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EAS fault again

3K views 21 replies 3 participants last post by  RitaB 
#1 ·
Hi,

I purchased a '97 Range Rover on the spur of the moment and on the advice of a neighbour, who thought it was a good buy. Shortly afterwards, the 'soft' EAS fault messages started appearing regularly - although at first not continually - and I turned to this forum to find out what exactly I had bought and what the fault might be! I delayed too long in taking the car to a RR garage and one day, my husband got the 'hard' fault. There was no going back now, the car was collected and brought to a garage who diagnosed one blown airbag and 3 fairly damaged ones, plus a leak in one of the suspension pipes. Apparently there was a hole in the exhaust pipe box (or something) and the hot air coming out of the hole had damaged the pipe, just above the back axle. So the garage replace the exhaust box, repaired the hole in the suspension pipe and fitted 4 new airbags, cost EUR 2,500.

Two days out of the garage and I got a soft and hard EAS fault. The hard one happened while the car was parked in a garage for about 1 hour, it was now on the bump stops and the message said '55 KMH'. Back to the garage again. They reset the fault and said that the sensors had been used to the old - incorrect - settings and now that the bags were replaced, the sensors were not able to adjust to the new height and should be replaced.

The car is driving again, but with a soft fault all the time and I am just waiting for the next hard fault to happen. I am considering buying an EAS kicker to help me out of the immediate predicament and am trying to understand what can now be wrong. I don't know what the diagnosis was when the car went to the garage the second time, I wasn't there and my husband didn't ask, but do you think that the sensors can now be so 'upset' by the new airbags that they need to be replaced again?

I would appreciate any replies, before I have to face the garage experts and spend lots more money!

Thanks,
Rita from Hamburg
 
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#2 ·
I don't think sensors are the cause of your problem.

Does your car hold it's height when off? for example during night?

Does your compressor run often ? Do you hear it?
 
#3 ·
Hi,

Thanks for the really quick reply! I'm trying to find out if the car has held its height overnight - it only came back from the garage on Saturday last, so that would be 5 nights since then. It was back in the garage Tuesday with the hard fault, which occurred in the afternoon.
The mechanic at the garage said when I asked about the compressor during the original repair, that it sounded ok, but he didn't say whether it was running too long. I guess I can only hear it when the bonnet is open and I'm standing beside it?

Thanks,
Rita
 
#4 ·
If it has been installed the correct way, you can't hear it from inside.
With a diesel, even with the hood open it's difficult to hear it.
That's why many advise to add a gauge on board.

But first check if the car's airsprings hold the air.
 
#6 ·
#8 ·
disabling the air suspension - I quote:
'Classic air sprung models have a disable switch under the seat.' - I have a P38, so that is not a Classic and there is no disable switch under the seat?

'...leaving the tailgate open...' - I can't really do that overnight, cause the car is outside on the road.

'... unplug the air suspension delay timer, a small black box that looks like a large relay under the left front seat (see photo at right)..... ' - if I do this, then the compressor won't run and the airsprings should keep whatever air is in them?

Please forgive my stupid questions - I'm not a mechanic, just trying my best to understand. I think that jumping pins is way above me, as well - apart from the fact that I have no idea where to find them, I'd be too afraid to do something wrong and destroy the system completely!
 
#9 ·
RitaB said:
Hi,
it was now on the bump stops and the message said '55 KMH'. Back to the garage again. They reset the fault and said that the sensors had been used to the old - incorrect - settings and now that the bags were replaced, the sensors were not able to adjust to the new height and should be replaced.

NO!


They're grasping at straws there, with 4 perished airsprings, your compressor is likely on it's last legs, it should have been rebuilt with the spring install. A new one isn't needed, don't let them sell you the expensive route.

As for jumping pins, you don't need to to disable the system, just disconnect it. And you won't do any more damage than supporting a 4500lb truck will do to it (you can't hurt it....)
 
#10 ·
RitaB said:
disabling the air suspension - I quote:
'Classic air sprung models have a disable switch under the seat.' - I have a P38, so that is not a Classic and there is no disable switch under the seat?

'...leaving the tailgate open...' - I can't really do that overnight, cause the car is outside on the road.

'... unplug the air suspension delay timer, a small black box that looks like a large relay under the left front seat (see photo at right)..... ' - if I do this, then the compressor won't run and the airsprings should keep whatever air is in them?

Please forgive my stupid questions - I'm not a mechanic, just trying my best to understand. I think that jumping pins is way above me, as well - apart from the fact that I have no idea where to find them, I'd be too afraid to do something wrong and destroy the system completely!
Unplug the air suspension delay timer is fine.
Yes the compressor won't run but you'll get the temporary message "EAS fault" that will clear once you plug the relay back.

If you disable the air suspension at night, you can really check where's the leak.
 
#11 ·
Easy to check if your comp is dead.
Unscrew the air filter that is on the compressor and check if it sucks your finger.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for your advice, very much appreciated.

