Dean2

Just had my 2006 GS, with 150,000 klms on it, into the local tire dealer to have the tires rotated. They always give the car a once over when they do it.. Once again I got the "Both rear struts are leaking and so is the Right front". We can happily quote you on strut replacement. They also said I need a wheel alignment, the right rear TPS sensor isn't working and system could not be re-set. Interestingly enough they made zero comment about the Check Engine Light being on nor the Traction Control Warning showing up (This lit up when I started the car this morning to take it in for tire rotation. Both warnings are the result of the gas cap and filler pipe needing to be cleaned off to get a good seal, so I posted another thread about that).

If you check the Toyota Service specs, a slight weeping on struts and shocks is normal. A leak is only indicated it the Strut or shock is wet from the top to 3/4 or more of the way down the shock. The only way to test a shock or strut is to depress and release each corner of the car and look for excessive bouncing on release, also cupping of the tires may be a sign of worn shocks/struts. Shocks can be worn out without ever showing a leak. There is also no such thing as a "Percentage" of shock wear, either they work or they don't.

So on top of their Tire changing staff having virtually no appropriate training in assessing shock condition they also can't tell a car that is aligned versus not. The car does not pull left or right, re-centres properly and has no play, nor does it trolly track. A very careful examination of the tires reveals perfectly symmetrical wear on both the fronts and the rears. They of course do not wear the same, front to back, but left to right they match perfectly. Their contention was that because the fronts were wearing different than the backs it needed a wheel alignment, so I asked them if the wear was going to be identical why did tires ever need to be rotated. They didn't have an answer for that.

I reset the TPS system myself, it reset just fine. Odds are the tire changer couldn't find the button.

I didn't write this to pick on tire shops, I wrote it so Lexus and Toyota owners don't end up paying $1000 for strut, shock or alignment work that isn't needed yet. I am sure more than a few of you have run into this too.

lexo98

iTrader: (2)

If they used a scan tool to test the tpms sensors that may be why they said 1 is bad. The scanners detect low/dead tpms batteries that the vehicle ecu will still recognize. Chances are that sensor will go out soon

samsonn25

There is a percentage to struts/shocks

New is 100% (new fluid and new seals) the more they are used it eventually goes close to 0% (because the oil loses its viscosity from normal use and/or the seals start to go).

I would say 99.999% of cars on the road out there have struts/shocks that are less than 100% Longevity but more than 5% and they still work, not as good as new but also not totally shot.

Ride quality deterioration will be less noticeable on smooth roads than rough roads.

The degradation occurs very very gradually over time so it is not noticeable until it gets really bad.

Dean2

If you are saying that the more you use the shock the less percentage of life they have, I would agree with that but it is a very imprecise measurement. Some shocks will last 50,000 miles and some will go 250,000. That said, oil does not loose its viscosity and in the absence of contamination it also doesn't get any thicker. Oil can get thicker from oxidization but this is not usually a factor in shock oil. As far as the seals beginning to go, until the seals are worn enough to cause a leak their wear is not a problem as sealing the shock is their only function. If an internal seal lets go it is possible for a shock to go bad without leaking. Ride quality will not change unless the shock leaks or an internal leak resulting in the oil not going to the valve or being properly separated occurs.

If the shock bangs, rattles, bumps start feeling harsh, car bounces after hitting a bump, has large leaks, or tires are cupping it is time to replace it. Until the shock fails in some way its ride quality does not change. You are free to believe whatever you like but this is precisely the line of patter the Tire shops.repair outlets have been peddling for years to get people to change shocks and struts that are perfectly serviceable.

Lexo98 - I agree and you are completely right about the batteries potentially being close to worn out. The car is 13 years old and they are the original TPS sensors. Battery life usually runs 5-12 years. That said, there was no Tire Warning lamp illuminated on the drive over so the issue was the tire changer could not get rid of the warning lamp after rotating the tires because he didn't reset the system correctly. A low battery will eventually cause one or more of the sensors to fail, and light up the warning lamp, so I will replace all 4 at that time. Until one actually fails however I will keep running it. Even on failure a guy can still check tire pressure the old fashion way, they are not a safety risk of any sort. (Local Lexus dealer is $50 Canadian per Sensor, plus install. That is cheaper than I can get them from Rock Auto, so not all parts are a bad deal at the dealer. It amazes me so many disable their TPMS rather than pay the small price for a new set of Sensors.).