P38A A series of faults

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Slooby said:
The tank is well and truly empty as I took it off to de-rust and paint.

I am getting most confused as to door open/closed to get the suspension to do anything. I've tried opening the door and leaving it open ignition off, ignition on at position 2 and engine running, and the same variations with all the doors shut and still don't hear the pump striking up.

Could it be confused by the suspension height being essentially at maximum because I have the axles at the height necessary to connect up the air springs and so not down on the bumpstops?
Click to expand...
With the engine running and a door open the pump should run and fill the storage tank.
 
Slooby said:
Ok, so all the fluids changed, fuel filter primed, engine starts ok and seems to be fairly happy, was a bit tappety on first start up since I started working on it errr...well over 6 months ago.

Transmission fluid cycled many many times, low and high range, and topped up to what I hope is the correct level.

Now to the suspension, and it really does not want to play :(

Got EAS Unlock talking to the brain ok read the fault codes which were as simple as:

4. Air Supply Fault
7. Vehicle has moved

No real surprise there, seeing as I'd started out with a blown NSR bag and currently we're wheels off and in the air with the chassis and axles on axle stands.

Clicked Unlock, disconnected the cable, cycled the ignition. No more Christmas tree or errors on the dash display with the ignition in position 2. But also, despite all the doors and tailgate being shut no noises from the EAS valve block or pump. Ran the pump using the EAS software for a bit, couldn't hear any leaks but also no pressurisation of the system, possibly because of course the valve block isn't be activated by running the pump with an overide.

Cycled the ignition a few times, ran the engine a few times, nothing. All the time I was doing this I had an amber light on with a picture of the RR and an up arrow beneath it on the instrument cluster, and the suspension display sat with the second light down illuminated.

Then after turning the engine off and cycling the ignition between on and off I could hear some of the EAS valve block solenoids clicking away when the ignition was turned off, pausing breifly then repeating itself. Turning the ignition back on again and the EAS display decided to show the top two lights. Still have the dash showing the amber RR with an up arrow.

Then running the fault codes again resulted in this:

7MbH2ch.jpg


Crud

HELP!
Click to expand...

If tank was totally empty it can take a while to fill.

Opening a door or the tailgate stops any air going to the bags as it freezes the suspension.

In the Technical Section is a post by Wammers on troubleshooting the EAS. Check you're got goot air from the compressor. If the compressor will only run from diag then the thermal switch inside is fried and more rhan likely it burnt out because the piston seal has gone. Both can be fixed but best talk to @kurtjohnson10 for a new one and then fix the old one and keep it under the passenger seat as a spare.
 
I had tested the pump by direct feeding it off the car with a pressure gauge in the outlet and it did appear to behaving as a pump at least. So the Thermal Switch clearly needs checking as per Wammers guide.
 
A good pump connected directly to a pressure gauge should show >> 140 PSI on the gauge within a few seconds. However it will take 8-10 mins to fill the tank.

With doors open, when the pump runs the ECU must also activate the Diaphragm Valve for the air to go towards the tank. The relay should do both at same time. Quick check is to take the valve block exhaust out, and hold finger over the hole while pump is running. If there's air coming out then the diaphragm is split or not working.
 
Slooby said:
The tank is well and truly empty as I took it off to de-rust and paint.

I am getting most confused as to door open/closed to get the suspension to do anything. I've tried opening the door and leaving it open ignition off, ignition on at position 2 and engine running, and the same variations with all the doors shut and still don't hear the pump striking up.

Could it be confused by the suspension height being essentially at maximum because I have the axles at the height necessary to connect up the air springs and so not down on the bumpstops?
Click to expand...
Door open with engine running for 10 minutes to fill the tank, shut door window open, engine still running, car should rise.
If the EAS thinks the car is at full height, it's not going to bother adding air to the bags. Air springs are best changed one at a time so the each corner can be re-inflated as the spring is changed. You must not let the car right down however as you could damage the airbag, so you will have to try partially lowering one corner at a time and see if it inflates otherwise you will have to partially lower all 4 corners.
In the EAS software, you can tell the EAS to go to wade height which should ensure re-inflation after partial lowering.
 
Ok, getting in a muddle with terminology now! When you say 'lower a corner' do you mean raise the axle to compress the spring essentailly lowering the ride height as if the car were on its wheels?

At the moment the chassis is on axle stands high enough for me to roll underneath, the axles are also on stands with the air springs only lightly compressed.
 
