Air suspension problems

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Maxfred

Member
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37
Hello
I’ve recently been having problems with my air suspension system on my p38 Range Rover

it’s been taking forever to rise in the morning .Also whilst out shopping on Monday it would not rise at all and was on access level luckily I wasn’t far from home a very bumpy journey
Today I was able to select any height and the car would move up or down quite quickly but when I selected high the orange arrow on the dash would appear but not turn off ,it would go out on all the other height settings though?
So today connected the rsw software and noticed all the previous calibration settings I set months ago had changed? Please see photo
The lower values were set by me and calibrated by measuring wheel arch to centre of wheel
The higher values I don’t know how they have appeared? I have now reset them
back

I have manage to photograph all the recent faults

I’m a novice at this and would appreciate any help or advice
Thanks Alec
 

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If its taking a long time to rise then the compressor is probably worn out you can fit a rebuild kit look at the seller x8r on ebay
 
Last edited:
It does sound like a weak compressor 😵
Open the eas box, unbolt the three feet for the compressor and undo the blue pipe.
Turn the pump on with the rsw software and check the airflow from the pump head. It's should just blow past your thumb with a short burst of pressure. If not the pump could well be tired. 👍
 
Were you getting good idle & reliable communications when reading those values >> 200. Unless the ECU got seriously compromised they look like bad communications ??
 
Hello
Thank you very much for the replies
I posted this thread twice by mistake so I will only reply to this thread ,Sorry!

Ok so the compressor was new last year ,but I have tested the pressure from the pump head as suggested and it’s quite strong .

I think I will look for leaks ,I have removed the timer relay and will check the height tomorrow

Thank you very much
 
Remove the exhaust from the valveblock with the compressor running and make sure it isn't venting while the pump is running.

Also it looks like you have no comms from the number of spurious faults do you have the green "good idle"

also the height readings are well out of range probably due to the lack of comms each height setting has an acceptable range of "bits"

45 - 255.
 
Hello Henry
Thank you very much
You are spot on I had bad idle it would only flicker green ,but was bad / red so after some head banging trying to download the correct drivers .I used my other laptop and now have good idle didn’t realise at first
Pwood999 did mention it aswell
Yes now that I have good idle the correct calibration bits are back

I will remove the exhaust valve as suggested,I’m new to this so not too sure how to ?

Also I left the car sitting on standard height without the timer relay connected for two day and noticed the front drivers side had lost height by 35mm centre wheel to wheel arch Is that normal?
If that’s a leak do I need to remove the plastic panel inside the wheel arch to check the air bag for leaks or can I access this from a lift
I have put soapy water on top of the bag by the collet where the pipe enters no leaks

If the air bag is fine would a leak from the valve block cause the corner to drop

Thanks Alec
 
Maxfred said:
Hello Henry
Thank you very much
You are spot on I had bad idle it would only flicker green ,but was bad / red so after some head banging trying to download the correct drivers .I used my other laptop and now have good idle didn’t realise at first
Pwood999 did mention it aswell
Yes now that I have good idle the correct calibration bits are back

I will remove the exhaust valve as suggested,I’m new to this so not too sure how to ?

Also I left the car sitting on standard height without the timer relay connected for two day and noticed the front drivers side had lost height by 35mm centre wheel to wheel arch Is that normal?
If that’s a leak do I need to remove the plastic panel inside the wheel arch to check the air bag for leaks or can I access this from a lift
I have put soapy water on top of the bag by the collet where the pipe enters no leaks

If the air bag is fine would a leak from the valve block cause the corner to drop

Thanks Alec
Click to expand...
That 35mm drop confirms there is a leak. The bags leak where they fold under at the bottom, not at the top. Put it up to wade height and spray soapy water. You may also see that the bag is cracked and perished. Life expectancy of the airbags is 8 years 80K miles. A leaking airbag is much more likely than a problem with the valve block.
 
You can access the front airbag pipes from the engine bay. Spray these with soapy water as well, although it's more likely to be perished bags as above.
 
Thank you again great help !
I’m guessing I can access the air bag from underneath the vehicle whilst on a lift ?
Or can I spray soapy water on the back by removing the inner wing plastic panel

Thanks Alec
 
Just look underneath you can access the bags quite easily.

Just look at the condition of the bellows probably best at wade height. :)
 
Hello
I managed to check the front drivers airbag today .
At first it seemed ok , I was wrongly expecting to see / feel a high pressure leak with loads of bubbles

But patiently I watched and waited and I could see very small pin hole air bubbles foaming up where I sprayed the soapy water
So new air bags ordered

Thanks again for all the help
 

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Maxfred said:
Hello
I managed to check the front drivers airbag today .
At first it seemed ok , I was wrongly expecting to see / feel a high pressure leak with loads of bubbles

But patiently I watched and waited and I could see very small pin hole air bubbles foaming up where I sprayed the soapy water
So new air bags ordered

Thanks again for all the help
Click to expand...
Yes, that is where they fail, on the fold. If the fronts are bad, the rears are likely to be worse.
 
Hello
I finally got round to changing the front air bags yesterday ,but she just won’t rise up

I have left the door open for a while to refill compressor but the light just flashes constantly
The compressor is working,I have removed the filter and it sucks quite strongly
I have removed the blue hose underneath and is blowing strongly
I have checked for leaks and found that the white filter on the valve box is leaking air when the pump is on ?
Is this called the exhaust filter and is it venting as suggested by Henry
How do I fix this
Thank you kindly
 

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Either diaphragm valve is split, or solenoid not operating. The solenoid is connected to pump 12v so should be on with pump.
 
Thank you very much
To replace the diaphragm valve I assume that’s a rebuild kit
How can I test the solenoid?

Thank you again
 
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