P38 Diagnostics

wammers said:

If you don't know what continuity is and you talking about relay under seat maybe you should get someone to do it for you. Relay 20 is in fuse box in engine bay. You need a multimeter with a continuity tester on it. No voltage is used to test continuity other than the battery in the multi meter. Don't be trying to test thermo circuit from battery of car. Note the bold print advice at bottom of answer.

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gulfbluersr said:

Please bear with me I'm very willing to learn just don't want to f**k this up!!

Am I not right with the ohms on the meter for continuity? Also I thought you were on about relay in the fuse box in engine bay was just confirming it, like I said in previous post I have read so much on this the last couple of days trying to learn my head is a bit fried!! trouble is there is a lot of wrong info out there as well as good, I have read a lot of your and Data's post and more that obvious you know what you are on about.

Like Data said in a previous post it looks like the pump is working, I only want to test it now as it seems to have stopped but this may be because it is up to pressure, in the morning I will try it again to see if the pressure is down.

Thanks for your help it is appreciated

Steve

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wammers said:

Wait til morning then or use buttons on dash to drop and raise suspension if compressor starts all is well, if not do the checks as described. Yeah if you get a resistance reading from green to orange that will show continuity. Unplug compressor and test for continuity from green to orange or even black to orange that will show thermo switch is closed circuit as it should be. Take it easy and work through it slowly it will all become apparent it really is not all that difficult. You really are better with a meter with a continuity test on it. Makes life so much easier.

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gulfbluersr said:

Thanks for that! clear now! Like most of these things, when just reading about them it can look confusing, I'm sure that once I get out to it again and start prodding at it it will all make sense, like I say very willing to learn and want to so I know what to expect if (read when!!)it goes wrong again. Give me anything but not electrics!! Very frustrating but try as I do I just can't get my head around them. If I get really stuck with the electrical side I will get my father round, he is a retired TV engineer, trouble is he is very busy and usually have to wait a week to get him here! He gets frustrated with me and electric as well, he has tried for years, but then he can't put cut roofs on or build winding stairs...... horses for courses I guess!!

Thanks again

Steve

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wammers said:

No not many wood butchers are good with electricary.

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gulfbluersr said:

To be honest I don't really want to mess with hot wiring it as that means playing way too much with wires that I'm not sure of!!

The lights on the dash have all stayed on, even the message still says 'eas fault' the height switch still does nothing and looking at the car I think it is right up at highest. I was thinking that it may be worth using the software to deflate the system and then see if the compressor starts and takes it back up to the top. I was unsure if this would be a good thing to do though? It has not yet gone to hard fault but then is it the end of the world if it does? I have enough cars about that I won't be using this till it is sorted so if it ends up on the stops it's not the end of the world!!

I'm thinking that while it is off the road now would be a good time to do a pump and valve block refurb, even if they are not the cause of this fault, are the ebay kits ok or is there anywhere better that you could suggest to get a set?

Thanks

Steve

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gulfbluersr said:

And this one is especially bad!! Frustrating really as I can build a complete house, blocks, roof, plaster it and plumb it, you will be warm and dry on a winter night......... just sat in the ****ing dark

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Datatek said:

If the car has come up to full height then I would suggest you are chasing rainbows looking at the compressor, the air pressure to raise it had to come from somewhere.
Use the EAS software to drop the car and raise the car and turn the compressor on and off, all those facilities are there in the EAS suite, no need to play dangerous games with hot wiring unless the compressor does not respond. If it is at full height with all the lights on then you need to be looking at height sensors.

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gulfbluersr said:

Hmm done some searching and from what I've found the pressure switch is pretty reliable, is this right?

I'm going to order the valve block rebuild kit including the diaphragm and drier, along with the compressor rebuild kit, I'm not sure that the fault is actually any of these but it's a job I was intending to do anyway in the next couple of months, at least then I know that these parts will be all good, if this solves the problems even better. I'm also considering buying 4 new air bags, again sooner or later I guess I will have to do them this way hopefully I should have a pretty reliable setup..... and big hopefully my problem will be cured!!

Steve

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