EAS keeps auto-selecting off road height...

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P38_love/hatething

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Belfast, N.Ireland
I replaced my rear air pipes recently. Don't think this has anything to do with it, but just history. Had a blowing exhaust which melted the lines. Replaced them and everything all good for a couple of hundred miles.

Was away on holiday last week and took my laptop along with my newly acquired EAS cable and software (just in case). Covered about 250 miles before showing any signs of problems, then started lifting itself to off road height - first noticed it when parked up and it looked really high. Also the wife's short legs couldn't get in... maybe a good thing...

Shortly after, threw a hard fault (35mph warning) so plugged in the laptop and read faults and reset. Drove fine for about 60 miles but still wanted to go to off road height, then another fault but stayed fully inflated and managed to drive all the way home before reset. Now it trys to raise to off road height when driving slowly (below 35mph - above 35 it automatically comes back down as it should)

Faults read a couple of times as below:
1st hard fault - said FL valve stuck closed (cleared and nothing more)
2nd hard fault - said pressure signal constantly low (or something like it)
No more faults, but still trying to raise. Now only fault reading is that 'vehicle has moved'.

Anyone got any ideas as to what the hell its doing? Goes up and down fine, and into motorway mode and everything automatically. If anything, its a bit slow at the minute to move up or down...

2000 4.0 HSE, 130k miles... Cheers (sorry for long winded post)
 
Vehicle has moved............always says that i do belive
I had this going to full height.....usually showed 1 sensor was out of range as well as pressure constantly high.....changed the driver pack and it been fine since.
Driver pack is in EAS box underneath compressor....fidly but no too bad to change.
 
You can get this from a faulty height sensor reading. As you have not logged a height sensor fault it's probably not this but it's still worth going round and cleaning the connectors on the height sensors (NOT WITH WD40) it's often a cheap fix. Next remove the exhaust filter on the EAS box, at the back below the pipes and look for signs of white powder. If wite powder is present, it's the air dryer dessicant breaking up and gumming up the diaphragm etc. You will need to strip and clean the valve block and fit new "O" rings while you are at it. Lastly as already mentioned, it might be the driver pack, but that's expensive!
 
I've got the same problem.

I changed the airbags and it raises itself to off road height. If you manually select off road height and then normal height it is fine-but as soon as you restart the engine up it goes.
I've had the software and cable from Keith but need to wait until Friday as I've left my lap top in work.

As soon as I give it a go I'll report back.
 
My money would be on one of the rear height sensors and the car believes that it's beached and is doing what it's designed to do.



beached?? that's not what I meant - oh bugger it I know what I mean and I haven't eaten yet!!
 
Last edited:
dogsbody said:
My money would be on one of the rear height sensors and the car believes that it's beached and is doing what it's designed to do.



beached?? that's not what I meant - oh bugger it I know what I mean and I haven't eaten yet!!
Click to expand...


I doubt that, as the first thing the EAS ECU does when the chassis is grounded is to deflate the bags. Then when the sensors don't move the way the ECU thinks they should and the speed sensors show loss of traction it inflates them to ground the wheels and get traction.
 
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Thats what I cannot understand with mine.
If you manually select normal height (select off road and then normal) everythings ok-47cm for each wheel and remains like this until next time I start up. Next time I go out and start the car it raises itself immediately to 51cm (the off road height).
If it was a height sensor-wouldn't it be the same in both cases?

Steve
 
stevebrookman said:
Thats what I cannot understand with mine.
If you manually select normal height (select off road and then normal) everythings ok-47cm for each wheel and remains like this until next time I start up. Next time I go out and start the car it raises itself immediately to 51cm (the off road height).
If it was a height sensor-wouldn't it be the same in both cases?

Steve
Click to expand...

You may have a problem with the height selector switch. Or try cleaning the contacts to the EAS ECU.
 
stevebrookman said:
Thats what I cannot understand with mine.
If you manually select normal height (select off road and then normal) everythings ok-47cm for each wheel and remains like this until next time I start up. Next time I go out and start the car it raises itself immediately to 51cm (the off road height).
If it was a height sensor-wouldn't it be the same in both cases?

Steve
Click to expand...

Possibly not when you see the crap inside a height sensor that is worn, in one direction it's possible for the wipers to lift off the track.
 
My money is with Sparky on a faulty driver pack. Mine behaved the same; deciding itself to change height for no apparent reason. I don`t know how to check for this apart from substitution tho`.
 
Hi, 2 friend of mine had the same problem.
One, clean all electric connexions (EAS ECU) and the problem was gone.

The other, solved only with a new drive pack.

Myself had/have the same strange problem, but not every days :cool:,
One thing that I never was enable to fix, is the left side is a little higher than the right ( I spend several hours, trying to level him).
I have 4 new sensors and airbags... and another thing strange, one day I found RR parked more high than I left him:eek:.

Look here some information: http://rswsolutions.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=8&Itemid=62 ,
Try first the easiest things and cheaper..
 
Thanks guys.

I'm going start with the cleaning options (hopefully tonight). Then I'll take everything from there. I refuse to even google the price of a driver pack, beacuse a box of matches is much cheaper...

Can i use electrical cleaner spray on the height sensor connectors?

I've just been for a half mile drive at lunch - just to the shop, but I pushed the inhibit switch and it didn't try move up to off road on the way back. I'm still holding out hope for something silly to be wrong with it... Last week i did a couple of hundred miles with the inhibit switch pushed cause i had a trailer on, still hard-faulted twice...

If it would just stop breaking i could get on with building the garage which is going to be its cosy new home...
 
P38_love/hatething said:
Thanks guys.

