Suspension rises slowly??

Hi all,

The suspension on my 99 P38 seems to be rising very slowly atm. Not as in going up slowly but i get in my car an then i have to drive about 10/15 mins before the suspension gets off the bump stops. which is very annoying bumping down the road.

Any ideas?? i dont have any holes in the airbags there perishing a bit but not leaking, maybe the compressor? just wondering if you lot had any ideas?

Cheers

I would go for Compressor seals gone ( I assume you can hear yer EAS pump running at start up ??)

Then Again, before going down that route soap test yer bags (Which I assume you've already done) but have you soaped yer Air tank connections & lines ect from yer pump & air dryer ???

Most people use Soapy water to test fer leaks but as I'm a Gas Engineer I use "Leak detector spray" ...it really will find THE most microscopic holes & bubbles like Billy-O ..at the slightest sign of a leak

You can get it from Plumbers merchants (Plumb Centre) & the like ..bout 3 Quid

I agree, it is probably compressor seals.
However if it is on the bumpstops in the am ,then you must have a leak and the pump has been overworked trying to compensate .

One way the car gets down on bump-stops is because if there's a leak on one corner the EAS tries to level the car and drops the other 3 to match. Then the first corner drops a bit more and the EAS does another round and so on, usually all night, till you find the car on bumps in the morning (and a possibly drained battery to boot). If you leave a door open it defeats the EAS ECU and now if there's a leak in one corner, that's the only one that will drop overnight. Or you could pull the EAS fuse overnight. What I do is leave the tailgate slightly ajar, its not visibly open but it does the job.

If you do find one corner has dropped start with the bag and follow the lines all the way back to the compressor to find the leak. If you don't find one then its probably the solenoid o-rings inside the EAS box and you're due an overhaul. Fortunately this is now not so expensive as you can get all the bits on eBay and do it yourself.

leaks deffo i've just changed the lot bags,block and pump very exspensive,to let your pump run to much,you got a huge game of hunt the leak,take your time.

P38 DUB said:

Hi all,

The suspension on my 99 P38 seems to be rising very slowly atm. Not as in going up slowly but i get in my car an then i have to drive about 10/15 mins before the suspension gets off the bump stops. which is very annoying bumping down the road.

Any ideas?? i dont have any holes in the airbags there perishing a bit but not leaking, maybe the compressor? just wondering if you lot had any ideas?

Cheers

Click to expand...

i had this problem,turned out it was a worn leaking airbag.i forget what her name was though.

Almost certainly a leaking airbag. If you can see they are perished they are knackered!

Well when I get out of my car the suspension usually lowers it's self to access anyway. I don't think it's a leak cause sometimes it doesn't lower it's self an it will hold the height for days. If it was the seals how would I check that? How much is it to fix?

Cheers

P38 DUB said:

Well when I get out of my car the suspension usually lowers it's self to access anyway. I don't think it's a leak cause sometimes it doesn't lower it's self an it will hold the height for days. If it was the seals how would I check that? How much is it to fix?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Depends what ground you are parked on. Where the bags roll over themselves you can have a leak that is covered. If you then park on slightly uneven ground the leak is exposed. The vehicle will then try to level itself resulting in a drop to a point where leak is covered again. As the leak is now covered and the pressure in the bags is low the leak stops. Slow rising suspension is usually to do with a leak from the pressure storage side. If the pressure is up then the suspension should rise very quickly. If you have a storage side leak, it has to wait for compressor to built up pressure, so rises as pressure builds up. It would appear you have two problems losing pressure from tank (storage side) and a leak on the pressure use side either in a pipe connection or in a bag.