P38A Searching for die hard P38 guru - EAS

DollyBird said:

Hi y’all nice to meet you. from canada but working solo in uk for the next year on and off in sw scotland… picked up a 1998 p38 diesel automatic, 66,000 miles, my 2nd p38 in this life…love this car! she’s really pretty inside and out and was running great for the first 6 months. roads in this area are rural, muddy and very bumpy..

one day she starting raising and lowering herself quite a bit when stopping and couple weeks later got an eas error, don’t drive over 35mph, suspension was shot. had her towed to a independent “land rover specialist…all models etc ” in sw scotland who changed the rear airbags (said they were leaking) and the shocks and cleared the fault. he had the car a week.
- bus 2hrs to pick up the car, a week later same eas error and car dropped but ride was not as bumpy as 1st time. towed to same shop, he had the car another week and said he overhauled the valve block and cleared the fault. drove it home.
- next morning same eas error and car dropped.

don’t trust this guy anymore, already wasted so much time and money on his attempts. he also could not clear an alarm fault (came on after mot at the local garage)…says he has “state of the art” software (not nanocom)…

just got the rac breakdown cover to get her towed farther, really love the car and just want her to be in good hands, who do y’all trust with yours? will be gone for month of june and want to leave her with someone who’s the real deal…who knows and loves this car…thanks for your help ~ dolly.

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biketeacherdave said:

Passenger footwear side kick panel remove it find the white multi block it will have corrosion give it a good clean. Some cut out the corroded plug and solder all the wire or just the badly corroded ones.
As above have a look see in technical section.
So called expert garages hardly ever fix an issue.

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DollyBird said:

Hi there, i have never worked on a car in my life but will look for this, thank you. ~ dolly

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pwood999 said:

@DollyBird Assuming the garage rebuilt the valve block correctly, then there are only a few things that can cause issues.

1) as Kieth says, corrosion in the connectors behind left footwell panel.
2) air leaks at valve block, airbags or the airlines
3) weak compressor, so it cannot keep up with the demand (£25 kit for this - not a new compressor)
4) bad height sensor connectors, or failing sensor

Make sure where ever you take it, ask for the detailed fault list. That way we might be able to give advice.

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pwood999 said:

@DollyBird Assuming the garage rebuilt the valve block correctly, then there are only a few things that can cause issues.

1) as Kieth says, corrosion in the connectors behind left footwell panel.
2) air leaks at valve block, airbags or the airlines
3) weak compressor, so it cannot keep up with the demand (£25 kit for this - not a new compressor)
4) bad height sensor connectors, or failing sensor

Make sure where ever you take it, ask for the detailed fault list. That way we might be able to give advice.

Click to expand...

pwood999 said:

@DollyBird Assuming the garage rebuilt the valve block correctly, then there are only a few things that can cause issues.

1) as Kieth says, corrosion in the connectors behind left footwell panel.
2) air leaks at valve block, airbags or the airlines
3) weak compressor, so it cannot keep up with the demand (£25 kit for this - not a new compressor)
4) bad height sensor connectors, or failing sensor

Make sure where ever you take it, ask for the detailed fault list. That way we might be able to give advice.

Click to expand...

pwood999 said:

@DollyBird Assuming the garage rebuilt the valve block correctly, then there are only a few things that can cause issues.

1) as Kieth says, corrosion in the connectors behind left footwell panel.
2) air leaks at valve block, airbags or the airlines
3) weak compressor, so it cannot keep up with the demand (£25 kit for this - not a new compressor)
4) bad height sensor connectors, or failing sensor

Make sure where ever you take it, ask for the detailed fault list. That way we might be able to give advice.

Click to expand...

DollyBird said:

Hi, i had a garage plug it in to the computer that they used to use on p38s (they won’t work on them anymore and seems that no one in sw scotland will) it looks like the fault code they got yesterday is “Front Right Valve permanently closed”, any advice would be much appreciated.

I also ordered a nanocom from cyprus so if anyone needs to use it in sw scotland, you are more than welcome if i am still there. ~ dolly

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Datatek said:

As the valve block has been rebuilt, it's possible that the coils are on in the wrong order, it could also be the height sensor not recording any movement. It's also possible that the pipes have been put back in the valve block in the wrong order.

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DollyBird said:

thanks for your thoughts. the person who did the valve block rebuild says he is sure everything is put back in the correct order…if the height sensor is not recording movement is that of replacing the height sensor?

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Datatek said:

If the height sensor is not recording movement, it could be several things apart from the sensor itself including bad connections in the EAS box connectors as well as what I said above.
When you get your Nanocom, you will be able to tell a corner to change height and watch the result at the height sensor.

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pwood999 said:

Yes clear the fault first. Remember "valve permanantly closed" can have multiple reasons, and is generally not the valve itself. When activating the valves with Nanocm, listen & make sure each one clicks open & closed. do this with ignition on, but engine not running so you can hear them easily.

1) Bad connection between driver pack & solenoids. The connector underneath the valve block often has issues with loose contacts. They need de-pinning & gently squeezing. Then re-install the contacts.
2) It can also be caused by a loose sensor arm. In this case the arm doesn't move when small adjustments are made, so the ECU assumes the valve is closed !!
3) Bad or intermittent connection in the ECU connector (less common), or the connector at the front of the valve block.

It's also possible for a valve to be clogged up with crumbled dessicant, but highly unlikely if the block has been rebuilt & cleaned.

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pwood999 said:

Yes clear the fault first. Remember "valve permanantly closed" can have multiple reasons, and is generally not the valve itself. When activating the valves with Nanocm, listen & make sure each one clicks open & closed. do this with ignition on, but engine not running so you can hear them easily.

1) Bad connection between driver pack & solenoids. The connector underneath the valve block often has issues with loose contacts. They need de-pinning & gently squeezing. Then re-install the contacts.
2) It can also be caused by a loose sensor arm. In this case the arm doesn't move when small adjustments are made, so the ECU assumes the valve is closed !!
3) Bad or intermittent connection in the ECU connector (less common), or the connector at the front of the valve block.

It's also possible for a valve to be clogged up with crumbled dessicant, but highly unlikely if the block has been rebuilt & cleaned.

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DollyBird said:

Hi y’all just wanted to post the end result of my eas fault issues in case it helps anyone else down the road:

The 2 fault codes i was getting with the nanocom:
- right valve permanently closed
- compressor is faulty
Did not appear to be the real cause as the experts mentioned above…

It was a huge tear in the left front airbag which was visible & swapped with a good used one by a great p38 mechanic mark at kinross 4x4…

I was so surprised to see this after the “independent land rover experts” shop in sw scotland had the car for 3wks, charged me to replace the 2 rear airbags with new ones missed the obvious huge tear…everything in the eas working fine now, thanks all for your help!

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