I'm going start with the cleaning options (hopefully tonight). Then I'll take everything from there. I refuse to even google the price of a driver pack, beacuse a box of matches is much cheaper...

Can i use electrical cleaner spray on the height sensor connectors?

I've just been for a half mile drive at lunch - just to the shop, but I pushed the inhibit switch and it didn't try move up to off road on the way back. I'm still holding out hope for something silly to be wrong with it... Last week i did a couple of hundred miles with the inhibit switch pushed cause i had a trailer on, still hard-faulted twice...

If it would just stop breaking i could get on with building the garage which is going to be its cosy new home...
Click to expand...

Electrical contact cleaner is good for the sensor contacts but NOT WD40:) Hard faulting makes it sound even more like height sensor problems rather than driver pack.
 
I've been out and had a look - even stole the wifes toothbrush to clean the contacts but haven't got that far yet (and yes, i'll leave the toothbrush back before she notices)

Connected the computer and cycled through the heights. all the numbers on the computer match up quite well in the calibrate window of EAS suite, but when i 'get sensor heights' and when i stand and look at it, the front left is higher than the rest. I've seen this the past few days and suspected something was funny. in a truly scientific way, on access height, i can get three fingers (!) between the tyre and arch on the front left and only two fingers in on the front right.

If one had somehow lost the plot and was sitting higher than the rest, would this confuse the EAS to make it all try to raise to the highest point, i.e front left height?

i hope so. gonna play about with the numbers now (little bit at a time) and actually use a tape to measure. been searching and got the heights... wish me luck. i'll report back
 
P38_love/hatething said:
I've been out and had a look - even stole the wifes toothbrush to clean the contacts but haven't got that far yet (and yes, i'll leave the toothbrush back before she notices)

Connected the computer and cycled through the heights. all the numbers on the computer match up quite well in the calibrate window of EAS suite, but when i 'get sensor heights' and when i stand and look at it, the front left is higher than the rest. I've seen this the past few days and suspected something was funny. in a truly scientific way, on access height, i can get three fingers (!) between the tyre and arch on the front left and only two fingers in on the front right.

If one had somehow lost the plot and was sitting higher than the rest, would this confuse the EAS to make it all try to raise to the highest point, i.e front left height?

i hope so. gonna play about with the numbers now (little bit at a time) and actually use a tape to measure. been searching and got the heights... wish me luck. i'll report back
Click to expand...

Clean the connector before you start playing:)
 
So i cleaned the connectors for the front two height sensors last night but no change. I'm convinced it is the front left height sensor which is at fault as it sits permanently high and causes all the problems. I can select any height and its right all apart from front left bein 25mm or so high. When i drive it is fine for a short while but then wants to go to high setting. My theory is that it's that height sensor confusing the whole system. Before i go for a new sensor, i've read they can be swapped over sides. Is this true, does it work? Does it bugger anything else up?
 
P38_love/hatething said:
So i cleaned the connectors for the front two height sensors last night but no change. I'm convinced it is the front left height sensor which is at fault as it sits permanently high and causes all the problems. I can select any height and its right all apart from front left bein 25mm or so high. When i drive it is fine for a short while but then wants to go to high setting. My theory is that it's that height sensor confusing the whole system. Before i go for a new sensor, i've read they can be swapped over sides. Is this true, does it work? Does it bugger anything else up?
Click to expand...

Depends on year whether they can be swapped side to side. If you can do it it will aid in fault finding but I would still replace the front left even if putting it on fron right seems to cure it. If the track is worn causing the problem, then the worn area will still be partly in use when swapped.
 
It's 2000 so if i'm right they can be swapped but i have to switch wires over. Read that in one of rsw solutions posts. Don't think i.ll bother with that. I.ll go get a sensor in the morning and try it in. Fingers crossed
 
so got a sensor this morning and fitted it. About the easiest job you can do on a P38. Unfortunately, hasn't made a whole lot of difference. I thought it had, and it definitely doesn't try to go to full height as often as it did before - it would have tried it every time i slowed below 35mph for more than 20 seconds before, now it will only do it occasionally (once on a 10 mile journey). I thought for about ten minutes earlier that it was cured but no...

What i also did earlier was take off the eas exhaust filter and cleaned it out - it was full of white powder (sell it - pay for the P38?). But i think cleaning this out has made more of a difference than the sensor!! I'll order a new one along with an air dryer. Could it be that a bunged up exhaust would cause the front bags to not be able to lower, or even one side, meaning it would confuse the system into jumping to a high setting?

I guess i'll be needing a full valve block rebuild kit soon
 
P38_love/hatething said:
so got a sensor this morning and fitted it. About the easiest job you can do on a P38. Unfortunately, hasn't made a whole lot of difference. I thought it had, and it definitely doesn't try to go to full height as often as it did before - it would have tried it every time i slowed below 35mph for more than 20 seconds before, now it will only do it occasionally (once on a 10 mile journey). I thought for about ten minutes earlier that it was cured but no...

What i also did earlier was take off the eas exhaust filter and cleaned it out - it was full of white powder (sell it - pay for the P38?). But i think cleaning this out has made more of a difference than the sensor!! I'll order a new one along with an air dryer. Could it be that a bunged up exhaust would cause the front bags to not be able to lower, or even one side, meaning it would confuse the system into jumping to a high setting?

I guess i'll be needing a full valve block rebuild kit soon
Click to expand...

That white powder is your problem, the air dryer is breaking up. If you dismantle the valve block you will find the diaphragm is choked up with the stuff. Strip the block, clean it well fit new "O" rings and diaphragm and you will find all is OK:)
 
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