air suspension issues, all words of wisdom appreciated

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disco2mattw

New Member
Posts
10
Location
suffolk
Folks, forgive me for another suspension thread but i cant find anything specific to my problem. 04 D2 72k miles, no previous, drove it to london loaded up, fine, time to leave 2xdashboard lights and it all sat down. AA recovered it, local landy dude found one height sensor giving iffy readings and looking sorry for itself so i got him to do both and the suspension/brakes ecu was found to be titzed so a replacement was fitted. great. 6 weeks later 1x dashboard light and it sat down again whilst driving (not in london thank feck) turn it of and count to 10, bingo up it goes, repeat 5 times that day. fine for another week then just the once. get on the forums and get it fault coded by landy chap and it seems like airbag time. 2 airbags later alls great (really easy to fit) 3 days later sits down again whilst driving but again resets every time. never goes down overnight, always drops evenly, its getting really annoying. anyone had a similar experience?
 
Not too helpful, but mines had two new bags, a new compressor, a slabs ecu and some pipe work. That was spread over a two year period, but that was a few years ago and not had any issues since
 
i think next step is get busy with fairy liquid but as will sit for days on end and not drop im not sure it will help. dont want to spring it as its a 7 seater. that and ive nearly replaced everything already
 
as long as you've got warnings it's certainly a management issue, it's strange that after the diagnose they said it's "airbag time" cos that means there were no fault codes logged which would be strange as long as the warnings were on, the gist is that the airsprings are not covered by diagnostics so a leak would not trigger a warning whatsoever except the "duty cycle exceeded" thing if the compressor overworked to compensate the leak...if with new bags is still happenning the easysest way is to read the fault code, remember it and report back then i can tell you more, if you get that "duty cycle..." fault code you need to fix the compressor with the seal kit cos that's the problem as it starts to inflate while driving but as the seal in it is gone and the air supply valves are opened the air leaves the system backwards through the compressor...for any other fault code we'll speak when we know it

what you can do untill you get to plug in a tester is when the car is on normal level to remove the SLS relay(R5 engine bay fusebox) and unplug the two air supply valves(be aware they have retaining clips at the bottom) and the exhaust valve in the compressor housing and ride it so cos if there's no leak it will stay on level for many days(just without self levelling)... you must see the SLS wearning on dash then and disregard the last relay related fault code ... if no warning or fault codes this way it means that your problem is an ECU missbehaviour and you need a good one, or if it drops this way too there's still a leak somewhere
 
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sierrafery said:
as long as you've got warnings it's certainly a management issue, it's strange that after the diagnose they said it's "airbag time" cos that means there were no fault codes logged which would be strange as long as the warnings were on, the gist is that the airsprings are not covered by diagnostics so a leak would not trigger a warning whatsoever except the "duty cycle exceeded" thing if the compressor overworked to compensate the leak...if with new bags is still happenning the easysest way is to read the fault code, remember it and report back then i can tell you more, if you get that "duty cycle..." fault code you need to fix the compressor with the seal kit cos that's the problem as it starts to inflate while driving but as the seal in it is gone and the air supply valves are opened the air leaves the system backwards through the compressor...for any other fault code we'll speak when we know it

what you can do untill you get to plug in a tester is when the car is on normal level to remove the SLS relay(R5 engine bay fusebox) and unplug the two air supply valves(be aware they have retaining clips at the bottom) and the exhaust valve in the compressor housing and ride it so cos if there's no leak it will stay on level for many days(just without self levelling)... you must see the SLS wearning on dash then and disregard the last relay related fault code ... if no warning or fault codes this way it means that your problem is an ECU missbehaviour and you need a good one, or if it drops this way too there's still a leak somewhere
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that sounds like a heap of wisdom! thanks for that. slight change in behaviour as it went down overnight last night, pumped up again this morning and has been fine all day, just been groveling underneath squirting everything with soapy water and wiggling it. . . . nothing, cant find a leak anywhere. i am intrigued with the compressor seals idea. if it was a leaky pipe surely a hard plastic pipe would leak all the time but a compressor seal may not leak all the time when its starting to give up *just checked online, £15 for a new ptfe piston ring, for £15 im taking a punt!
 
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the leaking through compressor variant is valid only if it happens with engine running cos otherwise the air supply valves are closed and the air can't get back to the compressor... if it drops over night(which you said it didnt before) there's an external leak somewhere... unless there is a sticking valve which lets air back... the bags have the ability to seal themselves and to not leak all the time.... eventyually do that trick i told you tpo see if it's management or leak cos as the system stays under power 1.5 hours after the ignition was off everything is possible
 
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Fixed it! took all the air suspension off and sold it on ebay then fitted springs. problem solved and it rides just as well if not a teeny bit better when all 5 of us and the dogs are in it. im sure if i attached a big'ol trailer it may sit down a bit but i now trust my landy again which is worth much more
 
disco2mattw said:
Fixed it! took all the air suspension off and sold it on ebay then fitted springs. problem solved and it rides just as well if not a teeny bit better when all 5 of us and the dogs are in it. im sure if i attached a big'ol trailer it may sit down a bit but i now trust my landy again which is worth much more
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best thing you did
 
sierrafery said:
IMO it's exagerated to say you fixed the air suspension by getting rid of it:rolleyes: ... each on it's own though
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'it' (the car) was sat on the drive looking sad and was undriveable, now its back in service and will never have deflation problems again. i think in anyones book thats fixed :D
 
Hi just been returned home by aa yet again due to rear dropping to bump stops on my way up Scotland .. Bit the bullet payed 250 pounds to get rear converted to springs .. Best move ever really cannot tell the difference in handling and now have one less worry
 
smartrwj said:
Hi just been returned home by aa yet again due to rear dropping to bump stops on my way up Scotland .. Bit the bullet payed 250 pounds to get rear converted to springs .. Best move ever really cannot tell the difference in handling and now have one less worry
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i hear ya!
 
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