Need some help with sinking suspension ?

Hello Folks
Here for some advice !
I have an 06 Disco 3 TDV6
Very solid, owned for 4 years and not had any issues, until now.
Air suspension I am afraid.
Compressor works all fine, but after a day or two she starts sinking.
I am guessing some kind of stop / check valve has failed ?
Can anyone recommend the part ?
As soon as I fire here up she raises to correct height .
Thanks All

Put in off road height then remove air suspension fuse, leave overnight see what sinks then get the soapy water out. All around the bags, every connection be thorough

@gstuart got loads of pics and advice hes the guru on D3

Welcome

Sounds like leaks starting in the bags. You need to raise it and squirt the bags with soapy water. If you find 1 then its best to get it sorted sooner than later as it will only get worse and then take out the compressor.

Replace in pairs or all as if 1 has started the others probably not far behind.


J

Got any fault codes? Whereabouts are you in this beautiful country of ours?

Hello
thanks for your replies !
No fault codes, and I am in East Yorkshire . . .

Michael R said:

Hello
thanks for your replies !
No fault codes, and I am in East Yorkshire . . .

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Gods own country let us know how you get on, hopefully narrow it down to front/back/left/right then take it from there

As above mate soapy water is best for leaks, connection's and blocks don't forget air bag connections as said removing to fuse will isolate front or rear and side to side should show which corner, myself found it hard to find air bag leaks so i eliminate everything else

1988smithy said:

Put in off road height then remove air suspension fuse, leave overnight see what sinks then get the soapy water out. All around the bags, every connection be thorough

@gstuart got loads of pics and advice hes the guru on D3

Click to expand...

bless u for such a kind post kind sir

Michael R said:

Hello Folks
Here for some advice !
I have an 06 Disco 3 TDV6
Very solid, owned for 4 years and not had any issues, until now.
Air suspension I am afraid.
Compressor works all fine, but after a day or two she starts sinking.
I am guessing some kind of stop / check valve has failed ?
Can anyone recommend the part ?
As soon as I fire here up she raises to correct height .
Thanks All

Click to expand...

plus 1 what’s been mentioned , raise suspension and measure the heights in mm from the centre of the wheels to the bottom of the wheel arch liner

then remove fuse F26 from the engines fuse box, leave overnight and see if any corner drops

remove cover on the suspensions compressor and spray with soapy water , can be a multitude of things, ie, dryer cap, connections , air bags etc

what scanner are u using plse

hope that also helps u

ps, this was after I had removed My front struts as they can leak at different heights , so indeed spray them at normal, access and off road height and plse don’t ever be tempted to get under the vehicle without disabling suspension and axle stands

Thanks for all your responses, I do appreciate it.
will be out with my soapy water this weekend !

Hello Folks
So:
Put my Disco in Off rd mode, nice and tall
Compressor working well.
Fuse removed
Squirted soapy water on front suspension top and bottom
No visible signs of bubbles
Next morning - front sunk
Equally both sides
Rear - as tall as ever.

Could this be suspension block valve ?

Thanks All

new update:
just thought I would try the soapy spray again ?
replaced the fuse, fired her up but now have the suspension issue light on and will not rise again ?
any thoughts ?
Thanks

Hello
I think I am going to try the most inexpensive option first !

If this doesn't work airbags will be next. Will try to limp down to my pet mechanic and ask him to swap out this valve !
no harm in replacing this part anyway !

If just front went down is likely to be front valve block under drivers wheel liner or centre block to front, check strut connectors don't go changing expensive parts might still be a minor issue I had two small leaks and a pinprick in the tank caused all sorts of issues can be frustrating has a mind of it's own lol

Thanks Tyregeezer, sounds like I am on the right track.
Ordered the front valve block and fingers crossed that is the issue.
Just FYI the back is as high as it was on Monday

