What follows is a long, sorry tale. If you want to know the meat, it's at the end. If you want to sympathise with me, read from here on in!
So, this weekend (Thursday) I headed up to Skye with the inlaws to finalise some stuff for our wedding in April. Decided to take the Range Rover as it was going to be a leisurely drive with all the time in the world.
I've been using it as my daily for over a month without any EAS issues at all - it was used to move house at the end of December, too.
Anyway. Picked them up on Thursday from the train station. Their luggage in the back and 4 adults - no problems. Load up our luggage when we get home and set off - no problem. After around an hour, it comes up with an EAS error 'EAS Fault' and all the lights flash. I was a bit annoyed because I'd decided at the last minute not to pack my laptop as I didn't want any excuse to be able to do work! About 20 minutes later, it flashes up again with an EAS error however, this time, it's giving me the Max Speed error. It all felt fine so I carried on (was nothing else I could do given my situation and where I was - half way up the A9). By the time I was approaching Inverness I could feel the backside of the car was sitting quite low and any large bumps in the road would result in the rear hitting the bump stops. My other half phoned a garage in Inverness who deal with RR's and they said to bring it in on our way and he'd see what was going on. As it was parked out side he noticed that the back end was sitting low. By the time i'd fired it up and brought it over, it was a bit higher.
It came up with some faults - valve stuck closed, signal error from one of the sensors and air supply fault. He reset the error and checked the levels - all seemed fine although the backend did seem a bit different between NSR and OSR. One more check and all was well. This was at 5pm so technically he should have closed already.
Back on the road and within around 3 miles the fault comes back (on the Kessock Bridge). Knowing he was now shut I decided it was best to carry on as there was nothing anyone could do. Got to Dingwall (~17 miles) and it was on the bump stops. So I drove all the way from Dingwall, to Staffin, in Skye (119 miles), with a fully loaded car on the bump stops. Let me tell you, that is not something you want to do. Ever. I travelled at around 30mph the entire way on the twisty and bumpy roads - it was hell.
On Friday morning I was calling around everywhere I could find to see if they could fix it. I got a hold of one garage who thought they could so I left at 8:15am towards Dunvegan. 2 hours later (38 miles) after the most bone shaking, neck braking journey ever, I arrived. They couldn't fix it but pointed me in the direction of an LR engineer who would see me right. So, another 30 minutes in the car on seriously bad single track roads, I arrived. This guy has all the kit. He doesn't operate a garage, it's just him working from home with a converted barn - he was putting in a new 2 poster to work on cars but he had a ramp at the back with an old Classic on it. Loads of kit in the barn as well as engines and old Rovers. Outside were P38's, 2-3 Classics, other old Rovers. He had all the diagnostics from way back in the day as well as the EAS Unlock suite. Anyway, I digress.
Similar faults were road as before so he had a look at the compressor and valve block - they all seemed to be working fine. He also had a look at the rear height sensors and while he didn't think there were any problems with them, he did say that one was a little loose and the other had a corroded bracket. Unfortunately, he didn't have a working valve block with him as the few he had were in need of repair. So, fault reset and EAS pumped back up. A bit of messing around adding weight to the car etc and no issues found. He mentioned if it happens again to pop round and he'd let me take the laptop away with me and I can post it back. Bonus!
So, off I go. Car feels GREAT. Snow storm hits.. so it's a 1.5 hour journey back as I'm easing it along the barely visible roads back to where we were staying. I get back, other half reminds me we need to go to the registry office to register stuff.. so a quick coffee and we're back in the car. 40 minutes in? Yes... EAS fault again. Despite this, it wasn't losing air and it was still sitting up. Got home, parked up and called it a day.
In the morning we decided to head home simply because the weather was appalling and we'd have more to do back here in Edinburgh. So, as a precaution (and taking advice from the LR engineer) I fired up the car and let it run for a bit then slowly added the luggage. No change in height but with the EAS fault still there. Then one by one we got in the car (leaving a minute or so between each). All in and it was fine! 2 miles down the road? Yup. Same max speed error. Once again, I carried on and we stopped at the wedding venue (51 miles) and it did end up on the bump stops after around 20 miles. When we got there the Hotel arranged a hire car for me which I used to drive to the LR specialist to pick up his laptop and cable. 2 hours later I was back at the hotel with the laptop and I cleared the faults and got it pumped back up again. Faults were similar to before; air supply fault and one of the rear sensors was having problems. I did't take any specific notes as by this time I was really tired and fed up.. just wanted to get home.
It was 6pm before we all got back in the car and started what would be become the longest journey back from Skye I've ever experienced. Again, after 3-4 miles the fault came back with max speed warning. This time, though, it didn't really deflate much at all. It would beep up with the same warning and the EAS lights flashing everytime we went over a bad join in the road or a hump but air remained in the bags and it was relatively comfortable.
