Issue with Auto Ride Height

H

Houmack

New member
I did a bit of searching around, but can't come across of anyone having the exact same issue as I am. Maybe I'm not good at searching? :happens:

I just picked up a 2003 Limited V8. i noticed that the ride height control doesn't work. The height of the truck is normal. There is a blinking orange light on the dash that blinks "off". When i press the switch on the console to change between heights, nothing happens. the light just keeps on blinking.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

H
 
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Houmack said:
I did a bit of searching around, but can't come across of anyone having the exact same issue as I am. Maybe I'm not good at searching? :happens:

I just picked up a 2003 Limited V8. i noticed that the ride height control doesn't work. The height of the truck is normal. There is a blinking orange light on the dash that blinks "off". When i press the switch on the console to change between heights, nothing happens. the light just keeps on blinking.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

H
Click to expand...

Sounds like it's no longer working. Quite common and most people dump it when it fails.
 
Not the typical symptoms of it failing. Have you looked too make sure it still has the bags in the rear? Take a look and make sure, sounds like what happens after the bags are swapped out for coils.
 
With my 03 Limited V8, the rear height adjust sensors failed. Because of their poor location, they became corroded from road salt used up here during our Canadian winters.

Replacement costs were too high for my liking, so my mechanic disabled the system completely. The ride height in the rear has been permanently set at the normal height. Fortunately he was able to have my dashlight read "normal" for the ride height (so that I do not get that annoying "off" blinking).

My best guess for your situation is that the rear height adjust has been disabled by the previous owner or a mechanic due to some sort of problem (my money is on a failed sensor).
 
ARK_SWAMP_RIDER said:
Bossman, did you have that done at a dealer or independent shop? That's the first I've heard of disabling the system completely.
Click to expand...

It was done at a local Toyota dealer by their top mechanic. I can no longer adjust the ride height by using the factory switches. If need be, the mechanic can inflate the rear air bags manually.
 
perfect. thanks guys. I'll have a look to see if the system wasn't replaced with coils and if not, i'll blame it on a disabled/bad sensor as per your comments. i hope the former!
 
The typical symptoms of a corroded/faulty sensor is the bags getting stuck on the high or low settings. I've not seen a case where it caused issues with the dash light. I'd lean towards saying that the system has been replaced, there's a bad connection somewhere, or possibly a fuse blown somewhere (just throwing the fuse out there, grasping straws). How's the ride quality, do you notice the rear being any different than the front? Where are you located? How many miles on the 4runner?
 
my gf has the car our right now, once she gets in, I can check out on a couple of these.

Now that you mention it, the rear does feel a bit stiffer when going over bumps. I'm not sure if that's just how 4Runner's are or if it's my car. First time in one.

I'm in Vancouver BC and truck has 200K KM (120K miles) on her
 
Mine's a little stiffer in the rear in stock form (no issues with the bags). I will say this, based on mileage and location, it's highly likely that the system is either shot or has been replaced. It's VERY common for the 4runners up there to have issues with this system, quite a few at much lower mileage than yours.
 
alright, so the bags are still on the car and the fuse looks alright. The only "mod" that seems to be on this truck is the 2006 18" wheels with brand new bridgestone dueler A/T's (275/65/18's) oh ya and a trailer brake assist.
 
Hmmm, I'm out of ideas. Definitely sounds like the system is shot. You can swap to coils or if ride isn't too bad leave it as is. Maybe you can talk to a local dealer and have them disable the light similar to what was mentioned above.
 
just wondering if ANYONE on the forum knows how to disable the rear air suspension? I've removed the airbags in mine, but I get the annoying flashing of the 'off' light on my dash.
 
@Eastcoastrunner, I would just pull the dashlight so it can't blink anymore. Not a great solution but a cheap one lol.

As for my related problem, the RAS on my 03 with 201,500kms just quite last night. It's wierd tho, If I select Hi from the N position nothing happens, but the if I go back to N then go to HI again, it seems to work. The motor/compressor and switches seem to work fine they're just alittle off. The worse problem is that is seems to resort to the LO position if left alone so now when driving, the rear ends feels really stiff and rides much rougher because the rear axle is making contact with the bump stops on the body even when driving over the smallest bumps at slow speed.

Im in the midest of investigating, ill post when I find the issue. Right now im leaning towards on of the airbags are damaged and not holding pressure, the height sensor is faulty, or my personal favorite...since I disconnected the battery recently maybe it needs to be re-taught the poistions kinda like when you have to reteach the auto windows.

EDIT/UPDATE: The bags are good and im not sure about the re-teach thing. Right now when left in the N position, the the bumpers are resting on the axel, and HI position is like the old N position, so I put in into HI and pulled the fuse so at least I can drive it around without. Im leaning towards faulty ride height sensor...great!
 
Last edited:
Bossman said:
With my 03 Limited V8, the rear height adjust sensors failed. Because of their poor location, they became corroded from road salt used up here during our Canadian winters.

Replacement costs were too high for my liking, so my mechanic disabled the system completely. The ride height in the rear has been permanently set at the normal height. Fortunately he was able to have my dashlight read "normal" for the ride height (so that I do not get that annoying "off" blinking).

My best guess for your situation is that the rear height adjust has been disabled by the previous owner or a mechanic due to some sort of problem (my money is on a failed sensor).
Click to expand...

Very interested to hear how you permanetly set the ride height at neutral ?
 
At the time of my posts back in 2011, the mechanic manually controlled the on-board air compressor to fill the RAS bags to the desired "normal" height. I could no longer use the height control switches located between the seats, and the height control sensors were disabled.

The update to my situation (in another thread on this forum somewhere) is that eventually the on-board compressor failed, so my mechanic bypassed that as well. He ended up installing some air lines to both bags that I can basically inflate/deflate as easily as airing up my tires. I have a valve (same as a tire valve) mounted underneath that I can easily access.

I have to fill my RAS bags on occasion - usually around the temperature changes between seasons.
 
I know this a bit of an older thread but relates to what I may be having issues with.

I have an 03 v8 4runner limited stock setup with xreas seems to be operating fine goes up down and returns to neutral position when I drive but seems like the neutral position is really high (I don't have measurements now but can post later) so I was wondering if someone can take a measurement from the ground to the top of the rear wheel well for me? Even a front measurement would be great for a baseline for me. My truck really looks like it is nose diving but not sure if this is a leveling sensor problem or if there is another problem

Any suggestions would be great
 
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