probelm since then, another 15k miles, but it's one reason I may be getting the extended warranty.

Scott

Mark is right. The truck stuck in the low position. You can tell that the tailer really sank down and the height adjustment does not work though the light still shows going up and down.

For me it was after the car wash last Wednesday. I don't know whether it was the fact. Then on Thursday, I started to feel a bit bouncing and on Friday it was very bad. It was gradually developing. Then I brought it to the dealership. In the meantime, there are a couple of times restart and it does not help.

It is absolutely abnormal for a Toyota car and I am not so sure that how long it is going to take for them to fix it since the service guy does not seem to have any idea what went wrong other than just changing the part. And I am still waiting for the part.

that doesnt sound too good. i had my car since last september and i put 25k on it. and i havent had any problems with my air suspension except the jerky adjustments from high to low.

I had the oppsite problem with my 03. The outlet valve on the tank broke so air couldn't be released. It happened after I drove through a big puddle. The tank was redesigned as it was a known that water would mess up the valves. The dealer replaced both the compressor and tank assembly.

i wonder if this air suspension problem is common. i wonder how many ppl have problems with their air suspension. i hope this isnt a re-occuring prblems with the air suspension. hopefully its not.

I have the response from the dealer today. The part is back ordered and I have to wait another one week or two. They said that the problem is common and every dealership around Toronto area has one or two 4Runners waiting for this part. And the part has to come from Japan. Seems that the problem is very common. How can this issue be raised to Toyota? They must do something about. What will happen is the problem happens after the warranty expires? Then the customer has to pay for it. This is the first time that I have such a big problem with a car from Toyota. It really makes me to question my loyalty towards the Toyota quality.

What's the part they have ordered?

They said the valve is malfuncitonal. But they are ordering the whole part not just the valve. Does this mean the whole air suspension assembly? I am not sure.

No problems yet (13K miles).

Koz