Disco 2 air suspension

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disco dickie

Active Member
Posts
241
Location
napier, new zealand
hello chaps,
its been a while. i have a 2000 td5 disco. i tow a burger trailer with and wondered how long the air suspension would work for doing this. 18 months apparently... it has gone down to the bump stops and will not rise. i have jacked it a touch and pressed the button in the hope of spurring it into action, to no avail. the orange lift light is either on or flashing depending whether i have pressed the button. it beeps at 20mph as if its up but coming down to normal height. its alresdy at the bottom though. hoping for a nugget of wisdom, failing that info on coil convertion.......thanks in advance
 
just started it again....lift light was on....it raised a few inches but not to normal height.....pressed the button, it flashed but didnt raise any higher..engine of, im not a fast typer but has gone back down in the time it took to write this.
 
Hi, do you have access to a proper diagnostic tool which covers the SLS? without that it's hard to fix and even if you replace the bags or the sensors and fix the compressor the tester is needed for recalibration. Anyway, as long as it drops with ignition off it's probably a leak and the compressor worked too hard to compensate for it so it exceeded it's duty cycle or the piston seal is worn.... you can unplug all the connectors in the compressor housing improvise a wiring as to feed the compressor and both air supply valves at the same time untill it's on level then cut the feed and let the connectors unplugged(as in the scheme)...if there's no leak it will stay on that level for weeks eventually untill you fix it.

SLS inflation.jpg
 
man alive sierrafery, you know your stuff about land rovers.... i was just just telling my mate about this site and about a man in transilvania on it. the last few times on here you have not steered me wrong..all that seems a bit complicated for me though so i think i will switch to coil springs. i need to get back to work sharpish. i watched a little vid on youtube about a convertion and the man had to get his tap and dye set out to put put thread on the piece the convertion bit connects to at the bottom, is that right?
your english has vastly improved sierrafery, whereas mine has got worse but thats nz for you.
 
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so paddocks, craddocks and island 4x4.... who is the best for a convertion kit where you get all you need with a button push. or will i need a little list and get things separate? or another supplier ,open to suggestions
 
Shame to lose the SLS in my opinion, I think it is one of the best bits about the car, would imagine it helps plenty when towing too. Might be a simple fix if you can get some proper diagnostics. You can also get a kit on eBay which allows you to connect air lines and a tyre pump to the bags to get you back on the road for now.
 
There are only 3 real points of failure on SLS - the bags themselves, the compressor and the height sensors. All are reasonably easy to get to and fix and not frighteningly expensive.

I really like the air suspension especially for towing as it gives the correct ride height without needing over-hard springs.
 
now, i left it overnight and this morning it was on the floor...started up, it went to normal height....pressed the button and its gone to the high setting, wouldnt do this yesterday... i will check again after ive took the boy to school....couple of questions
would parking on the camber of the road hitched up effected the air springs?
would leaving it overnight without me pressing buttons help it to reset itself?
if i were to put it on a diagnostic thingy would it tell me the exact fault or just say suspention?
are these bluetooth plugin things with an app on your phone just a pile of ****?
 
OBDII bluetooth plugin things with and app on your phone have their uses for more modern cars, but TD5 D2s are not OBDII compliant and they will not work.
A proper LR diagnostic tool will interrogate the SLS system and should let you identify which element of the system has failed. Importantly, it will also let you calibrate it once it is fixed.
As you are using your D2 primarily for towing, I would try to get the air suspension fixed if you can.
 
OBDII bluetooth plugin things with and app on your phone have their uses for more modern cars, but TD5 D2s are not OBDII compliant and they will not work.
A proper LR diagnostic tool will interrogate the SLS system and should let you identify which element of the system has failed. Importantly, it will also let you calibrate it once it is fixed.
As you are using your D2 primarily for towing, I would try to get the air suspension fixed if you can.

only a couple of miles a day.... everything in napier is within 15 minutes and then bush and mountains for a couple of hours lol
 
Sierrafery will give you detailed advice, but my understanding is the the ICarsoft device does not do the TD5 engine management very well.
Nanocom is probably the best available as it handles, records and displays live data well, whereas the Hawkeye shows you the data, but only one item at a time and does not record it. The Nanocom also has a couple of additional features like reading and changing the EKA. The benefit of the Hawkeye Total is that it is about £100 cheaper and it covers all LRs from the earliest TD5 Defenders and Discos up to and including the Range Rover L322. You have to buy additional modules for each new vehicle with Nanocom.
 
Sierrafery will give you detailed advice, but my understanding is the the ICarsoft device does not do the TD5 engine management very well.
Nanocom is probably the best available as it handles, records and displays live data well, whereas the Hawkeye shows you the data, but only one item at a time and does not record it. The Nanocom also has a couple of additional features like reading and changing the EKA. The benefit of the Hawkeye Total is that it is about £100 cheaper and it covers all LRs from the earliest TD5 Defenders and Discos up to and including the Range Rover L322. You have to buy additional modules for each new vehicle with Nanocom.
fantastic info...cheers
 
So that rules out a leak from the bags or piping. Intermittent height sensor problem or internal compressor glitch? You might want to do a search on intermittent SLS faults.
 
I don't think it does rule out the bags, mine did this intermittently for ages. Ended with one going down on the A303 returning from Cornwall and an RAC trailer home. Went to move it the next day and both bags fully inflated again. Ordered new bags and drove it for a few days without any problems. New ones fitted (easy job) and never had another issue with them.
 
I don't think it does rule out the bags, mine did this intermittently for ages. Ended with one going down on the A303 returning from Cornwall and an RAC trailer home. Went to move it the next day and both bags fully inflated again. Ordered new bags and drove it for a few days without any problems. New ones fitted (easy job) and never had another issue with them.
i did fit two about 7 or 8 years ago, dunlop from island 4x4x i think, cost me about 40 quid. here a lr dealer wanted 280 dollars for1. they reckon a 5 year life span eh?... took me longer to get the wheels off than fit the new ones, was a bit nervous b4 but a piece of cake inthe end.
 
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