To ACE or not to ACE

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Pat Bryant

Member
Posts
45
Location
Stafford
Dear All,

My 1999 TD5 suffered an ACE failure today, piddling fluid down a couple of miles of lanes before a red flashing light and warning bell sounding. Back home I discovered one of the rear pipes perforated by corrosion where it joins the big valve block.
Questions: Can I rig it somehow to drive to my favourite garage without 'lunching' the pump (which I hope survived the leak)
Repair this or remove ACE?

Thanks,

Pat
 
Repair.

Bodge with 3/8" or 10mm pipe and plumbing fittings.

Then get the block machined to take BSP fittings and use 2 x 2m of hydraulic hose with I think 14mm ends fo the ram.

My rear pipes are not far of bursting, getting my new ones made this weekend

Good thread on D2BC
 
I'm new to the disco but from what iv read up on I would say keep it especially if you tow or run fully loaded its the same thing as my p38 its on air why would I go to springs
 
biketeacherdave said:
I'm new to the disco but from what iv read up on I would say keep it especially if you tow or run fully loaded its the same thing as my p38 its on air why would I go to springs
Click to expand...

If you tow and need ACE I'd be slightly concerned as your cornering too fast.....
Air suspension and ACE are two completely different things and can no way be compared.

I would personally bin the ACE and live with traditional roll bars and no hassles in the future.
 
We have three D2 V8's, two GS and one ES.

One GS was never fitted with ACE. The other GS and the ES have both had it removed and replaced with solid ARB's.

Personally, I don't notice the difference, my son with the ES also doesn't notice the difference. Losing the function is not the end of the world, and we do a lot of regular towing up to 3500kg, and it has no effect on the towing performance.

It's nice to have, but having had random warning lights come on while driving in Europe, I'd just as soon eliminate the possibility of being stranded with not a lot of hope of a local repair.

Peter
 
When I had my D2 I reckoned ACE was one of the best things about it, tyres howling and car sill sitting pretty flat, sadly the D3 doesnt come with it and it shows on corners.
 
So good I am refurbishing mine.

Even managed to get a brand new rear bar for £60 so I don't have to remove the pipes from it
 
ACE's biggest benefit is if you regularly use the car at speed on road & enjoy pushing the limits when off-roading.
If you stay mainly on road, there's not such a big disadvantage with standard anti-roll bars. If you push the limits off-roading, the articulation increase you get with ACE is very noticeable - as ACE effectively dis-connects the ARBs - reducing the force preventing articulation.
 
Thanks to all,

I particularly like the idea of a modification to take hydraulic hoses; why didn't the lads at Solihull use them in the first place? It seems that opinion is divided on ACE and all for sound reasoning. My experience is that it does feel better when comparing with my old Tdi200 but then I rarely hammer it on fast roads.

Now I would splice in a section but the leak (and worst corrosion) is at the union with the 'block' so I must get the spanners out and try to remove the pipe. I notice that Craddocks offer the pipes separately but, at the block, they are fastened by a single flange?

If my DIY fails, does anyone have a view as to 'blanking' the rear section so as to be able to drive it (to a garage) with fluid in the system and so not destroy the pump?

Best,

Pat
 
Pat Bryant said:
Thanks to all,

I particularly like the idea of a modification to take hydraulic hoses; why didn't the lads at Solihull use them in the first place? It seems that opinion is divided on ACE and all for sound reasoning. My experience is that it does feel better when comparing with my old Tdi200 but then I rarely hammer it on fast roads.

Now I would splice in a section but the leak (and worst corrosion) is at the union with the 'block' so I must get the spanners out and try to remove the pipe. I notice that Craddocks offer the pipes separately but, at the block, they are fastened by a single flange?

If my DIY fails, does anyone have a view as to 'blanking' the rear section so as to be able to drive it (to a garage) with fluid in the system and so not destroy the pump?

Best,

Pat
Click to expand...

If it is a slow leak at the block as opposed to rusty pipe burst, you just need to keep topped up for now.

If rusty pipe burst you can bypass with 2 10mm joiners and a short length of 10mm pipe, cut and spice in.
 
I converted my V8 to solid ARB's, see listerdiesel's post above; this was because the system leaked all it's fluid on my drive and then the pump toasted itself. I didn't notice any difference whatsoever but the ACE system might have been knackered to begin with. Prepare for lots of fluid leaks if you convert it.
 
Got a 7 seater that came with ACE fitted, the pump was poorly and slight weeping on two pipes. It is now gone! however at the moment i haven't got the money to replace with standard anti rolls so she is sitting with the ACE bars with the pipes cut and pump replaced with idler pulley.
I tow frequently and don't notice the difference, however when driving on the "B roads" the lean in corners is noticeable from when the ACE was on the truck.

in short i got rid due to the cost of repair and horror stories of people doing it and then having expensive problems later. truck is no noisier or "rougher" with coils just leans a tad, although if you put standard antis on it probably eliminates that too.
 
Not noticeing a difference between ACE and classic arb's means that the ACE didnt work as it should from the beginning, cos if it's not calibtrated well will throw a fault code just not work well ... it needs to be calibrated if other than std tyres are fitted or any lift made on the vehicle... IMO a 100% well working ACE makes big difference on and off road... as any other system it needs care
 
Hello Fery
I know it is an old thread, but I was looking for some info regarding on ACE issues and found this. My car has also lifted (about 2" I guess) by the previus owner and I am not sure that the ACE has calibrated.
But I only have a Nanocom which, as you have also mentioned in other thread, not really good for this. Can I check something with Nanocam before I took it to someone having Hawkeye?

I have heard a strange advice from a local LR mechanic saying that ACE has to be removed asap as the ACE pump can couse fire in engine bay. I have never heard that before. I know that ACE can fail and can be expensive to repair but never such big issue. Can it happen or it is just a "horror story" found out by someone??
 
Hi mate, that fire story seems boll*x to me, never heard such thing, what's possible is eventually to get seized due to lack of oil then the belt will rub on it and have some smoke maybe. nanocom works well with ACE except the faut codes, it reads live data OK and can calibrate without probs so go for it and run a calibration without fear. If you get the amber warning in the future dont even bother to read the fault code with nanocom cos it will be 99% false but you can bridge the relay's contact as the solenoids to get feed and read live inputs this way then most probably the fault will be revealed, here's a list with how data should be on a well working system +/- 5% is allowed:


ACE INPUTS
1. DCVs (both) - .001A.
2. Pressure control valve: 0 - .012A
3. Pressure sensor: varies between 16 and 19 but if it's out of that range the transducer is gone
4. Residual pressure: between 3 - 6 Bar but can be higher after the vehicle was driven or the ambient temp is low
5. System pressure: around 6 Bar fluctuating
6. Accelerometers: 0.01
7. for troubleshooting purpose: the resistance of both DCVs(top of the valve block, DCV1-toward front; DCV2-toward rear)= 2.7 Ohm, pressure control solenoid(on the left side of block) = 5.7 Ohm.

 
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