Disco II Air suspension – the definitive guide

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I've read through this thread completely, but I'm not sure that my problem is covered.

My Disco II is completely down on both sides.

What is worrying me is the alarm won't work as it thinks that one of the doors is open (they're not). The car doesn't seem to have push-in door switches, so where are the sensors? Is there a way to find out which door it is?

I've read in other posts that the doors need to be closed to raise the suspension, and wonder if this is the reason why mine isn't working. The function to raise the ride height to offroad setting hasn't worked since I've had the door sensor problem (this wasn't a problem), but now it's dropped completely and won't rise at all :(

I don't want to start replacing air suspension bits if the problem is somewhere else!

I'm in Belgium, so there aren't any good independents, and LR garages are ridiculously expensive, so any help/suggestions would be most welcome
 
Thank you for that information ,it saved me a lot of time, on my millennium edition the compressor will work with the bonnet up .Fault turned out to be a blown fuse
 
Found this very helpful. Had the comedy moment of thinking my pump was broken but i was leaning in thru the drivers door while trying to hear the pump
 
grrrr stoopid cars, right guys great post plenty of answers but cant seem to pin point my problem, now for a few weeks my n/s has been randomly dropping normally just after driving within 30 mins, it has on one occasion completely dropped on both sides, all this started within the last 6 weeks, its never dropped over night even after leaving it stood 3 weeks in the last 6 due to braking my hand, now this am i went out to leave for work all was up and sat good load the kids for school get in start the car reverse 10 ft the yellow light comes on with the side view of the car with 2 arrows up/down the passenger side dropped to the bump stops i managed to limp it to work in this state geeze what a bumpy ride, now the yellow light fails to go out the n/s is sat on the bump stops and the o/s has dropped about 50%, dont wanna start chucking parts at it so any ideas would be appreciated, the compressor was replaced jan 2012
 
Hi,I am a new member ,I have a 03 disco with right hand side rear suspension deflates every so often . I have read a few comments but not quite the same problem that I have,could this be a faulty valve ?? Any advise most welcome .
 
Hello I have just replaced the compressor on my td5 and im not getting any power to the compressor. Fuses are ok and relays anyone have any ideas what it could be
Thanks
 
Hi, new to forum after acquiring 2002 TD5 Auto.

Just asking advice-

Car sitting up okay, not low by any means, but rear O/S lower than N/S (or is it the N/S is simply higher?). It still has pleanty clearance, just standing behind car the height difference is just noticeable.

No Fault lights whatsoever.

When I do press the suspension height button, nothing much SEEMS to happen except the amber light on dash stays lit while button is pressed, that is all. When you let go, light goes out. No alarms, no height difference etc, height of car just seems to stay the same.

Is this a problem, other than looking slightly tilted? If so any body else have similar ideas? If it were (combination) of air bag, height sensor and or compressor would some fault light not be present somewhere?

Thanks (very much) in advance.

Would maybe even consider coil springs if it only brings on light!
 
Hi, new to forum after acquiring 2002 TD5 Auto.

Just asking advice-

Car sitting up okay, not low by any means, but rear O/S lower than N/S (or is it the N/S is simply higher?). It still has pleanty clearance, just standing behind car the height difference is just noticeable.

No Fault lights whatsoever.

When I do press the suspension height button, nothing much SEEMS to happen except the amber light on dash stays lit while button is pressed, that is all. When you let go, light goes out. No alarms, no height difference etc, height of car just seems to stay the same.

Is this a problem, other than looking slightly tilted? If so any body else have similar ideas? If it were (combination) of air bag, height sensor and or compressor would some fault light not be present somewhere?

Thanks (very much) in advance.

Would maybe even consider coil springs if it only brings on light!

When you are pressing the ORM button, it will only raise the height of the vehicle when all doors and bonnet are closed.

The air suspension is quite a simple system compared to all the rest and is easily a diy fix.

Can you hear the compressor running.

