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EAS issues - parking on blocks

3593 Views 22 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  RogerB., 
O
Happy new year all


Not entirely sure if I'm being a bit dim here, but here goes....


I have a EAS leak in the front drivers side – the collet won't seal properly. I've re-piped the bag to the valve block to no avail. The leak is intermittent, sometimes its fine for ages, then troublesome.


So, as she's wearing oversize tyres, I park her on full height, and put blocks under the bump stops, leaving a small gap. As she senses the drivers front air bag going down, she settles the other 3 to rest on the blocks, lowering about an inch or so.


My theory is the pump is only then having to inflate the bags a small amount instead of empty to full (as she would lower to bump stops trying to level against the leaking bag), and the oversize tyres don't end up sitting on the body (no extended bumps yet)


When parked, I leave the switch in extended height, and there's a trickle charger keeping the battery nicely topped up. Quite often when I come back to her after a week or so, I will have one completely deflated bag, and 3 nice firm bags


Now I reckon that is not doing the EAS any harm being parked like this, but she won't come up at all unless I remove the blocks and lower the car on the jack – this seems to trigger a reaction, and low and behold, up she comes – I noticed this a while ago and was pointed to the fuse box, but is it too consistent for a fuse box fault? Am I actually hurting the EAS leaving her on blocks? When parked, is she trying to level up and getting confused? - there's no saying my blocks correspond to the calibrated heights, so she might never think she's actually level.



The cars a 4.6 HSE Gems, on Arnott Gen 3 bags – the pump is new, the valve block and sensors seem ok (like I say, once woken up, the EAS works fine) – she does have sparodic door/alarm issues at the moment, so often isn't going to sleep properly.


Also, any tricks to sealing an airbag collet before my new pump gets worn out trying to keep up?


Appreciate any assistance,

cheers
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leftlanetruckin
Contact Arnott and get some new collets on the way. Hell I may even have some around here fro GenII bags.
Another thought is to use some 1/4" airline to the bag, as it is slightly larger than 6mm.

Martin
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G
No idea about Arnotts as never even seen one, but some of the cheap aftermarket air springs only have one O ring behind the collet whereas original Dunlops have two. Maybe you could check that and see if a second O ring will go in if there is only one.
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O
Well, it's only day one of 2015, and I've already learnt something new, I had no idea collets were replacable for air bags - I do like this forum - cheers :thumb: ...I shall go shopping.


...any ideas on the not rising off blocks thing? Am I doing a bad thing to my EAS leaving parked like that?
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leftlanetruckin
Not really sure why it would not just rise off the blocks, unless a height sensor isn't happy for some reason.
If it is sat on blocks and they are all at the right heights, it should just inflate that one bag, then the rest to level it up to the programmed height. I think anyways.........but we know how that goes at times!
I'll swap you headaches though, as I need to make new motor mounts for this little 6.0 engine, as the Rover ones are no where near strong enough apparently

Vehicle Engine Auto part Car Automotive engine part


Martin
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OIS said:
...any ideas on the not rising off blocks thing? Am I doing a bad thing to my EAS leaving parked like that?
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Not sure why but I found the same on mine when I'd replaced the rear air springs and had a trolley jack under the towbar. Even though it wasn't up at full height, it wouldn't put any air into the bags until I dropped it right down off the jack.

As for the collets, just lever them out carefully with a screwdriver on each side so they come out straight. Once out you can fish the O ring(s) out with a blunt hook of some sort if you don't have the Land Rover approved crochet hook (I can't quite get my head around the concept of LR mechanics going into a sewing shop to buy a crochet hook....).

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O
leftlanetruckin said:
....I'll swap you headaches though, as I need to make new motor mounts for this little 6.0 engine, as the Rover ones are no where near strong enough apparently
Martin
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ahh, welding, fabrication, machining....that's a headache I'm envious of, give me metal work over electrical any day :wink:
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leftlanetruckin
OIS said:
ahh, welding, fabrication, machining....that's a headache I'm envious of, give me metal work over electrical any day :wink:
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Agreed!