Snow and wind forced us to drive at around 20mph for most of the journey back to Inverness where I stopped to refuel and check the level of the car. It was sitting a bit lower than 'normal' height but I decided it would be best to press on rather than resetting again. We hit the A9 and just outside Inverness I was right down to 20-30mph again due to the state of the road and the amount of snow. I did stop just after Newtonmore to check the levels and pump it back up with a reset. That part of the journey had taken 3 hours. After pumping it back up (10pm, side of the road) we set off and as per, the error came back within half a mile and we were stopped by the Police. Not because I'd done anything wrong but because of the roads. We waited around for 10 minutes then got going again.... with our own 2 police car escort and 2 ploughs/gritters up front clearing the road. It was about 4 hours before we got home. This journey usually takes me 3.5-4 hours in total from Skye to Edinburgh. On this occasion, from leaving Staffin to walking through the door back in Edinburgh it was just under 8 hours.
I read the fault codes back here at home yesterday and it was similar to that as before; stuck valve, incorrect signal from a rear sensors and air supply fault. We were out and about in town yesterday (4 adults) and there wasn't a single issue with it. Again, today, I took them back to the station with their luggage (and 4 adults) and no problems.
So - down to the problem at hand.
It would seem that the extra weight in the car has shown up a problem with the EAS somewhere. Something that hasn't come up while under normal load or with 4 adults and a bit of luggage. As my resets were purely to get us going again under difficult situations, I didn't at any time take a proper note of what was displayed so, at this moment, I don't know what the *exact* errors were. However, knowing that it mentioned the rear sensors, a stuck valve and air supply problem, I've decided that it would probably be a good idea to replace the 2 rear sensors and possibly refurb the valve block. I also have a refurb kit for the compressor however it's relatively new anyway and it seems to be working quite well aside from the problems over the weekend. I have, however, noticed that sometimes in the mornings it would take a while to rise as it will have dropped slightly over night. Would this be due to a problem with the valve block?
1) Do I replace the sensors at the rear or are they serviceable items?
2) Should I do a complete valve block refurb - all the valves and orings etc?
3) What, in all that is holy, possessed me to think I should leave my laptop at home?
4) How long does it take for your bones to heal and return to normal after such a horrible experience?
Thanks for reading.. and for any advice you can give
So, this weekend (Thursday) I headed up to Skye with the inlaws to finalise some stuff for our wedding in April. Decided to take the Range Rover as it was going to be a leisurely drive with all the time in the world.
I've been using it as my daily for over a month without any EAS issues at all - it was used to move house at the end of December, too.
Anyway. Picked them up on Thursday from the train station. Their luggage in the back and 4 adults - no problems. Load up our luggage when we get home and set off - no problem. After around an hour, it comes up with an EAS error 'EAS Fault' and all the lights flash. I was a bit annoyed because I'd decided at the last minute not to pack my laptop as I didn't want any excuse to be able to do work! About 20 minutes later, it flashes up again with an EAS error however, this time, it's giving me the Max Speed error. It all felt fine so I carried on (was nothing else I could do given my situation and where I was - half way up the A9). By the time I was approaching Inverness I could feel the backside of the car was sitting quite low and any large bumps in the road would result in the rear hitting the bump stops. My other half phoned a garage in Inverness who deal with RR's and they said to bring it in on our way and he'd see what was going on. As it was parked out side he noticed that the back end was sitting low. By the time i'd fired it up and brought it over, it was a bit higher.
It came up with some faults - valve stuck closed, signal error from one of the sensors and air supply fault. He reset the error and checked the levels - all seemed fine although the backend did seem a bit different between NSR and OSR. One more check and all was well. This was at 5pm so technically he should have closed already.
Back on the road and within around 3 miles the fault comes back (on the Kessock Bridge). Knowing he was now shut I decided it was best to carry on as there was nothing anyone could do. Got to Dingwall (~17 miles) and it was on the bump stops. So I drove all the way from Dingwall, to Staffin, in Skye (119 miles), with a fully loaded car on the bump stops. Let me tell you, that is not something you want to do. Ever. I travelled at around 30mph the entire way on the twisty and bumpy roads - it was hell.
On Friday morning I was calling around everywhere I could find to see if they could fix it. I got a hold of one garage who thought they could so I left at 8:15am towards Dunvegan. 2 hours later (38 miles) after the most bone shaking, neck braking journey ever, I arrived. They couldn't fix it but pointed me in the direction of an LR engineer who would see me right. So, another 30 minutes in the car on seriously bad single track roads, I arrived. This guy has all the kit. He doesn't operate a garage, it's just him working from home with a converted barn - he was putting in a new 2 poster to work on cars but he had a ramp at the back with an old Classic on it. Loads of kit in the barn as well as engines and old Rovers. Outside were P38's, 2-3 Classics, other old Rovers. He had all the diagnostics from way back in the day as well as the EAS Unlock suite. Anyway, I digress.
