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thomas tiernan

New Member
Posts
79
Location
colchester,essex
hi all, im having teribel problems with my air suspension,i have been working on it for to days now, but to no aval!! is there any one on hear local to colchester who could help me shed some light on the problem for a good drink?
 
my suspension went down to its bump stops over night on saturday,this has never happened before in two years of ownership. it isn't showing any faults in the message center, all it showed was that it was in standard ride height! my compressor is good, it just wont build up air as it is shooting it all out of the exhaust valve. i suspected a faulty valve block, so i changed it with one i brought of eBay ages ago. but its still doing the same thing! i don't perticualy want to go to the dealers and get stung for something they will probably not be Abel to solve, as its not showing any faults. in now thinking the driver pack? but i changed this a long with the valve block. do you think the softwher they sell on eBay help? i have checked for leaks <bags are only a year old> and i have checked height sensor plug sockets. along with all the fuses and the relays. now i don't know what to do.
 
there is a remote pressure switch somewhere for the tank, but i dont think its on the tank as such. could this be fawlty. i think someone said it could be a stuck valve but if you have changed the valves then its not that! are you sure the air is ablw to pass to the tank?
 
how much would i be looking at to convert to springs? I'm not sure i would want to go down that root tho, it just would be a p38 without air suspension would it. i have it booked in to a local specialist now,i have just got to drive it 9 miles to get it there on my bump stops, I'm really looking forward to that trip!!!
 
thomas tiernan said:
how much would i be looking at to convert to springs? I'm not sure i would want to go down that root tho, it just would be a p38 without air suspension would it. i have it booked in to a local specialist now,i have just got to drive it 9 miles to get it there on my bump stops, I'm really looking forward to that trip!!!
Click to expand...

Oh geezer! I have done three major trips on bump stops... it is a unique experience. One time I hit a speedbump at what I though was crawling speed and I shot myself into the sunroof and really hurt my napper.

I'm with Bodmin... springs are great. £400 for the kit and one day to fit. Send me a PM and I'll mail you the instructions so you can see how **** easy it is.
 
Don't trust the P38 electrickery stuff you buy off ebay. Why do you think its up for sale in the first place?
There is every chance that the one you bought is a duffer with the same problem/s as your own. A shot driver is common enough, hard to diagnose and probably the reason behind a lot of P38 castrations.

When you say its shooting it out the exhaust valve, is this the one on the compressor (which is actually the intake and if you've got a lot of air coming out here your compresor seal is gone) or the actual exhaust on the valve block?

When you say its just showing the standard height, is this light flashing or continuous?

If its the exhaust on the valve block then in all likelyhood you've got a driver problem as I'm pretty sure a stuck exhaust valve will throw up a fault. Go on to rangerovers.net and visit this page :
suspump

Using the instructions you will be able to check every aspect of the EAS individually. The first thing to do is get your resevoir filled so you'll need a multimeter to check when its full. The time it takes to fill it wil also tell you the condition of your compressor. You can then fill each bag individually and find out for certain if the exhaust valve is stuck.

If your exhaust valve is stuck you are in the enviable position of having a complete valve block to work on or get parts from so you should be able to swap a solenoid or o-rings over to get one of them working.
Go to rover-renovations.com for great info on this and to get any parts you need, Dennis sends them out from the states instantly.

Download the free EAS software and get the cable or else get an EAS Buddy or Kicker depending on whether you carry your laptop in the car with you or not.

I ran my leaky and faulted out P38 for two weeks on pigtails while I was waiting for my Kicker to arrive (which is for sale incidently, pm me if you're interested)
 
KEEP THE AIR SUSPENSION!

Someone will be suggesting replacing dem dare new fangled coil springs on a classic for good old leaf springs next! :)

Is all the air definitely leaking out of the exhaust valve, I have just had my EAS fail because my exhaust was leaking, bear with me...

Exhaust leaking as mid box goes over chassis just before it joins to Y splitter and rear boxes blows hot air onto cheap bit of plastic pipe above chassis rail that feeds tank, pipe heats up, POP! No EAS, interestingly no error codes, lights all doing as expected on the dash except it couldn't build pressure and couldn't lift the car. We unplugged the compressor so as not to burn that out and drove home with it sat on motorway height.

