Bear in mind if the system is out of air, it will take a couple of km for it to pump itself up. Where you say 4 or 5 times, is that in quick succession, or over a period of say 5 to 10 minutes? Next time it does this, I would stop and put the car into access, and wait for the pump to switch off (if it stops immediately, wait a few seconds and it will come back on; it should be no longer than 4-5 minutes to pressurise an empty tank) then press the up button and it should rise straight away. When the car is slow to rise the pump should be running.
A dislogged oring in one of the non-return valves can cause slow rising and lowering, but I imagine it would do it all the time, not just sporatically.

 

Guess I am a little confused as to when exactly it does it too.
It always raises or is level first thing in the morning?
Are you playing with the eas heights when it slows down?
Raising slowly is perfectly normal if the tank is low for any reason (like just adjusting it to various heights etc).
Try to empty the tank by raising and lowering it a couple of times, then when it is not raising any more, time the compressor. A good compressor will take @8minutes to fill the air tank. You should be able to hear the compressor shutting off when the tank is full. Do the time test with a door open so it is only filling the tank and not the airbags.

Martin

 

the times can be from 2minutes to half an hour or more. the time the vehicle has sat doesn't seem to make all that much of a difference. the last time I drove it, it lifted strait away I drove 10mins to the post office. i put the car in access mode dropped of my parcel and was back out in 2mins tops and wouldn't lift more than a few mm at a time.

I'll go out and do some timing that might help me get to the bottom of it.

 

first test I emptied the tank with my tyre gauge and timed the refill. it took approximately 8mins 10seconds to fill and turn off. i re inserted my tyre gauge and it's showing about 85PSI pressure in the tank. I dont have a lot of faith in the accuracy of my ten dollar tyre inflater because it was showing 100psi before i let all the air out and that was after an over night sit.

i'll give it some time and see if the pressure drops much in the tank I am leaving the door open so nothing moves.

 

8~ h'mm a little confused now I did a quick check after about 20mins and the guage shows 5 psi drop. what seems strange is that i restarted the car and it has now pumped up to 140psi and seems to be holding ok.

should it have pumped to 140psi the first time rather than the 80psi it stopped at. the pump doesn't seem hot and to my knowlegde the previous owner had it replaced last year with the valve block and rear bags.

 

@140psi is close to where they should be.

Martin

 

When I had air, after driving mine would consistently go to 140 psi and then dropped after it sat for awhile,
I found leaks on at the EAS box where the lines go in. I replaced the o-rings and the problem was solved..

 

/ just had another quick look and it has dropped 20psi since my last post. I guess now my first job is to locate all the leaks and fix them and then see how it goes.

next after that i will have to attend to the missing coolent, the occasional ABS fault warning and the no longer working cruise control :doh:

 

Coolant, look at my o ring thread maybe?
Cruise, look at the rubber vacuum lines.
ABS, dont know your symptoms so cant help you there.
But I can assure, I have had all the faults you have now mate! :lol:

Martin

 

well the coolant i don't know where it's leaking but is definitely dropping on a daily basis. I had a leak under the dash but poked the drain tubes and it cleared up. the vehicle was recently over heated after the water pump self destructed so i suspect head gaskets. (oil looks clear and not increasing in level)

I recently repaired the rubber tubes and the cruise worked well after that but not any more also cant hear the relay or switch clicking anymore to activate the cruise so suspect maybe there is an electrical fault somewhere but i cant find a fuse for the cruise control.

:think: ABS there doesn't seem to be any symptoms just an ABS fault warning and the ABS light on until the ignition is switched off and the vehicle restarted then all good again. it has done it twice so far in a 2 week period.

 

well the coolant i don't know where it's leaking but is definitely dropping on a daily basis. I had a leak under the dash but poked the drain tubes and it cleared up. the vehicle was recently over heated after the water pump self destructed so i suspect head gaskets. (oil looks clear and not increasing in level)

I recently repaired the rubber tubes and the cruise worked well after that but not any more also cant hear the relay or switch clicking anymore to activate the cruise so suspect maybe there is an electrical fault somewhere but i cant find a fuse for the cruise control.

:think: ABS there doesn't seem to be any symptoms just an ABS fault warning and the ABS light on until the ignition is switched off and the vehicle restarted then all good again. it has done it twice so far in a 2 week period.

