P38A Isolating a leak.

Duchess loses puff in her eas if left standing, about an inch over 3 days, otherwise all works great. I've got the 4 valves for emergency use in the glove box and I've been thinking...if I fit those and pump her up to a certain height, make a note of the measurements and she still drops over a few days then is it safe to assume that the small leak(I can't find it with soapy water) is confined to the airsprings and pipework to them? Valve block (dryer?) Is taken out of the equation?

Oh, and is the receiver taken out of the equation too, with using the manual valves.?
Leave the eas relay in too?

Flossie said:

Oh, and is the receiver taken out of the equation too, with using the manual valves.?
Leave the eas relay in too?

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Correct me if I'm wrong but by taking the relay out stops the self leveling from working so if it goes down proves a leak

Yes if you put the valves on the air bag pipes you are only testing each bag and pipe so if that is all good look at valve block

First step, remove the EAS relay and see if it goes down as that is easier. A drop of about 1" over 3 days with Dunlop bags is not far from normal iirc.

Rubberknees said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but by taking the relay out stops the self leveling from working so if it goes down proves a leak

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Yarp, I knew that buddy but she's parked on a perfectly flat surface but I guess I should try that first just incase. I know it's under the passenger seat , does the trim need to come off to access this relay or can it be got at without?

Flossie said:

Yarp, I knew that buddy but she's parked on a perfectly flat surface but I guess I should try that first just incase. I know it's under the passenger seat , does the trim need to come off to access this relay or can it be got at without?

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Trim off is easier. The suspension will lower in windy weather if the car rocks when the EAS wakes up at it's 6 hour intervals. If the car is in a secure place, just propping the hatch open a little locks the suspension.

Move the seat all the way back and you should get to the relay.

Ok I will have a go at this.

Putting your valves on will isolated everything from the valve to the bag.
However if you just reach in and pull the relay you will find the same, except it will be 1 droopy corner but you still have the valve block for said corner in the equation.
So then you only have to remove 1pipe (maybe) and put your valve on to separate it from the block.

I wouldn’t worry about the resisviour as at no point does the car try to self level up. As long as it raises straight away when start it. If it’s sluggish then you may have an issue on that side of the system too.

TBH removing the relay first is the easiest way to find which corner/s you are dealing with.

J

or just disconnect the battery

romanrob said:

or just disconnect the battery

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Then you have all the palaver of "windows not set" etc

Flossie said:

Duchess loses puff in her eas if left standing, about an inch over 3 days, otherwise all works great. I've got the 4 valves for emergency use in the glove box and I've been thinking...if I fit those and pump her up to a certain height, make a note of the measurements and she still drops over a few days then is it safe to assume that the small leak(I can't find it with soapy water) is confined to the airsprings and pipework to them? Valve block (dryer?) Is taken out of the equation?

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In theory. My emergency valves lose air faster than anything else. I glued them up in the end and tested with the airline in the garage before fitting and testing on the scrapper

Pulling the relay is the easiest way to isolate IMO.

My old duchess has 11yr old dunlops under her and they haven't dropped an inch in the 3 months she's been sat.

Datatek said:

Then you have all the palaver of "windows not set" etc

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True, but at least that way you can be 100pc sure that the whole of the EAS is electronically isolated (and anything else that might wake the car).

romanrob said:

True, but at least that way you can be 100pc sure that the whole of the EAS is electronically isolated (and anything else that might wake the car).

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Pulling the EAS relay does that without the faff.

I fitted the emergency valves and puffed her up and made a note of the heights today. The collets were a bit fiddling to release but I've found a cranked 8mm ring spanner with a slot cut in the ring so it'll go over the pipes works well on all 3 sizes.

Datatek said:

Pulling the EAS relay does that without the faff.

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Up to you...i had an EAS levelling error that was not controlled/ eliminated by removing the relay and was not caused by any air leak. The only way to be sure that the car cannot do anything electrical overnight is to disconnect the battery... it really is not that much of a faff for the sake of being able to 100% eliminate the possibility of (or demonstrate) an air leak

romanrob said:

Up to you...i had an EAS levelling error that was not controlled/ eliminated by removing the relay and was not caused by any air leak. The only way to be sure that the car cannot do anything electrical overnight is to disconnect the battery... it really is not that much of a faff for the sake of being able to 100% eliminate the possibility of (or demonstrate) an air leak

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With the EAS relay removed there is no 12 volt supply to the EAS ECU so disconnecting the battery is no different. With no power to the EAS ECU the EAS is completely disabled.

+1 on that Keith. The system has no feed at all with relay removed

Less than 24hrs later the left rear is flatter than a witches tit. Right rear isn't far behind. Thought they looked a bit iffy when I first got her 2 yrs ago. Those of you who have done the job.....is it worth getting her over the pit? I ask because I'll have to move stuff around to get her in and if it's no real help then I'll do it on the drive.