P38 lowers when started

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
Hi all. had the 2.5 DHSE for 5/6 years and apart from replacing the rear bags the EAS has been ok in fact the whole vehicle has never faltered in the time I've had it, you can park up for several days and the suspension stays up but of late when you get in and start up the disembark level light starts to flash and it starts to go down to the bottom level, if you put it into drive/reverse or press the up button it goes too or stays at (if you select drive quick enough) the normal ride height level, had a look using the easy unlock free suite but all seemed ok so did a reset anyway but it still does the same, had a look on the forums but can't see anything like this, anyone had this issue
 
Are you saying it drops to Access mode when you start the car? If you are, before you switch off next time, press the inhibit button in (next to the up/down button) while at normal height and see if it still happens next time you start it.
 
Normal reason for drop on start up after standing or overnight, is loss of pressure from tank and leaking NRV 2.
 
Hi, the car is at normal ride height when you stop/switch off, as soon as you restart you get the all lights on pre check as normal then solid light for normal height but the disembark is flashing as if you had pressed to lower and the car starts to lower, if you go into drive/reverse or touch the raise button the disembark light stops flashing and the car stays at the normal ride height, if you don't select drive/rev raise button straight away and it has already lowered slightly it immediately returns to normal height as soon as you select drive/rev etc. Can't see it being a pressure problem, as soon as you start up and gone into drive/rev or pressed the raise to stop it lowering if you press raise again it goes straight up to wading height in a couple of seconds max, tried it with the inhibit in prior to starting and also inhibit in before stopping but it makes no difference the bottom light starts to flash and the car goes down to disembark unless you stop it as mentioned earlier, if you allow it to go all the way down, the bottom light goes solid and the the normal goes out, press up button normal ride height ind flashes and the car comes up in a few seconds, normal goes solid and bottom goes out. The suspension works exactly as it should ride height change for motorway/speed etc plus all manual button selections it just started lowering to the bottom every time you start unless you intervene, its not an over night thing you can stop and start the car as many times as you want but the second self check is done it flashes for down unless you stop it
 
Hi, the car is at normal ride height when you stop/switch off, as soon as you restart you get the all lights on pre check as normal then solid light for normal height but the disembark is flashing as if you had pressed to lower and the car starts to lower, if you go into drive/reverse or touch the raise button the disembark light stops flashing and the car stays at the normal ride height, if you don't select drive/rev raise button straight away and it has already lowered slightly it immediately returns to normal height as soon as you select drive/rev etc. Can't see it being a pressure problem, as soon as you start up and gone into drive/rev or pressed the raise to stop it lowering if you press raise again it goes straight up to wading height in a couple of seconds max, tried it with the inhibit in prior to starting and also inhibit in before stopping but it makes no difference the bottom light starts to flash and the car goes down to disembark unless you stop it as mentioned earlier, if you allow it to go all the way down, the bottom light goes solid and the the normal goes out, press up button normal ride height ind flashes and the car comes up in a few seconds, normal goes solid and bottom goes out. The suspension works exactly as it should ride height change for motorway/speed etc plus all manual button selections it just started lowering to the bottom every time you start unless you intervene, its not an over night thing you can stop and start the car as many times as you want but the second self check is done it flashes for down unless you stop it
So, as I said, before you switch off, press the inhibit button which should stop any height changes. If it does stop the change then there may be a fault in the selector button itself or a bad connection somewhere.
 
Hi, tried it both ways inhibit in prior to starting and inhibit in before stopping leaving it in and then starting but it still wants to lower, I have towed to the coast with the inhibit in and as it should it stops the car lowering when your above 50 it stays at normal whatever speed your'e doing, a lot of the time I forget to release the inhibit when I have unhitched the van but it still flashes and goes down when you start up, a long while I seem to remember reading somewhere that the inhibit only stops the height change between normal and motorway/cruising height to avoid altering the balance/geometry of the item being towed, the ride height buttons over ride the inhibit if pressed, the only difference being that if you press lower with inhibit off it lowers to the bottom with inhibit on it to lowers the cruising height a second press to lower and it goes down to the bottom, just had a thought, I always stop it lowering whenever I start up, have never let it carry on down with the inhibit in, wonder if it will stop at cruise and not go all the way down, I'l give that a try
 
Check the white connector at base of passenger A post for moisture contamination. It is the interface from the selector switch to the ECU.
 