If you follow the how to, you should be able to diagnose all the faults associated with the SLS

Are the height sensors in good condition, I'm paranoid with mine and grease up the bolts every 3 months which has sorted my problem. I had faulty sensors twice but since greasing regularly have not had any problems.
Would also be worth getting underneath with some soapy water and checking the airbags.

Don't give up you're at the start of a long journey
 
Thanks for the reply- hopefully get another look tomorrow.

Yes all doors etc were shut, read that in handbook- but no, didn't hear any compressor running.
 
Hi, new to forum after acquiring 2002 TD5 Auto.

Just asking advice-

Car sitting up okay, not low by any means, but rear O/S lower than N/S (or is it the N/S is simply higher?). It still has pleanty clearance, just standing behind car the height difference is just noticeable.

No Fault lights whatsoever.

When I do press the suspension height button, nothing much SEEMS to happen except the amber light on dash stays lit while button is pressed, that is all. When you let go, light goes out. No alarms, no height difference etc, height of car just seems to stay the same.

Is this a problem, other than looking slightly tilted? If so any body else have similar ideas? If it were (combination) of air bag, height sensor and or compressor would some fault light not be present somewhere?

Thanks (very much) in advance.

Would maybe even consider coil springs if it only brings on light!

A mis-match in rear airbag heights, is most likely to be a faulty height sensor on one side... Could be another cause, but this is the most likely. If any part of the air suspension system fails, there are no warnings on the dash - it's just obvious from looking at the car, that it's not working - especially if a height sensor goes... I've had it so that one corner is fully up and the other fully down! (Looked like a clown car driving it to the garage!). The only warning light you'll get on the dash is from the ACE system if you have it fitted (yellow car wobbling from side to side icon), which warns when the fluid reservoir is low and you're ****ing out ACE fluid from somewhere!

If the system drops over a period of 24-48 hours, it could be a small air leak in one of the airbags, as they tend to crack and leak where they fold at the "roll over" point as they move up and down over the years.

Any decent Landy specialist will have it diagnosed in no time at all. Sensor's are reasonably priced - even for new genuine. Airbags less so for the gen if you buy new - but you can get excellent used OEM (Conti) bags from any breaker for about 25-30 notes.... I'd avoid the Dunlop non-OEM myself, although a lot of people will say that they're just fine.

When you hold down the offroad height button on the dash as you describe, the dash should ping three times and the light flash as air is pumped into the bags and the back end rises for more clearance. If you sit nice and still in the driver's seat and keep your eyes fixed on the wing mirror, you should see it rise up slowly - takes about 70-80 secs to fully rise. Yellow light on dash will flash until it finishes it's run and then the light will stay solid when it's reached full height. Yellow light will stay on until it returns to normal height, and as already stated, will only run the process at all if all five doors and bonnet are firmly closed.

If yours is going straight off again and doing nothing straightaway - not even trying to rise or stay lit, again tends to point to a height sensor stopping the process from even starting.

Am presuming that the compressor does actually work? And the truck's not just sitting flat (ish) with a buggered compressor that doesn't work at all, but you've been lucky that the system is still air-tight and not losing air?! Seems unlikely, but not impossible. You don't want it to be the compressor as a new Wabco unit is big bucks from a MD, and even fairly big bucks from a breaker used (with no guarantee of likely residual life either!)

If the compressor isn't doing anything - it might be something else stopping it from working. Could be a relay/fuse type issue (if you're lucky), or worse something in the ECU not sending the signal to start/stop it when required.

Time for a good relationship with a really good local independent specialist - they can diagnose this far quicker than any DIY'er, as they'll have seen it all before - many, many times. Can recommend someone brilliant if you're in Kent!
 
Hi all, what great read and answered a lot of questions I thought mine was ok but when I push the off road button it chimes 3 times and then puts up the rear whilst flashing the icon on the dash, but then the light goes out and stays unlit until pressed again to lower?

and the other night another fault developed on turning off the ignition the compressor continued to run and run and run until I thought my battery would die or the compressor would cook. so I disconnected the battery its now sat for 2 days with no loss of height on either side of the suspension, any body have any thoughts as to what could be causing this.
many thanks.
 