Plus 1 ^^^^^

indeed with just the front lowering there can be a leak on the compressor , air tank, reservoir valve block, front air struts and front valve block or even pipe and connections

know when I was looking for leaks I made up a test kit, allowing me to test each circuit one at a time, then vacuum tested each valve block to ensure they weren’t letting by

also bubbled tested the air struts in access, normal and off road height and then it allows to me more exposed where it can sometimes not leak on other settings where the rubber is inside the struts metal shroud

when the compressors dryer material breaks down it turns to dust , that goes round the entire system causing untold problems , ie in between the valve block seals

was considerably better when I also replaced all my Voss connectors with the brass push fits , was like night and day after I cured all the leaks , noticeably the ride quality

so if u don’t mind me adding , plse start from the compressor and air tank with soapy water m air struts can also leak on the top fittings and around the rubber bags on the struts

As I kept testing mine there was a stage where the front dropped , fitted isolating valves on each air bag by the front valve block , this ensured when turned off and still dropped proving the air struts were at fault

with my test kit I got a hand vacuum pump for the valve blocks, along with some pushfit fittings, ie, blanks, couplings etc

hope u get on ok and Not wishing to sound rude plse try and not throw parts at it as it will become very expensive as u can easily spend £1.000 in the blink of an eye

gstuart said:

Plus 1 ^^^^^

indeed with just the front lowering there can be a leak on the compressor , air tank, reservoir valve block, front air struts and front valve block or even pipe and connections

know when I was looking for leaks I made up a test kit, allowing me to test each circuit one at a time, then vacuum tested each valve block to ensure they weren’t letting by

also bubbled tested the air struts in access, normal and off road height and then it allows to me more exposed where it can sometimes not leak on other settings where the rubber is inside the struts metal shroud

when the compressors dryer material breaks down it turns to dust , that goes round the entire system causing untold problems , ie in between the valve block seals

was considerably better when I also replaced all my Voss connectors with the brass push fits , was like night and day after I cured all the leaks , noticeably the ride quality

so if u don’t mind me adding , plse start from the compressor and air tank with soapy water m air struts can also leak on the top fittings and around the rubber bags on the struts

As I kept testing mine there was a stage where the front dropped , fitted isolating valves on each air bag by the front valve block , this ensured when turned off and still dropped proving the air struts were at fault

with my test kit I got a hand vacuum pump for the valve blocks, along with some pushfit fittings, ie, blanks, couplings etc

hope u get on ok and Not wishing to sound rude plse try and not throw parts at it as it will become very expensive as u can easily spend £1.000 in the blink of an eye

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You are the man

Good luck with soap and water great test rig @gstuart for struts started making one myself, since returning from France again have a slight lowering of the front over two days so back to soap and water for me too

tyregeezer said:

Good luck with soap and water great test rig @gstuart for struts started making one myself, since returning from France again have a slight lowering of the front over two days so back to soap and water for me too

Click to expand...

ur so welcome mate , one of my biggest hurdles were ensuring the valve blocks were holding up and not allowing air to pass the internal seals , I blanked off some of the ports with 6mm internal blanks and even after I had rebuilt them they were still letting by

before I would have just refitted them not knowing if they were letting by or not, so by doing a vacuum test on each one I proved 100% they were ok or not

alas had to replace all my 3 x valve blocks , even after blowing the old one out with compressed air and new seals to ensure none of that white silica was present to no avail

on The vacuum test I could see the gauge slowly going down, was the same for the air tank but that time I used compressed air after disconnecting the pipe from the reservoir valve block

had so many issues , think this was due to the suspension being left / bodged it just snowballed to other parts

at the end of the day fitted a new compressor , air tank, pair of front struts , 3 x valve blocks and then replaced all the Voss cone cations with brass push fits, made the works of difference in ease of reinstalling them , particularly that rear valve block which is very tight

gave the new air tank a few coats of dinitrol and the chassis, 3 x new chassis clips along with replacing all the nuts / bolts with stainless steel , done the same with the bottom compressor cover and struts , also found using some clear silicone grease on the back of the valve blocks helped them slide onto there mounting brackets

sorry I’m waffling again, lol ,

hope all goes well my friend and above rips assist to make life easier for u

Yes same for me first had a hight sensor issue and a leak at centre distribution block front pipe was cross threaded sorted these then a pinprick in the tank then drivers airbag mulled over springs but going to persevere with air maybe new dunlop front air springs as can't find any leaks I suspect the bags become porous will test