EAS Air tank

[marmitemania]

Being a mechanic I should know this, but I have very little experience with Land Rovers, but having recently purchased a belter of a P38 I am curious about a few things, one being how do you drain the suspension air tank, I drain my work compressor tank very regularly and it always natrually has some water in it, I just wanted to check the one on the car (especially as it came from the Shetland Isle a natrually damp place). I can see a big bung on the front of the tank, but dont fancy having my hand blown of by a couple of hundred PSI. Any tips or advice welcome.

 

[matt1987]

they have a drier on the vehicle need n/s headlamp so i would suggest it doesnt have water ingress etc

best to wait for datatek or wammers

 

[Saint.V8]

The tank is at 140psi and the offical method uses the Testbook to open the exhaust valve and fill valves to drain the tank.

The unofficial method is to SLOWLY release the drain plug, until you start to hear the hissing, and then leave it there until you can't hear it any more then SLOWLY continue until you hear more hissing and then wait again....lather, rinse, repeat until the plug is out....

I urge you to exercise caution doing this, and keep your wits about you and wear a face mask at all times.....if you are at all unsure, don't do it, but it has been accomplished by others. I personally wouldn't do it, but i'm a wimp when it comes to pressure systems....

 

[rasheed]

The proper way would be to use a diagnostic software that lets you depressurise to the system. The next step down is to use a set of wires to short contacts and let the air out yourself, rangerovers.net has the info. In practice just lower and raise the car a couple of times and switch off the engine, this will reduce pressure to about 4 - 5 bar. Now just pull out the hose at the valve block end, there'll be a bit of hiss but nothing deadly, and then you can go ahead and loosen the drain plug as you were already thinking of doing.

Matt is right about the dryer though. It works pretty well although it is a good idea to change the dessicant every few years as it tends to lose efficiency and even worse to ultimately crumble sending residue around the system and gumming up the valve block.

 

[marmitemania]

Thanks Matt. I see the pump has a small filter on the front intake which I have taken apart and blown out, it was nice and dry, could just be whittling over nothing but as its such a nice car I want to know everything is tip top.

 

[Saint.V8]

In the system next to the Airfilter box and radiator is a black canister...that is the Air Dryer....they do break apart inside and can clog the system - but generally work very well to not allow water into the system

 

[Saint.V8]

Air Dryer location attached....

 

[marmitemania]

Sorry chaps didn't see your replies before the post to Matt, Thanks. Has anyone had any experience of water in the tank or the system in general ?

 

[dogsbody]

Sorry chaps didn't see your replies before the post to Matt, Thanks. Has anyone had any experience of water in the tank or the system in general ?

Like yourself I've been used to draining compressor tanks with the screw at the bottom and was surprised not to find one on my Rangie. Then when I had problems with the system getting very slow to rise during a very cold spell I began to wonder if I had water in the system and it was freezing. I went right through the system and didn't find any evidence of water anywhere. I was pleasantly surprised and realised that the drier does a good job so treated it to a new one.

The fault that started all this turned out to be a compressor refurbishment kit that I'd fitted with a piston seal that had gone hard in only a couple of months and wasn't sealing.

 

[wammers]

Like yourself I've been used to draining compressor tanks with the screw at the bottom and was surprised not to find one on my Rangie. Then when I had problems with the system getting very slow to rise during a very cold spell I began to wonder if I had water in the system and it was freezing. I went right through the system and didn't find any evidence of water anywhere. I was pleasantly surprised and realised that the drier does a good job so treated it to a new one.

The fault that started all this turned out to be a compressor refurbishment kit that I'd fitted with a piston seal that had gone hard in only a couple of months and wasn't sealing.

Very short odds on bet it was the Dutch seal kit.

 

[dogsbody]

Very short odds on bet it was the Dutch seal kit.

And a very small pay out to Wammers.