Disco 2 ACE Problems

SO I have the ACE amber light on. Tried to change the transducer, just because i had a spare one aorund but as expected nothing changed. Closer look I noticed several small leaks, namely from the front actuator, hose from reservoir to pump and of course from the valve block. I intend to change the hose, the actuator and tap in hydraulic fittings in the valve block but I also want to buy a nanocom since I am sure there will be other faults and will need nanocom for that. So temporarily I pulled out the relay.

question is, is there any problems that could occur since I am running like that? I am look at around 1000eur to fix it, including the nanocom so might be sometime before I save up enough to tackle it. Pulling out the relay seems to have stopped the leaks somehow, or it is very minimal since I do not really need to top up the reservoir anymore.

As long as the reservoir doesnt get empty you can drive it without fear, unill you fix it remove the ACE relay(R14) cos then it goes to locked bars mode and the fluid will be recirculated between the pump and valve block so the leak in the ram should stop or at least lessen and keep topping up the fluid if necessary

sierrafery said:

As long as the reservoir doesnt get empty you can drive it without fear, unill you fix it remove the ACE relay(R14) cos then it goes to locked bars mode and the fluid will be recirculated between the pump and valve block so the leak in the ram should stop or at least lessen and keep topping up the fluid if necessary

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Thanks a lot for your answer. Basically what I had suspected. I am not sure about the 'locked bars' bit though. I find that articulation in offroad condition is still quite good, much better than anything without solid axles at least. Does that mean it would get better if (when) I fix the ACE?

Locked bars means that there is no active roll controll but the vehicles with ACE have better articulation than those with classic ARBs anyway cos one side of the bar is open

Does Nanocom not throw strange codes with ACE? Would a Hawkeye be better for ACE issues?

If there is a leak between the reservoir and the pump in the low pressure line, it shouldn't be too hard to fix without you having to spend a fortune. Have you found the leak? Mine was a pinhole caused by friction against summat. Once I fixed it I took the little access plate out under the wheel arch and used split domestic garden hose and tiewraps to ensure pipes of all sorts could not rub against one another. Then I went to the other side and did the same. There are a ton of pipes there and it is almost inevitable you will find some that are wrong! If you don't find the leak you will be forced to keep filling the reservoir and if you don't and the tank runs dry you could harm the pump (I think). and all this without the benefit of ACE!
Best of luck.

Stanleysteamer said:

If there is a leak between the reservoir and the pump in the low pressure line, it shouldn't be too hard to fix without you having to spend a fortune. Have you found the leak? Mine was a pinhole caused by friction against summat. Once I fixed it I took the little access plate out under the wheel arch and used split domestic garden hose and tiewraps to ensure pipes of all sorts could not rub against one another. Then I went to the other side and did the same. There are a ton of pipes there and it is almost inevitable you will find some that are wrong! If you don't find the leak you will be forced to keep filling the reservoir and if you don't and the tank runs dry you could harm the pump (I think). and all this without the benefit of ACE!
Best of luck.

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How did you fix the pinhole you found?
As i said it is leaking from valve block,actuator, and hose from reservoir ...at least. Pulled out relay and asked someone with nanocom to switch off function so it does not show on dash due to mot, as that would be a fail. Guy charged me 90eur for that so im getting a nanocom rather than paying another 90 to turn it back on again lol. For now it works i guess

mad85 said:

asked someone with nanocom to switch off function so it does not show on dash due to mot, as that would be a fail. Guy charged me 90eur for that

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You could have searched on this forum or ask cos the light can be switched of with a piece of wire

mad85 said:

How did you fix the pinhole you found?
As i said it is leaking from valve block,actuator, and hose from reservoir ...at least. Pulled out relay and asked someone with nanocom to switch off function so it does not show on dash due to mot, as that would be a fail. Guy charged me 90eur for that so im getting a nanocom rather than paying another 90 to turn it back on again lol. For now it works i guess

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The pinhole was in a metal pipe junction just above where it linked to a flexi, So I removed the metal pipe and made up a flexi all the way up to the reservoir. As it is not under pressure, ordinary pipe and jubilee clips were OK. If you are interested I will put up pics after lunch.
As to how I found it. I knew roughly where it was leaking from as fluid could be seen running down the pipe. So I cleaned the pipe off and ran the engine a bit, I then localised it a bit more. Wiped it, waited a bit, and eventually found it exactly. the pinhole was too small to be seen unless fluid came out of it BUT where it had worn was obvious, and right in the middle of the wear mark was the hole. I could possibly have put a spot of weld or even solder on there, but I was in Francwe without my welder so i did it the other way. Has never been a problem since.

I will get flak for this, but if it is off, on the dash, and you fix the leak to the pump, and if the other leak is not on the pump side, you could drive around like that as long as you like until you have got the dough to fix it all. But as I said, it is a coupla IFs. Some people remove it completely and revert to ordianry ARBs. I found mine drove OK with the ACE locked. But others have already shot flak at me for that.
I get the feeling you have more leaks than can easily be sorted. I'd be tempted to disconnect the ARBs from the ACE system and try to make up some kind of a link bar where the rams are, using their mounts so that the ARBs work, like old skool ones. But I haven't crawled under to see exactly how I would do it. I'd involve a coupla ball joints of some sort and some tough bar, but ought to be doable, This is the sort of thing we do a lot when building Kit cars, Rods and Customs. but if you don't have experience of that then maybe you'd be better off getting it fixed or replacing the whole lot with an off-the-shelf kit.

sierrafery said:

You could have searched on this forum or ask cos the light can be switched of with a piece of wire

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i would still be interested in this, if you do not mid, how would i go about switching off the ace light on the dash without the nanocom then?

it's here: https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-ro...-light-and-new-mot.182177/page-2#post-2812653

that is great, thanks!