which air bag? Disco 2 2003 ACE

Hi fellas, i have got the little orange warning light and the constant Bing Bing Bing going off,
So i think its an air bladder problem? thing is, if i turn right it stops, or going round a large roundabout it stops,
i cant see or hear any hiss, am i right in thinking i shoud start with the passenger side bag?
afraid to drive the car now in case i ruin the compressor,
any advice greatly apreciated.
Bill

Bill56 said:

Hi fellas, i have got the little orange warning light and the constant Bing Bing Bing going off,
So i think its an air bladder problem? thing is, if i turn right it stops, or going round a large roundabout it stops,
i cant see or hear any hiss, am i right in thinking i shoud start with the passenger side bag?
afraid to drive the car now in case i ruin the compressor,
any advice greatly appreciated.
Bill

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Hi Bill, first of all, I'm assuming that you are talking about the rear sls air suspension?

Working on that basis, most people would agree that it's best to replace them in pairs. I think the logic goes - they are made of rubber, rubber perishes over time so they both will be getting tired and should be treated as consumables, replaced every 5 yrs to avoid trouble. Paddocks do Dunlop ones for £63.80+vat each.

Also, the bonging that you are getting is often triggerd by the ride height sensors going down, so again, treating them as consumables, replace both at the same time - can be bought from various sources, cost between £20 and £30+vat each. Have a look at www.lrseries.co.uk.

When you done the above, that usually takes care of 99% of all sls problems.

Good luck
Dave

PS You are right to be concerned about over-working the compressor so get the above bits and do the work quickly.

Many thanks for your informed reply,
I have jacked up and done the soapy water test, no leaks/bubbles etc, and i should have mentioned that the car never sits to one side, allways where it should be, so i think I will start with the sensors, they seem to be pretty caked in mud and go from there,
as there appears to be no air loss am i still at risk of damaging, if i drive the car?
thanks Bill

Bill56 said:

Many thanks for your informed reply,
I have jacked up and done the soapy water test, no leaks/bubbles etc, and i should have mentioned that the car never sits to one side, allways where it should be, so i think I will start with the sensors, they seem to be pretty caked in mud and go from there,
as there appears to be no air loss am i still at risk of damaging, if i drive the car?
thanks Bill

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Hi Bill, the over-working/damage to the compressor occurs for two reasons: 1. Compensating for a leak; and 2. Water ingress usually via the air filter in the pillar behind the rear ns light lens. Water gets in here from the sunroof roof drains IF the top of the filter is not fitted.

So, if you have no air leaks and no water ingress it should be ok.

Incidently, when you checked the rear suspension airbags did you jack up the suspension using the dashboard off-road switch. This raises the bags to their highest possible setting giving better access to the 'fold-over' area which is their weak point.

Cheers
Dave

Incidently, when you checked the rear suspension airbags did you jack up the suspension using the dashboard off-road switch.

just unpluged the height sensors to see if the light on the dash went off? but it stayed on,
the off road switch on the dash seems not to be working, if i press and hold i get bing bing bing the light stays on but there is no movement of the car? now begining to think the problem is worse?

the car seems to think that it is off road mode when its not, ie; orange light on, as soon as you reach 20mph, bing bing bing!.
regards Bill

Bill56 said:

just unpluged the height sensors to see if the light on the dash went off? but it stayed on,
the off road switch on the dash seems not to be working, if i press and hold i get bing bing bing the light stays on but there is no movement of the car? now begining to think the problem is worse?

the car seems to think that it is off road mode when its not, ie; orange light on, as soon as you reach 20mph, bing bing bing!.
regards Bill

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Hi Bill, I reckon the situation is this, your ride height sensors are knâckered and as a result a fault code has been logged in the ecu triggering the warning light. This will also stop the off-road setting working correctly.

If you do decide to replace both sensors, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE:

1. Before touching/disconnecting the old sensors, you must disconnect the car battery negative lead;

2. Then take the old ones off and put the new ones on and plug them in;

3. The reconnect the battery negative lead.

If you don't follow this procedure there is every chance of calibration issues, requiring garage intervention.

Hi I wonder if you complete the airbag work you may just have a chip problem in how it is reading the sensor, and that if it is either re-set or changed it might be just fine. I had an issue with mine relating to the anti lock brakes sensor reading. The main dealer reset the chip in about 15 minutes and the problem has not occurred again in over 3 years.

Bo Chance
Spaner

thebiglad said:

Hi Bill, I reckon the situation is this, your ride height sensors are knâckered and as a result a fault code has been logged in the ecu triggering the warning light. This will also stop the off-road setting working correctly.

If you do decide to replace both sensors, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE:

1. Before touching/disconnecting the old sensors, you must disconnect the car battery negative lead;

2. Then take the old ones off and put the new ones on and plug them in;

3. The reconnect the battery negative lead.

If you don't follow this procedure there is every chance of calibration issues, requiring garage intervention.

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OH NO, too late already unpluged and started to see if the light went off, ordered the new ones, see what happens,

Hi bill can you just confirm that it is definately the SLS warning light that is lit up and not the ACE warning light (two different things).

sandman77 said:

Hi bill can you just confirm that it is definately the SLS warning light that is lit up and not the ACE warning light (two different things).

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Hi, its at the bottom of the dash its orange a liitle disco shape with 2 arrows at the right, one up and one down, i lookedin the book it said suspension fault? regards

Bill56 said:

Hi, its at the bottom of the dash its orange a liitle disco shape with 2 arrows at the right, one up and one down, i lookedin the book it said suspension fault? regards

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Yes Bill, that is the sls warning light - we are on the same wavelength

mmm, no joy, new ride height sensors fitted, no change,
and just to rub it in the radio code in the book wont work, aaargh!

To simplify things and not go on guesses it'll be good to plug in a scanner.

Progress at last, didnt realise that the car had to be in low ratio to operate the off road button, Duh! only had the car 5 years,
so put it in low raised up and down a couple of times, then went for a test drive,
bing bing has stopped, all level no leaks, so happy with that,
but the orange light remains lit?
Spoke to Landrover, they want 2 hours plus £90 to run a scanner and turn off the light,
thanks to all for your help,
regards Bill

Bill56 said:

.......that the car had to be in low ratio to operate the off road button, regards Bill

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U're wrong, u have to be able to operate ORM even in high

If u arent able to operate ORM in high ratio then something is wrong........though i dont see the connection yet

You do know that the compressor wont run if any doors are open (including tail gate).

It seemed to sort itself out and been ok for weeks, and now now this am its sat right down on the back wheels!
I started her up but made no difference, so i guess it is a trip to the land rover dealer?
am i ok to drive it to the garage like this?

Bill56 said:

It seemed to sort itself out and been ok for weeks, and now now this am its sat right down on the back wheels!
I started her up but made no difference, so i guess it is a trip to the land rover dealer?
am i ok to drive it to the garage like this?

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Check the fuses and relay first> F11 andF9(30A) and R5 engine bay and F28(10A) from inside.......and make sure that all doors and tailgate are well closed

I wouldnt drive it like this

Bill56 said:

It seemed to sort itself out and been ok for weeks, and now now this am its sat right down on the back wheels!
I started her up but made no difference, so i guess it is a trip to the land rover dealer?
am i ok to drive it to the garage like this?

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Update, started her up and remembered to close the door this time, and she is pumped up and back to normal ride height, and staying up, now totally confused?:doh: