Discovery 3 Air Suspension Red Fault Light

Hi
I have a 2006 Discovery 3, took the car to a local Garage with a suspension fault, loosing air on the Front while driving (Garage replaced front near side shock £650 + vat)
still had a fault losing air, told by garage needed a new compressor (£1200 + vat)
Replaced compressor Oem part £475, (myself)
still no improvement
Read various stuff online, replaced rear valve block, improved slightly, still raising slowly then amber warning light
Replaced front valve block, marked improvement but amber light after 5 mins driving
Found rear offside shock had large hole in gaiter so replaced
still same issue
Replace front offside shock as very corroded front still rising slowly
no more improvement
Advised by another local garage that air suspension needed re-calibration, they put it on their ramp, for reasons best known to them deflated the suspension, put the car outside for 3 days, had the car for a further week, now have said they don’t know why the compressor will not inflate the car and red warning light is on, no air in system, car on bump stops.
Does anyone know where I can hire a code reader from Near either Southampton or Bournemouth
Any help greatly received ( no to converting to springs having spent all this money)
kr
Ant

Hi, seems that you've done the whole thing the other way around as you replaced expensive parts based on guesses while the first and only relevant thing to do is to read the fault code, once you have that you can get an answer and fix only the faulty part of it

Thanks for your kind suppor, life is a learning curve, hindsight a wonderful thing, are you able to offer any help

Yes, i'll offer you all the help i can once you reveal the fault code... without that i doubt that you can get proper help other than some guesses which can make you spend more time and money in vain

Icarsoft off ebay, approx 100 quid will save you a fortune.

In future always read codes first, do not even lift the bonnet first, it is all about the codes these days.


In a nutsheell,
1 compressor.
1 air tank.
3 valve blocks.
4 air bags.
4 level sensors.

Air tanks rot out, car sulks and will not build air.
Compressors get weak.
Air bags leak, not common.
Valve blocks get sticky, this causes loads of issues.
Level sensors are reliable, their wiring less so.

lynall said:

Icarsoft off ebay, approx 100 quid will save you a fortune.

In future always read codes first, do not even lift the bonnet first, it is all about the codes these days.


In a nutsheell,
1 compressor.
1 air tank.
3 valve blocks.
4 air bags.
4 level sensors.

Air tanks rot out, car sulks and will not build air.
Compressors get weak.
Air bags leak, not common.
Valve blocks get sticky, this causes loads of issues.
Level sensors are reliable, their wiring less so.

Click to expand...

Hi
many thanks for the advice, can you re-calibrate the air suspension with these, being a bit new to this can you recommend the right one for a Discovery 3

Get a AUTEL AP200 £58 ( " south American jungle " Prime ) it will read the fault codes and recalibrate your suspension, I suspect you may have a air leak in the tank. Disco will prime the air tank once engine started all doors shut. You really need to read the fault codes else you'll be chasing your tail and replacing everything! ( not that is a bad thing! )

Q. All height sensors ok?

It will be the air tank then they rot at the front it's a £150 part and 30 mins to swop it out.
Good luck

Ant Joint said:

Hi
many thanks for the advice, can you re-calibrate the air suspension with these, being a bit new to this can you recommend the right one for a Discovery 3

Click to expand...

If nothing has changed, there's nothing to calibrate.
You simply need to read the codes to determine the issue, and go from there. Oh shocks should be replaced in pairs, but they won't put the fault light on, as they are simple mechanical components.
Sounds like your garage is looking to extract money from your misfortune.

andyschleckscheshirecat said:

Get a AUTEL AP200 £58 ( " south American jungle " Prime ) it will read the fault codes and recalibrate your suspension, I suspect you may have a air leak in the tank. Disco will prime the air tank once engine started all doors shut. You really need to read the fault codes else you'll be chasing your tail and replacing everything! ( not that is a bad thing! )

Q. All height sensors ok?

Click to expand...

Hi, Autel Ap200 delivered now have fault code CIA003 Control module fault, vehicle locked in delivery height
Any idea’s greatly received

I would try a google of that code.
Disco3forum would be a good start, though they are mainly GAP11D orientated, might still find some useful info.

Does the Autel give you an unlock option? If not can you send it back as it is not much cop if that is the case.

Autel doesn’t seem too but could be a novice issue
seems to erase codes, claims you can recalibrate suspension in their info but can’t find how too do this

Ant Joint said:

Autel doesn’t seem too but could be a novice issue
seems to erase codes, claims you can recalibrate suspension in their info but can’t find how too do this

Click to expand...

Anything on youtube?

You may find there is some weird sequence on the buttons not mentioned in the manual.

Ant Joint said:

Hi, Autel Ap200 delivered now have fault code CIA003 Control module fault, vehicle locked in delivery height
Any idea’s greatly received

Click to expand...

Hi, unfortunately seems that the tool you bought doesnt have a specific LR software in it cos suspension codes for D3 starting with C should have 6 characters and even if the 6'th is missing the first 5 should match with the official protcol and there is no such code at all. Do somehow to read the code with a 100% reliable scanner and if you get the same code then i'm affraid that you'll have to replace the suspension control module cos it might have a fault which affects the diagnostic outputs too or in the worst case it's a hidden wiring issue somewhere and that can be the real nightmare. See the attachment

Plus 1 as also have the ap200 and indeed as mentioned not all of them are equal

If u read through the small print some will say won’t program keys , suspension or work on an iPad

Where as mine will do the above and a lot more

A quick question on air suspension and icarsoft LR V3, will this allow me to deflate the complete air suspension system to replace an air suspension strut and then reflate the whole system and recalibrate it?

Scotty99 said:

A quick question on air suspension and icarsoft LR V3, will this allow me to deflate the complete air suspension system to replace an air suspension strut and then reflate the whole system and recalibrate it?

Click to expand...

If there's no change to the sensor, its fitted position or rod length, there's nothing to calibrate.
There is a way to deflate the suspension without a code reader. When doing struts on the D3/4, I simply put the suspension in access mode, which bleeds off most of the air in the bags.

Nodge68 said:

If there's no change to the sensor, its fitted position or rod length, there's nothing to calibrate.
There is a way to deflate the suspension without a code reader. When doing struts on the D3/4, I simply put the suspension in access mode, which bleeds off most of the air in the bags.

Click to expand...

Thanks, that’s useful to know.

Ant Joint said:

Autel doesn’t seem too but could be a novice issue
seems to erase codes, claims you can recalibrate suspension in their info but can’t find how too do this

Click to expand...

It can erase codes and calibrate suspension, I have done mine no issue. Tomorrow I'll plug mine in and guide you to where you need to be.

gstuart said:

Plus 1 as also have the ap200 and indeed as mentioned not all of them are equal

If u read through the small print some will say won’t program keys , suspension or work on an iPad

Where as mine will do the above and a lot more

Click to expand...

Mine seems to do everything as well, had it a good while now. I didn't realise there are varying levels of functionality with them?