Hi Wammers, off out on a do tonight so will check that in the morning, thanks for your continued input guys, collective knowledge is a wonderful thing, will also have a dig around in the garages tomorrow as I have a full switch set somewhere so will swap the EAS switches when I find the spare set and see if that helps
 
Firstly have you changed the EAS Timer relay for a generic one ? If so, most likely the ECU has got confused. FYI Mine did this after I installed a 2nd relay to disable the self-levelling while parked. This issue seemed to be caused by me plugging & unplugging the the relay while the ECU was still doing its thing. Disconnecting the software while the system is running can also confuse the ECU.

The solution is easy with EAS Unlock:
  • Start car & select normal height
  • Then connect EAS Unlock & make sure it syncs. You can clear any faults just in case but prob not necessary
  • Next click the button in EAS software to stop the data stream from the ECU (do this before you unplug anything)
  • Car should stay at normal height.
  • Wait for the usual clicking & levelling to finish, and only then switch off the ignition
  • Finally disconnect the EAS Diag Cable
Hopefully after this the ECU will resume normal height when starting.
 
Aha pw999, you could have something there, I actually installed an additional relay for the same reason about 4+ years ago which has bee fine ever since but 4/5 months ago a friend bought one of these wireless readers, we plugged it in to try it but it didn't seem to work/do anything so we unplugged it, only noticed the lowering problem maybe a couple of months ago so never put the two together, most of the time I jump in start up into drive and off, it's only when I was sat waiting for the other half (as we all have too at times) that I noticed the car lowering so there is a chance the problem originated from trying the wireless reader, I will try the sequence you had laid out it's worth a try before I start swapping things
 
Firstly have you changed the EAS Timer relay for a generic one ? If so, most likely the ECU has got confused. FYI Mine did this after I installed a 2nd relay to disable the self-levelling while parked. This issue seemed to be caused by me plugging & unplugging the the relay while the ECU was still doing its thing. Disconnecting the software while the system is running can also confuse the ECU.

The solution is easy with EAS Unlock:
  • Start car & select normal height
  • Then connect EAS Unlock & make sure it syncs. You can clear any faults just in case but prob not necessary
  • Next click the button in EAS software to stop the data stream from the ECU (do this before you unplug anything)
  • Car should stay at normal height.
  • Wait for the usual clicking & levelling to finish, and only then switch off the ignition
  • Finally disconnect the EAS Diag Cable
Hopefully after this the ECU will resume normal height when starting.
Interesting, I can't see why any of the above should have any effect, but I'll wait & see.
Normally the EAS software should be loaded and the cable plugged in before the ignition is turned on, then ignition on, after the bleeps start the EAS software wait for the green Good Idle. Check the faults, normally you will see "Vehicle Has Moved" which just means that the height has changed after the ignition was turned off last time and can be ignored. Clear that fault and any other faults then re-read to make sure they have gone. Stop the EAS software and then turn off the ignition, no wait needed after the bleep.. No need to actually have the engine running either, just the ignition on although it can hammer the battery if you are calibrating.
 
Why fit a relay to disable self levelling whilst parked. If it's dropping more than it should (15 mm in twenty four hours is acceptable) then find out why and fix it rather than bodging it.
 
I had the mod relay, worked for good while until it started to play up on one occasion doing the drop down on start up. I did as suggested by a couple of members and quite rightly so, removed the mod and all is fine!!!;)
 
Back
Top