P38A My first EAS Fun

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

TallPaulB

Active Member
Posts
146
Location
Manchester, UK
Hi all.

My EAS has been mostly fine for the 6 months or so I've had the car, but since the weather has turned colder I've noticed it's been going down overnight and then taking a while to sit back up in the morning.

Today however I've had the dreaded '35mph slow' message and the car refuses to get off the bump stops.

If I short out the relay the compressor 'runs' but makes a horrible clattering noise.

I opened up the compressor connector, and one of the pins is pretty toasted (see image).

So....just a dead compressor caused by a leak / over use?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDn4EEPH1g5wTykbA
 
Hey there,
Its a leak... Ask me how i bloody know....
Your compressor has died because its feeding a leak....
Itll run forever if the pressure isn't reached in the tank.
So..... You need another compressor and then find out why its constantly running....:confused:
Here is a idea of the fun to be had but maybe not in your case hopefully something easier;)

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/eas-symptoms.338955/

There are also other threads to search full of info.
Good luck..;)
 
I thought as much. Is the charred wire just a symptom of the pump drawing a load of current on its way out?

I've got a spare compressor I can stick on then it's time to break out the soapy squirt bottle!

Cheers!
 
I thought as much. Is the charred wire just a symptom of the pump drawing a load of current on its way out?

I've got a spare compressor I can stick on then it's time to break out the soapy squirt bottle!

Cheers!
First easy observations,
Check the condition of airbags, then all pipes coming from and to the block, the air dryer also
 
A leaky airbag may not be that obvious. This YouTube bid explains what a worn out airbag looks like. I had a corner going down when parked and was identical to the one in the vid.

Also work through Wammers guide in the technical section. It will save you a lot of time locating the cause.

 
Okay, I've replaced the compressor and now I want to clear the fault.

I have an EAS cable and the RSW Eas unlock suite (I know the cable works on another P38). Ignition to position 2, wait til the beeping stops (4 solid lights on the dash), connect the EAS cable and initialise..... and car starts beeping at me every 10 seconds. EAS shows 'PP' on the RX.

I found this thread: https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/eas-fault-cable-at-fault.275869/page-2 in which the timer relay seems to be the culprit when this happens, so I've ordered one off fleabay.

Anything else I can be trying while I wait for that?
 
More info: I bypassed the ODB2 And the delay relay entirely and spliced a serial cable straight into the ECU connector. I'm now getting something back, but the EAS unlock suite never syncs properly, I see a load of stuff in the Rx field but it's all 2b / 80 messages and the status stays at ''no idle'.

Also the dash beeps every few seconds while I'm connected and shows the '35mph slow' message, but to be fair there is / was a hard fault so it should show that message....just the constant beeping isn't normal I don't think?
 
More info: I bypassed the ODB2 And the delay relay entirely and spliced a serial cable straight into the ECU connector. I'm now getting something back, but the EAS unlock suite never syncs properly, I see a load of stuff in the Rx field but it's all 2b / 80 messages and the status stays at ''no idle'.

Also the dash beeps every few seconds while I'm connected and shows the '35mph slow' message, but to be fair there is / was a hard fault so it should show that message....just the constant beeping isn't normal I don't think?

Did you spend your honeymoon stood up in a canoe?
 
Be prepared young man wammers is on the case I've you need to know about eas he's your man and I'm quiet sure his side kick will be along soon to put you right work through wammers how to and you will sort your problems he's helped me out recently after much time and money spent on replacement parts but you have to go through each peice step by step hope your sorted soon
 
More info: I bypassed the ODB2 And the delay relay entirely and spliced a serial cable straight into the ECU connector. I'm now getting something back, but the EAS unlock suite never syncs properly, I see a load of stuff in the Rx field but it's all 2b / 80 messages and the status stays at ''no idle'.

Also the dash beeps every few seconds while I'm connected and shows the '35mph slow' message, but to be fair there is / was a hard fault so it should show that message....just the constant beeping isn't normal I don't think?
The 35 Mph slow message and beeps come up to signify diagnostics connected when you plug in to the OBD port and at various other times..
I wonder why you think splicing into the ECU connector is a good idea? If the EAS suite will not connect via the OBD port, you have 2 possibilities, there is a wiring loom fault, which if you have done a splice would still be there even though you have spliced in at the ECU, or more likely if you are using a USB to serial adaptor the adaptor is no good or the driver was not installed correctly.
 
Set it back to standard reinstate the wiring, then you can be helped, until then you're banging your head against a wall.
 
Side kick?
Mate these two are like...
220px-Statler_and_Waldorf.jpg

:p;)
And......
They know stuff man.:cool:
 
Okay, so when I say 'spliced in' I connected directly to the ecu connector, to cut out any possibility of a break in the wiring between the ECU and the ODB port.

When connected via the ODB I get nothing back over the serial connection, just 'PP' (which I think indicates a communications timeout).

When connected directly to the ECU I get something back, a stream of 80 / 28 messages which according to the EAS unlock documentation indicate that the serial port is connected correctly, but can't sync with the ECU.

The dash beeps and shows 35Mph when you connect and the ecu power cycles true, I expected that, but it then continues to beep every couple of seconds which is the bit I don't think is expected.

I've now removed the ECU entirely and have successfully raised the car by Jumpering various pins on the connector, so proved that the compressor and valve block work fine. The backs drop overnight, so I'm guessing the rear air bags are due for replacement, but I'll check that with a soapy spray bottle.

I suspect the problem with communication is down to my laptop (I run linux, so have to run the EAS unlock suite in a VM, I think this is buggering the communications) but it definitely doesn't connect at all via the ODB port and does via the ECU pins.

I think I'm just going to make my own ECU so I can connect to it over wifi, get rid of the self levelling and generally make it a bit more transparent and easy to see what's going on.
 
Okay, so when I say 'spliced in' I connected directly to the ecu connector, to cut out any possibility of a break in the wiring between the ECU and the ODB port.

When connected via the ODB I get nothing back over the serial connection, just 'PP' (which I think indicates a communications timeout).

When connected directly to the ECU I get something back, a stream of 80 / 28 messages which according to the EAS unlock documentation indicate that the serial port is connected correctly, but can't sync with the ECU.

The dash beeps and shows 35Mph when you connect and the ecu power cycles true, I expected that, but it then continues to beep every couple of seconds which is the bit I don't think is expected.

I've now removed the ECU entirely and have successfully raised the car by Jumpering various pins on the connector, so proved that the compressor and valve block work fine. The backs drop overnight, so I'm guessing the rear air bags are due for replacement, but I'll check that with a soapy spray bottle.

I suspect the problem with communication is down to my laptop (I run linux, so have to run the EAS unlock suite in a VM, I think this is buggering the communications) but it definitely doesn't connect at all via the ODB port and does via the ECU pins.

I think I'm just going to make my own ECU so I can connect to it over wifi, get rid of the self levelling and generally make it a bit more transparent and easy to see what's going on.
Make your own ECU to replace something that works perfectly well? To do the job properly is not that simple, just catering for air loss in the system to keep the car level is interesting.
The EAS is a good system and works reliably when maintained.
 
Well, not being able to connect to it to diagnose problems without a very specific set of hardware / software (a windows laptop with a usb to serial connector) is annoying, and replacing it seems like a fun challenge.

I've got a spare ECU heading my way from ebay as well, and I'll probably get the current EAS working first before starting on a replacement but I was looking for a new project anyway :D
 
Back
Top