Eas woes

Whilst driving about an hour from home yesterday, I parked up and dropped the car to load. On re-starting the car wouldn't come up to height again. Walked round checking for leaks. Nothing apparent. The car was not on the bump stops but was very low, so I risked driving home. Noticed after a while a fluttering/ticking noise from within cabin, from front nearside(glove box). At home I took out and checked compressor for leaks and play. Seems OK.
WD'd sensors underneath. This morning, when I started her up got warning for fuses 12 through 15 failure. All are fine. No change in ride height. Tried using reset tool, no change and no EAS warnings!
Any thoughts?

Check the compressor output using Wammers guide in the "How To" section and check the under bonnet fuse box for signs/smells of burning.

Thanks for the info. Initial checks using Wammers' advice. The compressor appears to be running intermittently. I have stripped down the compressor. All looks good for wear etc.,
But I noticed that even though there is approx 1cm of length on the brushes. They have possibly twisted in the holders. I guess from looking at their length against spindle size they must be at the limit of wear. Any ideas on best place for replacements?

viking56 said:

Thanks for the info. Initial checks using Wammers' advice. The compressor appears to be running intermittently. I have stripped down the compressor. All looks good for wear etc.,
But I noticed that even though there is approx 1cm of length on the brushes. They have possibly twisted in the holders. I guess from looking at their length against spindle size they must be at the limit of wear. Any ideas on best place for replacements?

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If you are not careful replacing rear brush holder you can get connecting wire from brushes hung up on brush holder, that stops them from proper contact and gives intermittent running. If you can tap rear end and it starts up that is a sign of this.

I'm assuming that the brushes are the problem only because when I took the motor apart and tried to re-assemble I noticed that they are almost out of the carriages at 1cm long. Until that point I thought that all looked tickity boo. I can see that assembly is a bit tricky as the end bearing is free floating, I thought that the brush holders and plate were fixed into the end cap, so haven't tried to remove them. I'll sort out replacements and go from there. I checked the under bonnet fuse box as Datatek suggested for the fuse 12 through 15 problem no sign of burning and all fuses are ok there and under drivers seat. Would the problem be caused by a door solenoid/ locking mechanism as it is intermittently knocking out the central locking.

Micro switches in the drivers door lock?

I think a full overhaul of the compressor seals, brushes and diaphragm is called for.
Day off tomorrow so I'll strip down the drivers door and check the locking as that is the most likely suspect. Thanks for all your help

Any damp carpets near the BECM?

Drivers side footwell I noticed condensation under rubber mat last weekend.

viking56 said:

Drivers side footwell I noticed condensation under rubber mat last weekend.

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What does it taste of ? Anti-freeze= heater O rings, water could be A/C drains blocked or come loose, sun roof drains or pollen filter covers/ screws letting in water

I think the damp was from blocked A/C drains. We had a good old storm just before and I was parked on a hill. Thinking on the BeCM though I took off the seat surround, checked all the connectors were home and did some housework. Always wondered where all my sweets were disappearing to! Also found a spare armrest cap! The most obvious answer is that it is an anomaly, probably to do with moving the seat about for cleaning and having a rake around with the hoover. Other than a cable issue or a problem with the BeCM itself I can't see anything abnormal, so I have had a careful little squirt around the fuse board and plugs with a contact cleaner and disconnected the battery. So far the fuse warnings have not flashed up again! Fuse 12 is for the EAS system, so I am just going to rebuild the compressor and re-fit to see If it works. It does seem odd that all these problems happened at once, not withstanding it being a electrical glitch.

Damp carpet in the drivers footwell is death to the BECM

if you have sorted the damp carpet issue, ie. A/C drains, always run with the A/C on to dry out the interior and reduce the damp problem

I think it was blocked A/C drains.
I have had a good clean around the BeCM. Fonud a few lost sweets and armrest cap Yey!
One of the connectors was a tiny bit out (blue connector botom middle) but not significantly so! Cleaned connectors and fuse board carefully with contact cleaner and disconnected/reconnected battery. No change. Front door only unlocks on central locking. One indicator flashes. Fuse failure 12 through 15. Repeats every time you open any door.

Sorry for the repeat. Page has only just updated.
Dampness was not significant. As I said it was more like a touch of condensation under the mat.
The car was dry as a bone yesterday. As I said the problem was triggered initially when I lowered the car to load wife and short friend. Normally the EAS behaves very well. The only anomaly that happens occasionally is that once in a blue moon the central locking will lock and unlock on it's own. Looking again at the compressor I don't think that the problem is there. Could a faulty locking system on one door affect so many elements of the car?

viking56 said:

Sorry for the repeat. Page has only just updated.
Dampness was not significant. As I said it was more like a touch of condensation under the mat.
The car was dry as a bone yesterday. As I said the problem was triggered initially when I lowered the car to load wife and short friend. Normally the EAS behaves very well. The only anomaly that happens occasionally is that once in a blue moon the central locking will lock and unlock on it's own. Looking again at the compressor I don't think that the problem is there. Could a faulty locking system on one door affect so many elements of the car?

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Strip, clean the tail gate button and lubricate with a bit of Vaseline. See if sorts the problem

Ok thanks!

If the car thinks a door is open, the EAS will not operate.

I have taken the tailgate apart cleaned and lubed the button and locking mechanism. There is definitely an intermittent problem in one of the thee components which make up the locking system. Possibly the actuator. So I have ordered replacement parts. Hopefully this and a good overhaul on the compressor will get me back on track. Thanks for all your help.

viking56 said:

I have taken the tailgate apart cleaned and lubed the button and locking mechanism. There is definitely an intermittent problem in one of the thee components which make up the locking system. Possibly the actuator. So I have ordered replacement parts. Hopefully this and a good overhaul on the compressor will get me back on track. Thanks for all your help.

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Check the wiring/connector as well