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Air-Suspension issue again

2217 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  bsolidgold, 
O
A little backround. I purchased a certified '04 FFRR, 53 weeks ago. In total it has spent about 8-10 weeks at the dealer since. I have consistant suspension problems. At first the alarm would go off in the middle of the night, it took about 3 times before I figured out that the suspension was droping suddenly to trigger the alarm. The dealer replaced the compressor. 2 months later the truck would not hold at ride height, it would suddenly raise at a stop light 2 inches. This went on until one day the truck took 30 plus minutes to raise off of access height. Front bags replaced. When done dealer did not reset ride height, truck would randomly raise and lower even in locked mode. Dealer reset ride height. As of 6 weeks ago the truck was once agin taking 45-120 seconds to raise from regular height to offroad height. Dealer replaced compressor again. Once again now the truck takes an extended amount of time to raise up. However and most trouble some the truck will suddely raise at stop light about 2 inches, enough that I can see it raise as well as feel it. Sometimes I will go around a corner and a tire will rub, when I stop at the next light the front end will raise up.

I should not that I drive with the truck locked in regular ride height and it is raised at least twice a day 2 off road height. This is my work truck and often on unimproved roads and land.

Please provide any advice quickly, I have done a search and not found this problem. My thinking is that 2 new compressors in 8 months shows that something else must be wrong.

I thank in advance for your advice.
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R
They shouldn't have replaced the compressor twice. If it keeps raising then you don't have a problem with the bags getting air you have a leak somewhere.

I would say if they have replaced the bags and compressor, then you have a problem with the height sensors, the air lines, or the valve/valve block. Worse case (least likely) is the computer that controls it all could be faulty.
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B
Dealers generally shotgun issues with new parts... I don't know why they're throwing compressors at it since it's obviously getting air.

Sounds like a leak somewhere.

Also it isn't weird to have the front pop up 2" at a stop light or something, mine does this all the time... The truck will level itself if you're parked on uneven surface, if you get underway and stop at a light it senses you've stopped on a flat surface and will adjust the bags to level the truck again.

If its slow to raise it could be a line, but that does not explain why this is an intermittent problem. It could be a a valve on the block intermittently sticking, that might explain why you're ok for a couple of weeks then the issue returns. Maybe they're replacing the compressor because they're seeing an overheat code, but that's probably because the compressor is working extra hard to make up for the leak... If it's triggering the alarm in the middle of the night I'd put my money on a sticking valve! After 6 hours of sitting the range wakes up to check a few vitals, one of which is the level of the truck. It will drop the truck evenly to its lowest corner to level it out, perhaps a valve sticks open evacuates all the pressure.

I've had a similar problem happen over winter, except it froze a valve shut, which puts the range in an overpressure fault disabling the system.

I'd probably just listen for leaks then pin point it with some soapy water. If you don't hear a hiss it's probably the valve block or a computer fouled up.
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O
Thanks for the quick input. Compressor #1 failed, would not produce enough to lift the truck. #2 seemed OK but the dealer said it was under performing when they tested it 2 weeks ago. I would say 2 compressors in 8 months means a leak or bad valve. Luckily this has not cost a dime. But it stinks making payments to drive a loaner. Meanwhile my LR3 just keeps on working.

To throw this out would the a-arm bushings failing and the ball joints and sway bar links also having been replaced contribute to this problem? I think the warranty has covered over 8k in repairs over the last 12 months. And on top of this the fan on the ecu just started to fail. Go warranty!!
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B
I used to worry myself sick over air suspension problems; if it's not one thing, it's another. A few months ago I paid my mechanic (not the dealer. local land rover specialist) to convert to coil springs. Yeah, I don't have the fancy air-ride suspension that can be adjusted at the flip of a switch, but I don't have to worry about spending an arm and a leg to fix it every couple months. In fact, the suspension has better articulation than it did before and now I'm looking into getting a permanent lift. You're probably still in your warranty and everything like this is covered, but it might be worth looking into anyway... much less hassle. The coil springs I got were specifically made for MKIII range rovers and were made by Arnott. I'm very satisfied with them so far.

At any rate, good luck with your EAS problems! :)
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GKP
oakley-125 said:
To throw this out would the a-arm bushings failing and the ball joints and sway bar links also having been replaced contribute to this problem?
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These items on their own wouldn't cause the issues you're having, but a careless mechanic working in that area could. Have them check your height sensors, both visually and electronically.
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A
bsolidgold, please tell us how is the ride with springs, on good roads and also offroad. Also please tell us if/how did you stop the warning messages (what model year do you have?) Thank you!
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O
All is now correct in FFRR world. As per info on this site, I pushed the dealer toward looking at the valve block and sure enough one was faulty, but not throwing a code. Now replaced, height recalibrated.

A big thanks for the feed back.

Cheers
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M
I am planing to eliminate EAS as well.

Options are:
Arnott coil kit $750
StrutMasters coil kit $550

If RR is your work vehicle, my opinion is that it would be way more reliable with traditional coil suspension.
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A
Agree, but how is the ride? How do you remove the suspension fault messages?
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M
Ride can only be better than factory. To me RR feels too soft, and sways around like a boat would, especially when turning a corner at moderate speed. RR is a very heavy vehicle, and inflated airbags just cant hold side-to-side movement as well as traditional springs. Each of the above kits comes with instructions on how to disable the entire EAS system, error messages included. I have not switched yet, but maybe bsolidgold can tell us whats involved in disabling it.
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adara said:
bsolidgold, please tell us how is the ride with springs, on good roads and also offroad. Also please tell us if/how did you stop the warning messages (what model year do you have?) Thank you!
Click to expand...
I have a 2004 HSE. The ride on the road is awesome, in in fact, I think it's better than it was before. Everything feels tighter, especially in the rear, and corners a lot better. Off road... I miss the air springs simply for the fact that I don't have as much clearance, but as far as articulation goes, I think I gained at least an inch in both front and back. The warning messages... well, that's the part that hasn't been sorted out yet. Arnott has a method to silence them on older Range Rovers and anything from 2006 on, but hasn't figured it out on the '03-'05 models. When my mechanic took out the air springs, he left the air lines and compressor in place. So, naturally the EAS system panicked at first and I could hear air coming from the ends of the hoses that weren't connected any longer. This continued for about 5-10 miles, then the system just turned off. Now I have a warning message on the screen under the speedometer/tachometer that says 'Air susp. inactive'... no ****? :shock: it *dings* once when I get in and once when I get out of the vehicle. If anyone has any ideas on how to suppress that message, I'd be glad to hear it :D Let me know if you have any more questions, PM me if it takes me a while to respond.
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M
Hmm, interesting....Arnott claims complete disable of the EAS on their site. Have you tried permanently pulling the EAS fuses from the fuse panel? That would disable EAS ECU, I presume.
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B
Yeah, what Arnott says on their website is a bit misleading. If you read further it says that there is no way to get rid of the error messages on the '03-'05 models. Unless something has changed since I last looked (~2 months ago).
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