Hi all, what great read and answered a lot of questions I thought mine was ok but when I push the off road button it chimes 3 times and then puts up the rear whilst flashing the icon on the dash, but then the light goes out and stays unlit until pressed again to lower?

The yellow light on the dash should definitely stay on all the time it's at and stays at its extended height - the back-end should only start to go down if you drive off and gather over 25-30 mph (can't remember the exact speed that triggers the return to normal height), or pressing the height-raise button again to manually reduce the height. Anything else, and it's not working as it should.

and the other night another fault developed on turning off the ignition the compressor continued to run and run and run until I thought my battery would die or the compressor would cook. so I disconnected the battery its now sat for 2 days with no loss of height on either side of the suspension, any body have any thoughts as to what could be causing this.
many thanks.

Never heard of this before personally. Would reconnect the battery, have a drive around and see what happens when you turn off - it could just be a one off event that doesn't occur again and your battery disconnection effectively served as a complete system reset. Would keep a good close eye on it for a few weeks though in case it becomes a pattern!
 
Thanks for the reply rjsdavis :) I reconnected my battery today and immediately the compressor kicked in with no change in the rear height, I left it for as long as I dare and until the compressor became warm and as you suggest drove it round, but it still ran on once the ignition was turned off so I again disconnected the battery and then unplugged the compressor then reconnected the battery and there is still no change in ride height, one side is about 5mm lower but this has not changed. its going in to get the auto box check out next week :eek: as it wont change up as it should. will it be ok to drive with the compressor disconnected do you think so long as the air bags are holding their air. many thanks again.
 
Thanks for the reply rjsdavis :) I reconnected my battery today and immediately the compressor kicked in with no change in the rear height, I left it for as long as I dare and until the compressor became warm and as you suggest drove it round, but it still ran on once the ignition was turned off so I again disconnected the battery and then unplugged the compressor then reconnected the battery and there is still no change in ride height, one side is about 5mm lower but this has not changed. its going in to get the auto box check out next week :eek: as it wont change up as it should. will it be ok to drive with the compressor disconnected do you think so long as the air bags are holding their air. many thanks again.

Try replacing relay R5 (compressor) with R3 (headlamp wash) for a test to see if it isn't stuck open - if this cures it, remember to swap them back, and / or put a new one back in for the R3!

From what you're saying, there doesn't appear to be a leak in the system otherwise it would likely have gone down whilst the car was off - the compressor shouldn't run whilst the engine isn't running in any event, so an air-leak wouldn't be the reason for the compressor not stopping if there was one - it would just sink and go down over time regardless, and pump back up next time you ran the engine.
 
Thats great thanks, never thought about that, I'll try your suggestion today and fingers crossed I was thinking it could be water ingress (hard to believe in a Landy I know) affecting wiring somewhere but can't think where its still getting power from with the ignition off. Thank you very much for your help and replies.
 
Right then been out to the Landy today and as suggested above, pulled the washer relay and fitted it in to the rear suspension relay slot, result - no compressor action, so I swapped them back and still the compressor remained off. jumped in and activated the ride height button, she rose and the icon stayed on, pressed again and the back end returned to normal height and no run on from the compressor, so what the heck was up with it before I don't know, but thanks for your help because what ever it was the actions taken following your advise has stopped the compressor burning out :banana:
 
Right then been out to the Landy today and as suggested above, pulled the washer relay and fitted it in to the rear suspension relay slot, result - no compressor action, so I swapped them back and still the compressor remained off. jumped in and activated the ride height button, she rose and the icon stayed on, pressed again and the back end returned to normal height and no run on from the compressor, so what the heck was up with it before I don't know, but thanks for your help because what ever it was the actions taken following your advise has stopped the compressor burning out :banana:

Result...

Sounds like the relay got stuck open and the removal / refitting / swapping process was enough to free it up. Keep a good eye on it, as possible that it may get stuck open again - I'd be inclined to source a brand new one and replace it, even though it's freed up now - and keep the "iffy" one as an emergency spare..

Cheaper than a new Wabco compressor in any event!
 
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