Another p38 Another EAS problem.

hello got a problem with my p38 just wondering if any of you would know what it is?

sometimes when i start the car up and switch the suspension to ride height (or any height) it will take about 5mins before it will go up and other times it works fine with no problems at all. anyone know what this could be? thanks.

sounds normal p38 to me

Leaky air suspension units

Mines started doing this also . All air bags are new . I think it might be a sticking relay in the valve block that sometimes works and not others.
If it was a leak then it would do it everytime

Could also be the compressor seal giving up

It could be a bellows with a very small split, depending where the split is and at what height it is at at the given time you start the car. Small splits can be sealed almost airtight in some positions and then as the bag lowers or rises it can roll at the point of split and temporarly open it up letting greater ammounts of air out, so if it has deflated to this rollover point, or any point depending on the nature of the tiny tear, then it is going to require longer to inflate.

Pretty easy diagnose:
1. you have (had) a leak somewhere in the Air System - most likely airbags or valve block diaphragm
2. because of this leak, your compressor is worn out. Revision is the solution (after you have fixed the leak, ofcourse).



Regards,
Goswin

Well the compressors do wear - it doesn't necessarily indicate a leak.

Does it drop at all when left overnight? If it does that may indicate a leak.

You may find it rises more quickly sometimes as it still has air in the tank. When it doesn't rise quickly, there might not be enough pressure in the tank and a weak compressor will take longer to lift.

Just my thoughts on it.

Guy

yes it does drop abit if left off for a few hours. if left up overnight it will have dropped to the bottom or very close to it by morning. i thought it was normal LOL i guess not.

so am guessing ive got leaks and a weak compressor

OwneDTBH said:

yes it does drop abit if left off for a few hours. if left up overnight it will have dropped to the bottom or very close to it by morning. i thought it was normal LOL i guess not.

so am guessing ive got leaks and a weak compressor

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The car should not drop overnight, at least not noticably anyway. You have a leak, A BIG LEAK!

Has been said many times on here how to go about finding leaks, do a search.

When you have leak fixed then see how the EAS behaves.
Fair chance it's compressor, it is easiest and cheapest to replace worn parts, so once you have fixed leaks then service compressor, pay particular attention to the reed valves, a fair ammount of crud builds up under them that you'll have to remove. A good compressor repair kit will have O-rings for reed valves.

Be very carefull whith reed valves they're delicate little buggers an if you bend them then they're foooooked. Replace the filter medium in the filter also befor you run the repaired compressor.

the inlet and exhaust filters on the comp and valve block need to be changed every 12 months regardless i would be inclined to change the comp piston seal and the air bags then have somebody with the diagnostic kit recalibrate the suspension if you have a poor operating sensor this will show up as well if it is all ok then it will ride nice proberly then show up you need new shocks

thanks.

just done a search for some leaks and cant seem to find any. ive just watched a video on youtube and the guy says to disable the EAS to stop it from self leveling and leave it overnight and when u get up in the morning if you have a leak you should be able to notice. he says to keep the door open(which is not a good idea) or disable the EAS so am gonna give it a try.

just want to know how do u disable the EAS? the connectors are under the seat but because he was from the US they have different connectors so am unsure which ones to pull out anyone know? thanks

OwneDTBH said:

thanks.

just done a search for some leaks and cant seem to find any. ive just watched a video on youtube and the guy says to disable the EAS to stop it from self leveling and leave it overnight and when u get up in the morning if you have a leak you should be able to notice. he says to keep the door open(which is not a good idea) or disable the EAS so am gonna give it a try.

just want to know how do u disable the EAS? the connectors are under the seat but because he was from the US they have different connectors so am unsure which ones to pull out anyone know? thanks

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You sure they're different? I was pretty certain that they were all the same.

The easiest way to disable the EAS is to pull out the delay relay (I think that's what it's called). It lives under the passenger front seat somewhere.

Guy

kooky_guy said:

You sure they're different? I was pretty certain that they were all the same.

The easiest way to disable the EAS is to pull out the delay relay (I think that's what it's called). It lives under the passenger front seat somewhere.

Guy

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Although disconnecting the realy is the most often quoted way of disabling the EAS be careful pulling the relay, they are really fragile and not cheap.

I personally disconnect the plug from the ECU instead of pulling the relay whenever I want to disable it, do a search on RR.net for the pigtail method of manual inflation and it has pictures of the plug.

SpudH said:

Although disconnecting the realy is the most often quoted way of disabling the EAS be careful pulling the relay, they are really fragile and not cheap.

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Dredging up an old thread just to agree here with Spud! I somehow fried my relay when disconnecting it. Had to buy a new one. I did it to check for a suspected extremely minor leak to front right. Compound problem, storage side leak traced to drain plug on reservoir tank. Triple compound, had to drive 50 km on bump stops due to an emergency, taking someone to hospital. So now there's definitely a leak in one of the bags as car drops rather alarmingly and compressor never switches off. And finally, compressor I think has given up the ghost. Remove inlet filter and put finger over the hole, its pushing air out!

Ugh. Hate to say this but coil conversion starting to look really attractive right now.

rasheed said:

Dredging up an old thread just to agree here with Spud! I somehow fried my relay when disconnecting it. Had to buy a new one. I did it to check for a suspected extremely minor leak to front right. Compound problem, storage side leak traced to drain plug on reservoir tank. Triple compound, had to drive 50 km on bump stops due to an emergency, taking someone to hospital. So now there's definitely a leak in one of the bags as car drops rather alarmingly and compressor never switches off. And finally, compressor I think has given up the ghost. Remove inlet filter and put finger over the hole, its pushing air out!

Ugh. Hate to say this but coil conversion starting to look really attractive right now.

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50 km on the bump stops you deserve a medal for that!!
Sounds like the main compressor seal has gone, mine was pushing out air from the inlet a couple of weeks ago after the Dutch liner I was using got eaten away by the seal. And/or inlet valve has got clogged and stuck.

Coils? :doh: Noooo!!

Do all drop or just the one air bag? if one bag itself if all valve block ect