Suspension stuck in 'road'

Hi, I am considering a cheapish L322, the seller says the suspension is stuck in 'Route' (French) - I presume it would be 'Road' in a UK one...

Any thoughts as to what this might be caused by? Any simple checks I can do to investigate if I go to look at the car?

The price is low because of the suspension fault, so I can afford to spend a bit on it if I did buy it... but would like to go in with my eyes as open as possible!!

Cheers

Jerry

You'll need Diagnsotics to find out why....

Like the P38, there are two fault modes, but behave slightly differently to the P38.

Soft Fault - Indicated by the hold light illuminated on the switch and the Standard Light lit - the system has detected an issue that it feels ins'y right and has frozen the system, this can be a dodgy height sensor causing a reading the ECU thinks isn't right, a Soft Fault will also be triggered by another fault on the CAN system....i.e. an ABS sensor will cause the EAS to soft fault. - Unlike the P38, the L322 will still run the compressor, and the system will try and maintain standard ride height as best as possible.

Hard Fault - All lights off on the height selector - caused by similar things to the P38, lack of pressure, split bags etc....vehicle will try to get to standard height as best as possible, but if the event is caused by a situation which means it can't it will drop to the bump stops.

Diagnostics are needed to see what the problem is, but do the usualy checks of looking at the bags, and condition of the height sensors....

It may not be a fault of the EAS but of something else on the CAN bus system.

Water in the wheel well or the electronics in the rear L/H quarter can produce that problem, does the radio and sat nav work?
Check the front diff recall has been done and if the gearbox is original or a replacement.

Thanks guys, very helpful input.

Still wondering whether it's worth having a look at it. There is also a P38 with a nearly new V8 engine and LPG that has caught my eye, but the price being asked is a bit crazy.... almost as much as the L322!


You'll be pleased to know I have ditched the Grand Cherokee idea.......

Cheers

Jerry

jerrytlr said:

Thanks guys, very helpful input.

Still wondering whether it's worth having a look at it. There is also a P38 with a nearly new V8 engine and LPG that has caught my eye, but the price being asked is a bit crazy.... almost as much as the L322!


You'll be pleased to know I have ditched the Grand Cherokee idea.......

Cheers

Jerry

Click to expand...

the petrol P38's seem to be a no go from what i see regarding them on the forum.



diesel seems the best option as long as you don't mind the slowness of them lol

an L322 would be a better option really

Glad you have come to your senses...!!!

The L322 's EAS is no more complicated than the P38's....it is just the components are more to buy/fix/repair.....

I think it would be worth looking at, to see if it is a Hard Fault or Soft Fault....and see if there are any other issues that may be the cause of the EAS fault...as I said, when I first got mine a broken ABS sensor wire was causing HDC,ABS,EBC,CDC and EAS faults....this is because a) they are al on the same data bus (the CAN) and b) the systems all rely on ABS sensor information to carryout their own functions!

Saint.V8 said:

Glad you have come to your senses...!!!

The L322 's EAS is no more complicated than the P38's....it is just the components are more to buy/fix/repair.....

I think it would be worth looking at, to see if it is a Hard Fault or Soft Fault....and see if there are any other issues that may be the cause of the EAS fault...as I said, when I first got mine a broken ABS sensor wire was causing HDC,ABS,EBC,CDC and EAS faults....this is because a) they are al on the same data bus (the CAN) and b) the systems all rely on ABS sensor information to carryout their own functions!

Click to expand...

The L322 EAS is considerably more complicated that the P38 and a lot more expensive to fix, the valve assembly for a start and one replacement strut costs as much as a set of Arnott Gen II's for a P38.

Datatek said:

The L322 EAS is considerably more complicated that the P38 and a lot more expensive to fix, the valve assembly for a start and one replacement strut costs as much as a set of Arnott Gen II's for a P38.

Click to expand...

The compnets like the valve block are indeed more complicated, but the principle of operation is just the same as the P38!

Datatek said:

The L322 EAS is considerably more complicated that the P38 and a lot more expensive to fix, the valve assembly for a start and one replacement strut costs as much as a set of Arnott Gen II's for a P38.

Click to expand...

Stop bloody complaining !!

You don't have one so you have nothing to worry about

You keep your taxi

Saint.V8 said:

The compnets like the valve block are indeed more complicated, but the principle of operation is just the same as the P38!

Click to expand...

Sorry, there is no cross axle balancing on the P38. You might as well say the airbrakes on a truck are not more complicated. the software is also a lot more sophisticated.
Read rs2000customs thread if you don't believe me, no need of live data to fix a P38.
The L322 system is superior, but considerably more complex.

Datatek said:

Sorry, there is no cross axle balancing on the P38. You might as well say the airbrakes on a truck are not more complicated. the software is also a lot more sophisticated.
Read rs2000customs thread if you don't believe me, no need of live data to fix a P38.
The L322 system is superior, but considerably more complex.

Click to expand...

Fair game! operation is the similar - height sensors, compressor, tank and airbags feeding information to an ECU that then opens and closes valves to level the vehicle. If it senses odd articulation readings from the same a le it will open the crosslink valves to equalise the pressure across the axle to act like a solid beam.

Other than the inclusion of the crosslink valves, the principle of operation is the same, just the way it does it is more complex!

2.0_hippo said:

the petrol P38's seem to be a no go from what i see regarding them on the forum.



diesel seems the best option as long as you don't mind the slowness of them lol

an L322 would be a better option really

Click to expand...

I agree that a higher mileage V8 is a big gamble based on what people post on here - but the one I spotted had a new engine 5K miles ago so surely it would be OK for a while... unless of course the reason the previous engine went hasn't been rectified properly... hmmm.....

The relative simplicity of the P38 does appeal, as does the fact I now know my way around them pretty well. I have no doubt the L322 is a superior vehicle, but the P38 is good enough for what I will use it for....


Cheers

Jerry

jerrytlr said:

I agree that a higher mileage V8 is a big gamble based on what people post on here - but the one I spotted had a new engine 5K miles ago so surely it would be OK for a while... unless of course the reason the previous engine went hasn't been rectified properly... hmmm.....

The relative simplicity of the P38 does appeal, as does the fact I now know my way around them pretty well. I have no doubt the L322 is a superior vehicle, but the P38 is good enough for what I will use it for....


Cheers

Jerry

Click to expand...

Simplicity of a p38 ?!! :rofl:

2.0_hippo said:

Simplicity of a p38 ?!! :rofl:

Click to expand...

He did say relative!!!

Saint.V8 said:

He did say relative!!!

Click to expand...

yea right !!!

like any car, once you know.. its pretty simple really.

i remember when i got my L322 I was sh!t scared with it as everything seemed so complicated and electronic !

i soon found out i needed my own diagnostics equipment

there not too bad really once you get to understand the beasts !

i used to drive about worrying whats going to go wrong next... now i don't care, if it breaks i will fix it.

cant drive a car constantly worrying about it