Any white smoke out the tailpipe when you start it or gas on it? the coolant is obviously going somewhere. I would feel all around the passenger (NAS) side of the center stack and carpet area to see if it is wet at all. Any drops under the rig after it has been parked? If so, where are they?
I went through all the tests on the cruise, and turned out to be a bad cruise ecm. If you do not hear any clicking when you push the buttons then that may be your issue as well. Scotty will hook a brutha right up :thumb:
Sounds like maybe a wheel sensor is slightly out of whack for the ABS. Try reseating (tap them down until they stop going further) the ABS sensors and try that.

Martin

 

ok i'll have to do some more reading and figure out what or where the ABS sensors are. :think:

no white smoke and the engine doesn't blow noticeable smoke on acceleration which I think is impressive after 265'000k's
misses now tells me she saw water dripping next to her feet a week ago and also said the carpet was wet but it's all dry now with no drops.(drivers side LHD vehicle.

I have been under the car when it's cold and when it's been running but have not spotted water yet it could be evaporating before I can see it.

ok I'll need to read up on whats an ECM lol.

 

I'm wondering how you use a tire pressure gauge to check the EAS tank pressure.
Typically, pump shut-off is about 140 psi.
Pump turn-on is around 100-ish, if I recall correctly.

If you get in the car at home at access & drive 5 minutes, then go back to access, then back to drive height (standard height or highway height?), you're using a fair bit of air.

8 minutes to fill an empty tank is a pretty close to perfect compressor.
Mine runs 10-12 minutes, which I consider close enough for government work for now.

going up from access to standard will deplete some air, so the pump now needs to run. Should the 5-minute drive give it enough time? probably. But, if the EAS needs to adjust down during the drive (sometimes it does), the pump goes off during down move.
So, arrive at the post, drop to access - pump is now off during the down, then car is shut off.
if it decides to level after you're out of the car, it'll drop a little further.
few minutes later, hop back in, and back up to standard. yeah, i can see the tank getting down there a bit.

self-leveling does not use air, it ALWAYS levels down.
Also, tank fill is not "linear"; which is to say the first 20psi goes in a lot faster than the last 20psi.
So, 8 minutes from empty to full does not imply 4 minutes from 75 to 150psi.

 

ok i'll have to do some more reading and figure out what or where the ABS sensors are. :think:

no white smoke and the engine doesn't blow noticeable smoke on acceleration which I think is impressive after 265'000k's
misses now tells me she saw water dripping next to her feet a week ago and also said the carpet was wet but it's all dry now with no drops.(drivers side LHD vehicle.

I have been under the car when it's cold and when it's been running but have not spotted water yet it could be evaporating before I can see it.

ok I'll need to read up on whats an ECM lol.

ABS sensors are on the knuckles on the front axle on the earlier models (later ones have 4 wheel ABS, so sensors on the rear axle too). You will see wires going to the top of the knuckle, that is the ABS sensor. You can pull it out with pliers to check it is clean and not covered in grease etc. After that, tap it all the way down with a small hammer to make sure it is all the way seated. It will put itself to the correct gap when you drive it.
If the carpet was wet, may be a small O ring leak. Investigate further before more damage occurs IMO.
ECM is the brain box for the various items like ABS, cruise control, HVAC, and so on. Each system has its own ECM.

Martin

Martin

 

`) well when I went to undo the drain plug on the air tank i found some bright spark had installed an air hose fitting where the plug should be. so I just inserted my tyre gauge to drain the tank and if there is no valve in the end of my tyre gauge it does not let air out so whilst you have the trigger depressed the air in the tank fills the tyre inflater and operates the gauge.

a job for one day will be to install some air hose points and a pressure gauge in a more conveniant position.

 

if I'm using the air faster than I'm replacing it and the car will more often than not be doing short trips around the shops would it be advisable to put another small tank under the car to increase the capacity. would this put more strain on the compressor due to it running longer?

 

if I'm using the air faster than I'm replacing it and the car will more often than not be doing short trips around the shops would it be advisable to put another small tank under the car to increase the capacity. would this put more strain on the compressor due to it running longer?

Uhm.. no. There is nothing wrong with the original design. THere is no way you are using "air faster than you are replacing it" IF your system is functional. Adding a tank will do nothing but wear out a failing compressor faster. Do the obvious tests for compressor function. Check your bags in EVERY level. Chances are you are dealing with a failing fompressor or leaking bags.