Slooby said:
Ok, getting in a muddle with terminology now! When you say 'lower a corner' do you mean raise the axle to compress the spring essentailly lowering the ride height as if the car were on its wheels?

At the moment the chassis is on axle stands high enough for me to roll underneath, the axles are also on stands with the air springs only lightly compressed.
Click to expand...
Lift the axle to partially compress the air spring. Run the engine with a door and window open for 10 minutes, close door, select wade height on the dash button or via the EAS diagnostics and see if the bag inflates.
 
Following what you've all said about running the engine with the door open seems to have done the trick. Within about 5 minutes the compressor stopped and I noticed that all the air springs were nice and hard.

The display on the dash is showing what I presume is that the suspension is at wading height (top light of the 4). Still have the amber P38 silhouette with a up arrow beneath it on the instrument cluster too, is that telling me the same thing?

Currently putting the wheelarch liners back in and wheels back on before lowering it off the axle stands
 
Slooby said:
Following what you've all said about running the engine with the door open seems to have done the trick. Within about 5 minutes the compressor stopped and I noticed that all the air springs were nice and hard.

The display on the dash is showing what I presume is that the suspension is at wading height (top light of the 4). Still have the amber P38 silhouette with a up arrow beneath it on the instrument cluster too, is that telling me the same thing?

Currently putting the wheelarch liners back in and wheels back on before lowering it off the axle stands
Click to expand...
Indicator on dash should go out when you put the car back on it's wheels and lower the suspension with the dash button to normal height.
 
Datatek said:
Indicator on dash should go out when you put the car back on it's wheels and lower the suspension with the dash button to normal height.
Click to expand...

Hum...



It seems to have its own ideas about that

Currently stuck in this posiition having started with the front higher than the rear after lowering off the axle stands. Started the engine and it raised the rear up to wading height, I then tried to lower it using the dash switch and initially I thought it was lowering the front, but it turned out to be raising the rear to this height! Now the engine won't restart as it appears to have run out of fuel despite showing over 1/4 tank on the gauge.

Urgh
 
 
Diagnostics of what though? Will EAS Unlock tell me anything usable when there are no errors being reported?

As for the reason it cut out, well, that's a whole other game; I don't have the diagnostic cable/software to talk to all the crazed modules that need to be in sync for a P38 to work
 
Slooby said:
Diagnostics of what though? Will EAS Unlock tell me anything usable when there are no errors being reported?

As for the reason it cut out, well, that's a whole other game; I don't have the diagnostic cable/software to talk to all the crazed modules that need to be in sync for a P38 to work
Click to expand...
With EAS unlock, as well as reading and clearing faults, you can command the suspension to go to the different heights, you can read the height sensors, run the compressor etc. Of course you do have to have "Good Idle" to do anything.
 
Brain is a bit frazzled at the moment as I'm enduring a bout of manflu with my 3 1/2 year old son who is the same, so behaving much like the P38...

With it being cold, dark and damp out there now I'm in no mood to go argue with the blessed thing and my laptop, but remind me is "Good Idle" achieved with the ignition essentially being stable at position 2 or quite literally a requirement for the engine to be running at a stable idle?
 
Slooby said:
Brain is a bit frazzled at the moment as I'm enduring a bout of manflu with my 3 1/2 year old son who is the same, so behaving much like the P38...

With it being cold, dark and damp out there now I'm in no mood to go argue with the blessed thing and my laptop, but remind me is "Good Idle" achieved with the ignition essentially being stable at position 2 or quite literally a requirement for the engine to be running at a stable idle?
Click to expand...
You can do it with just the ignition at position #2 but there can be a lot of drain on the battery so it's best done with the engine idling or with a charger connected.
 
Charger it will have to be at the moment...until I can either diagnose if the lifter pump has died, or if it genuinely has run out of fuel and I have a level sensor issue.

If the fuel pump has died what's tge general concensus on the replacement options seeing as the prices range so wildly?
 
Slooby said:
Charger it will have to be at the moment...until I can either diagnose if the lifter pump has died, or if it genuinely has run out of fuel and I have a level sensor issue.

If the fuel pump has died what's tge general concensus on the replacement options seeing as the prices range so wildly?
Click to expand...

The diesel should start with the lift pump working if there is more than a 1/4 tank, if a new intank pump is required the cheap one dont last long and the more expensive one the VDO one is the kiddy to go for unfortunately
 
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