Similar faults were road as before so he had a look at the compressor and valve block - they all seemed to be working fine. He also had a look at the rear height sensors and while he didn't think there were any problems with them, he did say that one was a little loose and the other had a corroded bracket. Unfortunately, he didn't have a working valve block with him as the few he had were in need of repair. So, fault reset and EAS pumped back up. A bit of messing around adding weight to the car etc and no issues found. He mentioned if it happens again to pop round and he'd let me take the laptop away with me and I can post it back. Bonus!
So, off I go. Car feels GREAT. Snow storm hits.. so it's a 1.5 hour journey back as I'm easing it along the barely visible roads back to where we were staying. I get back, other half reminds me we need to go to the registry office to register stuff.. so a quick coffee and we're back in the car. 40 minutes in? Yes... EAS fault again. Despite this, it wasn't losing air and it was still sitting up. Got home, parked up and called it a day.
In the morning we decided to head home simply because the weather was appalling and we'd have more to do back here in Edinburgh. So, as a precaution (and taking advice from the LR engineer) I fired up the car and let it run for a bit then slowly added the luggage. No change in height but with the EAS fault still there. Then one by one we got in the car (leaving a minute or so between each). All in and it was fine! 2 miles down the road? Yup. Same max speed error. Once again, I carried on and we stopped at the wedding venue (51 miles) and it did end up on the bump stops after around 20 miles. When we got there the Hotel arranged a hire car for me which I used to drive to the LR specialist to pick up his laptop and cable. 2 hours later I was back at the hotel with the laptop and I cleared the faults and got it pumped back up again. Faults were similar to before; air supply fault and one of the rear sensors was having problems. I did't take any specific notes as by this time I was really tired and fed up.. just wanted to get home.
It was 6pm before we all got back in the car and started what would be become the longest journey back from Skye I've ever experienced. Again, after 3-4 miles the fault came back with max speed warning. This time, though, it didn't really deflate much at all. It would beep up with the same warning and the EAS lights flashing everytime we went over a bad join in the road or a hump but air remained in the bags and it was relatively comfortable.
Snow and wind forced us to drive at around 20mph for most of the journey back to Inverness where I stopped to refuel and check the level of the car. It was sitting a bit lower than 'normal' height but I decided it would be best to press on rather than resetting again. We hit the A9 and just outside Inverness I was right down to 20-30mph again due to the state of the road and the amount of snow. I did stop just after Newtonmore to check the levels and pump it back up with a reset. That part of the journey had taken 3 hours. After pumping it back up (10pm, side of the road) we set off and as per, the error came back within half a mile and we were stopped by the Police. Not because I'd done anything wrong but because of the roads. We waited around for 10 minutes then got going again.... with our own 2 police car escort and 2 ploughs/gritters up front clearing the road. It was about 4 hours before we got home. This journey usually takes me 3.5-4 hours in total from Skye to Edinburgh. On this occasion, from leaving Staffin to walking through the door back in Edinburgh it was just under 8 hours.
I read the fault codes back here at home yesterday and it was similar to that as before; stuck valve, incorrect signal from a rear sensors and air supply fault. We were out and about in town yesterday (4 adults) and there wasn't a single issue with it. Again, today, I took them back to the station with their luggage (and 4 adults) and no problems.
So - down to the problem at hand.
It would seem that the extra weight in the car has shown up a problem with the EAS somewhere. Something that hasn't come up while under normal load or with 4 adults and a bit of luggage. As my resets were purely to get us going again under difficult situations, I didn't at any time take a proper note of what was displayed so, at this moment, I don't know what the *exact* errors were. However, knowing that it mentioned the rear sensors, a stuck valve and air supply problem, I've decided that it would probably be a good idea to replace the 2 rear sensors and possibly refurb the valve block. I also have a refurb kit for the compressor however it's relatively new anyway and it seems to be working quite well aside from the problems over the weekend. I have, however, noticed that sometimes in the mornings it would take a while to rise as it will have dropped slightly over night. Would this be due to a problem with the valve block?
1) Do I replace the sensors at the rear or are they serviceable items?
2) Should I do a complete valve block refurb - all the valves and orings etc?
3) What, in all that is holy, possessed me to think I should leave my laptop at home?
4) How long does it take for your bones to heal and return to normal after such a horrible experience?
Thanks for reading.. and for any advice you can give