Most bits for the EAS are relatively cheap, a little bit of practical knowledge can see the valve block and compressor refurbed, air springs are coming down in price all the time, why get rid of it, especially if you tow or ever want to put anything in the boot without headlights lighting the moon and stars.

Big fan of EAS if you haven't guessed.

Andy
 
yep,its definitely shooting it all out of the exhaust valve at the rear of the valve block, my lights all flash up as normal when i first turn it on, and go out as they should, i reckon it must be that driver pack, but whats getting me is whats the chances of having two faulty drive packs, as i changed that as well as my valve block. air box for air box if you like!!
 
thomas tiernan said:
yep,its definitely shooting it all out of the exhaust valve at the rear of the valve block, my lights all flash up as normal when i first turn it on, and go out as they should, i reckon it must be that driver pack, but whats getting me is whats the chances of having two faulty drive packs, as i changed that as well as my valve block. air box for air box if you like!!
Click to expand...
Take the bloody thing apart as I suggested and look at that diaphram - the 5/8" dia thing at the back of the underside of the block that is underneath the block held down by 4 hex headed bolts.Chances are both the valve blocks you have are containing a leaky diaphram.
This is by far the most common cause of air being lost out of the ehaust port and failure of the suspension to rise.
 
Hi All

Completely agree with eightinavee, serviced mine a good few years ago now and have had no problems since (other than the exhaust melting the pipe obviously!) The valve block is not rocket science, even if you can't work out what each bit does, cleaning things, replacing worn O rings and generally giving it a bit of a service may well make all the difference. Would definitely be my first port of call before condemning the electronics. Even refurbing the compressor is about 30mins and £20ish for the seal kit, has to be worth while.

Thanks
Andy
 
Sorry Andy... springs rule. I've got big blue man-springs. The wife and all her fat mates could party in my boot and I wouldn't dazzle anyone.

****ed me prop shafts, mind you.

Jock
 
No sorry... :)

If you do a lot of towing, the simplicity of just being able to back under the tow hitch and then lift the car completely outweighs the maintenance of the EAS. Who wants to have to use the jockey wheel? I suppose if you only tow a shoebox it is not so much of an issue.

EAS all the way! :D
 
Andy.R said:
No sorry... :)

If you do a lot of towing, the simplicity of just being able to back under the tow hitch and then lift the car completely outweighs the maintenance of the EAS. Who wants to have to use the jockey wheel? I suppose if you only tow a shoebox it is not so much of an issue.

EAS all the way! :D
Click to expand...

Merde! I never thought of that, do it with the 3 point on my tractor to get the caravan out of the field but never thought of using the EAS to do the same. I will have to try it now Rangie has new air bags:D:D:D
 
Hi Thomas,

Keep your air springs

They are what the car is all about. Try lowing to get Granny in with coils.

As you have been told what comes out must be going in, To this end the pump must be doing something so the next step is to check the solenoid bank for O rings etc. There are good explanations of how the system works at RangeRovers.net and basically it is 4 bags with sensors that are filled up or deflated as required. These are controlled by the valve block and when you need to lower to access one of the valves releases air through the exhaust valve. The fault is most likely the valve or seals which can be obtained from ebay. I think p38 spares still supply a kit.

Make certain the air is from the exhaust vale by removing it and then switching the engine on and feeling carefully for the air flow. You find it is from the nearby air lines that also give trouble if they are not pushed fully home.
Check out rsw solutions site for help. or contact Malafax Dand on this site as he probably has the most experience of all of us. http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f10/eas-unlock-tool-46649.html

Link to valve block kit http://www.p38spares.com/
Link for Eas valves etc http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38.l1313&_nkw=p38+eas+valve&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Link to rebuild valve block http://www.rover-renovations.com/kb_results.asp?ID=24
This may be of interest http://www.carelect.demon.co.uk/rrair3.html


Loads of help available so dont give up yet.

I hope this helps, but keep your bags. Coil springs are for those who give up too easily.


Regards Fred
 
Last edited:
thanks fred, i'm taking it on to a diagnostics machine tomorrow, i have had both valve blocks apart , and all the seals look good. it just seams strange that both valve blocks are doing the same thing.the car itself thinks its behaving itself and is not showing any faults whatsoever. which leads me to think it might be an ecu problem,but i have been reliably informed that the eas ecu is the most reliable part of the eas system. i will see tomorrow, not looking forward to 9 miles on my bump stops in the morning show!
 
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