Martin
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O
Gilbertd said:
....I can't quite get my head around the concept of LR mechanics going into a sewing shop to buy a crochet hook....
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oh, I dunno these days, last Land Rover "engineer" I had look at a car was on a 3.5 Classic - he really couldn't quite understand what the pair silverish things that smelt of petrol on the top of the engine were meant to do...perhaps sewing suits them better than carb balancing :wink:

as for the EAS, thanks for the info....I'll fix the leak and then be able to ditch the blocks, although extended bumps are a must (if I can ever find any decent ones) to stop the wheels resting on the arches.

thanks again
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RRToadHall
An additional trick is to shave the end of the air line with a crayon or pencil sharpener. I tiny little chamfer can make a world of difference in the seal.
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D
I have got Arnott Gen III's on mine. Collets are the same as Dunlop/OEM collets. Cheap to buy and always good to have a few as spares.
Remember there are two o-rings in the air bag same as the valve block has. Also if the nylon tube is worn, shorten it back an inch or so and put a chamfer on it with a pencil sharpener. Put a bit of dish washing liquid on it to help push it fully home.
Arnotts leak, usually around the top clamp ring. Mine did.
I found the leak by taking it off, then blowing it up with compressed air with a valve in the air line and then dunking it in a tank of water.
Arnotts don't have a lifetime guarantee in the UK. They only give 2 years.

edit: RRTH slipped in before me with pencil sharpener tip
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G
I have 2"spacers under the standard OEM bags and to prevent damage to the bags because of compressing too far and not resting on the 285/75R16 wheels if lowered on its bumps, I bolted a 2"thick disc of the same plastic the spacers are made of onto the axle where the bumpstop touches it..... original bumps stay on the chassis

Tire Auto part Soil Pipe

just drilled a hole in the metal plate on the axle, cut m8 thread and bolted the block onto the axle, the updated version has an allanbolt that lays inside the block.
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O
Hey RogerB

Thanks for the tip, that looks a lot more substantial than extending the bump itself :thumb: shall make some soonest once the current piece of the great '38 project is off the lathe :wink:

did you drill the hole axle to retain the spacers in situ or did the axle have to come out for access?

cheers
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G
mounted them even with the original shocks, so without the +2"terrafirmas... used a 90deg drill just lifted the car full out of the spring (wheel not on ground anymore)

and you do not drill actualy in the axle but in the bracket welded on top to seat the bumpstop
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O
cheers...fitting Terrafirmas tomorrow so ideal timing,

thanks again
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O
RogerB. said:
I have 2"spacers under the standard OEM bags and to prevent damage to the bags because of compressing too far and not resting on the 285/75R16 wheels if lowered on its bumps, I bolted a 2"thick disc of the same plastic the spacers are made of onto the axle where the bumpstop touches it..... original bumps stay on the chassis

View attachment 109458
just drilled a hole in the metal plate on the axle, cut m8 thread and bolted the block onto the axle, the updated version has an allanbolt that lays inside the block.
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Hi again RogerB, apologies to trouble you once more.

I have been designing and drawing this morning, so, just to confirm my brain is working more or less right before I order billets for manufacture - am I correct in saying in this instance the spacer length under the bumpstop is relative to the tyre size and not the suspension lift - we're trying to prevent tyre/body contact on EAS collapse here so the suspension lift is of little consequence yes? - I've measured the diameter of the standard tyre, compared it to my own, and the difference between the two is the the bumpstop lift requirement - have I got that about right?

cheers again for your help :-D
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Escape
If the blocks you are using when parked are a tight fit when the car is in offroad height, it's possible the EAS ECU doesn't see enough difference and wont pump up. You could try with slightly smaller blocks. Or better yet, disable the self-levelling, like I and many others have done (extra relay in series with the EAS timer). That way if one bag leaks, the EAS will not let air out of the others and should pump up immediately.

Filip
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G
Hi, OIS

I made them primairily to prevent the bags being pressed together more than in the standard setup, that is why mine are the same thickness as the spacers under the airbags.

convenient effect is that the tyres won't be the bumpstop anymore ( LoL) you could probably make them less than 2" and still not get on the tyre when the car is on the bumps.

(by the way, new bumps and bumps the car has been resting on for about a year.....that is allso quiet a difference.)
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skyguy
I don't want to jinx myself but, I have Gen III Arnotts, and Terafirmas with 265 60 18 Perelli scorpion ATR only slight rubbing on hard slow turn. No dropping over night and it gets cold here in the Midwest.
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O
I'm on 285/75 R16 with a big off set (not ideal, but it had them fitted when bought)

They rubbed on motorway height before I re-calibrated and played with the settings (she still on inhibit now just in case as they're still very close, but the sensors wouldn't let me take her up any more) and the body is well on them when the EAS is down - I reckon the bump extensions is the way forward, combined with new bump rubbers.

Thanks for everyones assistance - I'll post the results when they're made :wink:
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