Disco 2 Air suspension fixed itself??

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

Yesterday morning the Disco (which my wife had been driving the night before) was sitting on the drive with the left rear 3” higher than the right. I ran it up, opened and closed all the doors, and it wouldn’t budge, so I took the “normal” car to work and told her not to use it in case something went Bang.

When I came home the Disco was level. Turns out she needed to pop a couple of miles into the village so took the car out, and it “fixed itself”!

I’m assuming I have a faulty ride height sensor, probably on that side. Is it worth cleaning out the connector (or anything else simple) to see if it stays fixed or is it a definite replace and recalibrate job? I don’t have a nanocom or similar to read codes, unfortunately.

Thanks

jamesmartin · Feb 28, 2019

if it dropped a little on one side it may be the beginning of an air spring leak,starts off intermittent then becomes every time ,then in the morning car is sat on the bumb stops

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

Thanks for the quick reply James.

Sorry, I’ve just read my own post and I wasn’t clear! The right side was perfectly normal, but the left was about 3” too high. I had the right side airbag and sensor replaced last year.

jamesmartin · Feb 28, 2019

that would sound like a sensor issue,the biggest issue with them is they break away were they join the trailing arm , but if yours was replaced last year that wouldnt seem to be likely, more a poor sensor

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

I’ve just been out and started up, and it’s raised the left up again so still broken! Both sensor arms appear intact (one was broken last year) so I think one of them is duff. Only the right hand one was replaced, so I suspect the left has now gone. Last year I replaced the dead sensor myself, then the suspension raised all the way and immediately blew the bag. Turns out the new sensor was faulty! After that I’m leaving it to the professionals, so it looks like a slow and careful drive to the garage.

Would it be advisable to pull the compressor relay for that journey, or would that cause worse problems?

sierrafery · Feb 28, 2019

You can remove the compressor relay but in that case you have to unplug the two air supply valves too( nr 10 and 16) in the compressor housing otherwise it's possible that the SLS to kick in and you'll end up on the bump stops, be aware that those plugs have retaining clips at the bottom ... most probably you have a sensor input issue and in the unfortunate case that it went to open circuit a height recalibration with dedicated tester might be needed..., it's quite common to be a problem with the plug too hence this kit: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Discovery-...ors-Harness-Connector-Repair-Kit/151466538011 ... anyway never unplug a sensor without disconnecting the battery first

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

Thanks Sierrafery. Earliest date I can book the car in is next Friday so it looks like it’s staying on the drive till then, after last years experience I don’t fancy playing around with this. I had to drive to the garage on the bump stops last year and it was not fun

sierrafery · Feb 28, 2019

If you are handy with electrics you can undo a the two air supply pipes, nr 12, 14 as to release the air from the bags(support the body on stands for that) then tighten the unions back, remove the stands(it will go to bumps), unplug all the electric connectors, improvise a wiring as to be able to give feed to the compressor and the two air supply valves at the same time (as in the scheme) untill the vehicle goes to a visible even level and remove the feed immediately... if there is no leak the vehicle will stay on level this way for weeks... eventually the SLS warning will be on though if it's facelift it's possible to bong too much

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

Wow! I’m going to have to take careful read of that, thanks!

If I find that’s too ambitious for me, would an interim fix just to get me to the garage be to wire one of the door sensors so it thinks it’s open? That should prevent and changes in ride height on the journey (I think?)

sierrafery · Feb 28, 2019

An "open door" input will only stop the compressor to pump so if the SLS ''feels" that a ride height adjustment is needed it will try to compensate and open the air supply valves while the compressor will rest due to the opened door input so the air can leave the bags through the valves and the compressor's feed pipe cos even though there is a non return valve there in most cases it doesnt seal well... that was verified by me in many cases

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

OK, so that would stop it over inflating and exploding, but leave it free to drop me on the bump stops! Thanks for the clear explanation (again)

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

When you say to disconnect “all the electrical connectors” can I confirm you mean connectors 1, 8, 10 and 16 in the diagram? Ie the compressor, both valves and the exhaust?

sierrafery · Feb 28, 2019

Yes, though you can let the compressor connected if you remove the relay

Scarecrow3 · Feb 28, 2019

Thanks, looks like I’ll be crawling around on the drive in this weekend’s rain. At least it’ll be dry under the car...

sierrafery · Feb 28, 2019

you can make it driveable if you buy these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282534767304 fit around 15cm of 4mm air hose to each then you can disconnect the air pipes from the bags, push the pipes attached to the valves in the bags and inflate them with tyre inflator to a visually even level... you can drive around this way many days untill you fix the system... also having these ''emergency valves" you can get yourself out of trouble any time in the future even if a bag has a leak cos you can fill it with tyre repair foam spray through the schrader valve and get home without being on the bump stops

Scarecrow3 · Mar 2, 2019

Ok she’s now roughly level, the two valve and the exhaust connectors removed and the compressor relay removed. There’s also a fuse marked FL9 in the engine bay that is labelled as being for air suspension but isn’t described in my Haynes manual. Should I remove that too?

sierrafery · Mar 2, 2019

No, let FL9 alone cos removing the relay ad connectors is enough if you remove FL9 it wil affect the ABS system too evenn though Haynes dont how you that... IMO haynes is full of sh*t when it comes to diagrams... download RAVE cos it's better even though it has some lacks too: http://www.d-lander.com/manuals/rave1.iso have patience cos it's a very large file

Scarecrow3 · Mar 2, 2019

I always have my doubts about Haynes, that’s why I checked here first! Many many thanks for your help Sierrafery I’m a lot happier about taking it to get fixed now. And after my second sensor failure in a year I’ve bitten the bullet and ordered a nanocom so I can recalibrate it myself next time.

sierrafery · Mar 2, 2019

Scarecrow3 said:
.....after my second sensor failure.....

if those sensors were some cheap pattern sh*t you can be happy that they lasted more than a week, last time when a friend of mine bought aftermarket sensors(despite my advice to buy genuine) i recalibrated the height at noon and before dawn he came back on bump stops cos one sensor failed in few hours...though if the sensors are genuine LR then IMO it's a circuit issue which is not uncommon

Scarecrow3 · Mar 2, 2019

It was a genuine one that failed last time, straight out the box. Got a refund on it. What make the other side is I have no idea, it’s whatever was on the car when I bought it in 2016

Disco 2 Air suspension fixed itself??

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