I will check the airsprings at the weekend - I'll disable the delay timer and check if the car loses height.
I'll also check if the compressor is working by seeing if I still have a finger after unscrewing the air filter on the compressor.

I will also search this forum for rebuild kits - my neighbour could probably rebuild for me. I'll have to source in europe, I guess - any tips?
 
#13 ·
Andy from P38spares.co.uk has what you need.
Or check Island4x4.co.uk

Do not try a rebuild if you can feel some air coming out of the compressor inlet.
 
#14 ·
Hi,

Now you're talking French! Compressor inlet - that is at the end of the compressor where the inlet filter is? So I just try to feel if air is coming out there - I guess air should only be going in? And if air is coming out, what does that mean? A leak which cannot be repaired/rebuilt?

Thanks,
Rita
 
#15 ·
Exactly, air should going in in order to feed the compressor and not out at the compressor inlet.
If air goes out, your non return valve of the compressor is screwed. Although some rebuild kits contains the o-ring to repair it, on recent comp rebuilts i didn't have success with those. They ended in the junkyard. :(
 
#16 ·
OK - thanks again. I will check as much as I can at the weekend and will probably be back here with the results and more questions.
I have also just ordered an EAS Kicker - at least then I can read out the faults myself (or get my neighbour to do it). I gather that interpreting the faults is also an art!
 
#17 ·
996TURBO said:
Exactly, air should going in in order to feed the compressor and not out at the compressor inlet.
If air goes out, your non return valve of the compressor is screwed. Although some rebuild kits contains the o-ring to repair it, on recent comp rebuilts i didn't have success with those. They ended in the junkyard. :(

you did it wrong then. the metal valve needs to be cleaned (1500 grit wet/dry sandpaper works very well, put the paper on a flat surface and rub the valve flat against the paper with 1 finger, be gentle not to bend it) and the o-ring groove has to be spotlessly clean before inserting the new o-ring. If the oring isn't perfectly flat it won't seal, if the reed valve isn't clean, it won't seal unless you get it exactly lined up where it used to be.

Get it all clean and put together right and it's fine, the only compressors that are not fixable are corroded (typically classic comps), banged up (I've seen a few broken pistons) or burnt motors (I'm collecting them to have a rewind shop re-wire them).
 
#18 ·
Hi,

was at the garage at the weekend to read out and reset the EAS fault, which is now the intermittent 'soft' one. The Testbook said 'sensor fault front left', after the reset the air suspension kicked in and bumped the front up a little. Still checking whether the car loses air overnight, but if it does, it's not much.
The garage did not charge for reading out and resetting the error and said that in their opinion, the compressor is still ok. I didn't get to check it at the weekend, but will definitely next weekend.
The EAS kicker arrived yesterday - really fast delivery, thanks to BBS - and I feel a lot better now, knowing that the driver won't be left on the bump stops, as long as the compressor is working (since the air springs are all new).

I'll check the compressor as suggested and also the compressor block for leaks, with soapy water (as documented often in this forum), and I'll be back!

Thanks,
Rita
 
#19 ·
Hi,

The Testbook diagnosis at the garage brought up a fault with the 'height sensor front left'. My EAS Kicker has arrived and I put it to use - I reset the EAS fault and it appears almost immediately again. I took a few readings of the height sensors and got the following -
Parked outside the house, uneven ground:
FL FR RL RR
24 106 103 103

At the bank, slight incline back to front and right to left:
24 107 119 108

I left the EAS kicker attached on the drive back from the bank and the FL value never changed.

The car stays up during the night. On Friday, my husband picked me up from the airport and we drove off with the soft EAS fault. Stopped off to get some fast food after a drive through the city of about 20 minutes, and when we stopped, it feld like the front of the car dropped while waiting for the food - I almost had a heart attack, but had the EAS kicker already :) When we started up again, the front rose up and we had no fault message. The level dropped to motorway level on the motorway and then back to normal level after leaving the motorway, and stayed like that for the rest of the way home. Next day - EAS fault.

Does this sound like the sensor is stuck, or could it be something else?

Thanks for your help,
Rita
 
#21 ·
That's strange.
My rangie has no rear sensor right now (i'm modifying those). I had to do a reset of EAS ECU on my rangie and couldn't reset it because the fault came back immediately due to the lack of rear sensor.

I think your sensor is worn. Sometimes the track is fine, sometimes not.
 
#22 ·
Well, after a visit to the garage, I now have 4 functioning height sensors. Keeping my fingers crossed, praying to the Range Rover deity and touching wood all the time that the EAS gremlin will give me some breathing space - enough to tackle the problem of the front doors not locking with the fob, the passenger door not locking with the key, and the air conditioning blowing hot..... oh, and the 'faulty airbag' message.

I'm scouring this forum for tips and wish I had been a mechanic in a previous life :)
 
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