2003 TD5 rear airbags won't inflate

Groutmanshaun · May 9, 2017

Hello to everyone,
Just wondered if anyone could help me please. We have just bought our first TD5 a few week ago and it's an awesome vehicle bit today I have had it up on the ramp and adjusted the hand brake (easy enough). Problem is when we brought it back down the arsenal end is sat on the deck and won't lift back up. Am I missing something/is there something I should be pressing to bring it back up. Any input would be massively appreciated.

jamesmartin · May 9, 2017

ensure all doors are shut,ans sensors on both trailing arms are still attached

neilly · May 9, 2017

Hi ,

Sounds like fun.
Try jacking the rear end up to get it to the normal height. Then try starting the engine.

Did you hae it on a two post lift?

Cheers

Groutmanshaun · May 9, 2017

Made sure all doors and bonnet was shut and I've tried to Jack up but nothing it was fine until it's been on the ramp today and yes it was a 2 post ramp neilly

Vanmancan · May 9, 2017

Does it try to lift or make any noise /dash lights when you press the lift button on dash

Groutmanshaun · May 9, 2017

Doesn't seem to make an effort when started or lift button pressed. I don't think it could sit any lower physically its weird as it was fine

brian47 · May 10, 2017

When @neilly suggested jacking up the rear end, he meant that you should jack the body up leaving the wheels on the ground. The best place to try this is under the tow bar.

Groutmanshaun · May 10, 2017

brian47 said:
When @neilly suggested jacking up the rear end, he meant that you should jack the body up leaving the wheels on the ground. The best place to try this is under the tow bar.

Hi Brian,
This is what I did, I put a 2 tonne trolley jack under the tow bar and progressively raised until offload light stopped flashing on dash as I had pressed the button to try lift the car. Once light had stopped flashing I slowly let the jack off and it just hit the deck again. I have I feeling the compressor isn't kicking in.

GATSO · May 10, 2017

sounds like a level sensor fault put 2 new ones on mine as it did a similar thing and would not raise ,,,all good now

Groutmanshaun · May 10, 2017

GATSO said:
sounds like a level sensor fault put 2 new ones on mine as it did a similar thing and would not raise ,,,all good now

I'm thinking of giving them a try, cheaper option to compressor first

neilly · May 10, 2017

OK, I am going to ask a really stupid question.

Did you have the engine running?

Also, without pressing the ORM button try jacking the car up with the wheels on the ground using the tow bar, aim to get the ctr of wheel to bottom edge of wheelarch to about 473mm . then start the engine.

If you had the car on the 2 post ramp did you have the wheels hanging in the air? as the sensors may have gone to a point they are not used to, it may be you have somehow damaged them.
Another silly thing, is there a chance you have them pointed in the wrong direction? I have gone to help someone who replaced one sensor before and put the elbow facing the wrong way so it always sensed it was over height and would not raise the car on that sensors side.

If the compressor was overworking before, I have heard of them going into a "locked out" mode as a safety feature ( altho , I have never seen it) . Do you have access to a nanocom or similar to help trouble shoot.

Cheers

davidsmith1307 · May 10, 2017

If the offroad light stopped flashing as it was jacked up then it must be getting some height info from the sensors.
Can you hear the compressor running or feel it run if you put your hand on it?

Groutmanshaun · May 10, 2017

neilly said:
OK, I am going to ask a really stupid question.

Did you have the engine running?

Also, without pressing the ORM button try jacking the car up with the wheels on the ground using the tow bar, aim to get the ctr of wheel to bottom edge of wheelarch to about 473mm . then start the engine.

If you had the car on the 2 post ramp did you have the wheels hanging in the air? as the sensors may have gone to a point they are not used to, it may be you have somehow damaged them.
Another silly thing, is there a chance you have them pointed in the wrong direction? I have gone to help someone who replaced one sensor before and put the elbow facing the wrong way so it always sensed it was over height and would not raise the car on that sensors side.

If the compressor was overworking before, I have heard of them going into a "locked out" mode as a safety feature ( altho , I have never seen it) . Do you have access to a nanocom or similar to help trouble shoot.

Cheers

Hi yes car was running but to no avale. Maybe I've screwed the sensors as it was on 2 post ramp and I was amazed at how far the axles hung down. Were going to plug diagnostic in later to see if there is anything but thinking may change sensors. The sensor elbows are pointing toward the front of the car is this correct?

neilly · May 10, 2017

Groutmanshaun said:
The sensor elbows are pointing toward the front of the car is this correct?

I hope so , as both mine point towards the front of the car.

If you are changing the sensors then do make sure to disconnect the battery first, hopefully you will not need to recalibrate.

You did not disconnect the sensors with the battery connected did you?

Cheers

ovalandrover · May 10, 2017

When the car is on the ground look underneath and make shure theairbags dont have a kink in them as when let down without air in them they do not fold back over themselves and sometimes the bottom seal is damaged. the way to cure that is jack the cer up under the towbar untill wheels are off the ground and then inflate airbags so when the car is lowered the bag will fold bag over themselves.

jamesmartin · May 10, 2017

neilly said:
I hope so , as both mine point towards the front of the car.

If you are changing the sensors then do make sure to disconnect the battery first, hopefully you will not need to recalibrate.

You did not disconnect the sensors with the battery connected did you?

Cheers

it might be good practice but its not necessary

jamesmartin · May 10, 2017

Groutmanshaun said:
Hi yes car was running but to no avale. Maybe I've screwed the sensors as it was on 2 post ramp and I was amazed at how far the axles hung down. Were going to plug diagnostic in later to see if there is anything but thinking may change sensors. The sensor elbows are pointing toward the front of the car is this correct?

do the diagnostic first if theres nothing unplug compressor and try again too create a fault then clear that it often gets system working if fault is non running compressor presumably youve checked fuse and relay

sierrafery · May 10, 2017

That battery disconnection thing is not necessary ONLY if the car stood more than 1.5 hours after the ignition was off or more than 30 minutes after a door was opened cos then the SLABS is inactive, within those periods the ECU is active and disconnecting a sensor will store a related fault code and may loose target heights then a tester is needed...so IMO is a good practice anyway...even if battery was disconnected a calibration might be necessary if you want the vehicle on PERFECT level cos you'll not find two sensor with 100% same inputs even if they are close and the height difference is not noticeable

About the OP's issue there might be a "compressor duty cycle exceeded" fault code stored then it will not run untill the code is cleared

Groutmanshaun · May 10, 2017

jamesmartin said:
do the diagnostic first if theres nothing unplug compressor and try again too create a fault then clear that it often gets system working if fault is non running compressor presumably youve checked fuse and relay

Hi yes fuse and relay both ok

brianconwy · May 10, 2017

Is the bottom part of the ride height sensor supposed to pivot where the bush is? On mine the bottom attachment locks the bush in place. I notice the rubber part flexes at this point.

2003 TD5 rear airbags won't inflate

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