L322 Stolen recovered / suspension fault / Storey Wilson!

Hi All,

I recently bought a stolen recovered 2010 3.6 TdV8 (hear me out!) it’s covered 107k and appears to have been very well looked after. It’s fitted with 4 brand new Pirelli tyres, and the air filter and cabin filter are OEM parts, as is everything else on the car as opposed to being maintained on a budget. On quick inspection before I bought it the car was changing height as you would expect, on that basis I decided to buy it.

I had to get the vehicle transported across the country, but when the driver started it to get it off the back of the transporter the car raised on all corners and then there was an almighty pop! Now one thing I did note was that he struggled to get the strap out from around the near side strut. Ever since then the car no longer changes height and I’ve got a suspension fault.

I initially assumed the airline had been loosened from the bag by the strap on removal, but on inspection today it appears to be connected, so I’m going to have to do more digging over Xmas.

Firstly the rear initially remained at height, so would this be indicative of a fault on the front valve body, and if so can the 2010 unit be user serviced?

Second, is it plausible that the loud pop I heard could have been the bag itself, from what I read they tend to perish as opposed to explode. This is what makes me think a pipe connection could be off. With that said should I be able to hear a loud leak if the pipe is completely off?

Lastly, it looks like I’m going to have to do the diagnostics old school as given the time of year I decided to go with Storey Wilson’s D4cat package as it looked immediately downloadable, but since paying for a copy on Friday I’ve not heard anything back despite sending a few chasers.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas people!

Problems with RSW have been mentioned elsewhere, bags tend to go bang pipes hiss so I would go with a bag gone.

Check the height sensor is not damaged.

Thanks for the quick responses.

So, Storey sent me a link for the software last night, so I’ll get that set up today. I’m hoping there will be some way of isolating individual bags using it, or at least rule out or identify a fault with the compressor, tank, height sensors or valves.

Does anyone know if the standard replacement bags fit the VDS and non-VDS models. I’m getting conflicting responses on this, some say they are interchangeable, but others say they are different.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Firstly welcome .

So if a bag has popped or come unseated then it will make a bit of a pop when it lets the air go.
The backs staying up initially (did the other front corner?) is how it works, until you turn it all off and the car try's to self level.

If you have VDS then yes it can be backwarded to non VDS but you would probably have to change both fronts and I believe the cost diff isnt much, so if you have it, keep it.
At that age it is possibly due a complete bag change TBH (we did our 2011 all round this year). But my P38 is 2001 and on original bags (I think) so not all are equal

But first you need to check if its a physical issue, if it was unseated because of poor strapping, I don't know if it can be reseated.

Have no knowledge of the "paid" for RSW software but would think it has functions to inflate individual corners.
Dont overrun the compressor or you will be fitting a new 1 of them too.

Good luck with it and do let us know your progress.

J

Update… I’m hoping this means more to you than me!

I managed to get a copy RSW up and running (ish!) and whilst actually trying to get some data off it via the compressor voltage the whole car raised itself to off road height! With a quick run up and down the road I received a “normal height available only” warning. On parking it up I noticed the drivers right starting to sink and on investigation heard a steady flow of air until it fully lowered over the course of 1 to 2 minutes.

Going by KDS’s earlier comments I’d assume this could be a pipe as opposed to the bag, although it was definitely coming from the strut type area.

Tomorrow I’ll reapeat the exercise and get some soapy water out.

marjon said:

Firstly welcome .

So if a bag has popped or come unseated then it will make a bit of a pop when it lets the air go.
The backs staying up initially (did the other front corner?) is how it works, until you turn it all off and the car try's to self level.

If you have VDS then yes it can be backwarded to non VDS but you would probably have to change both fronts and I believe the cost diff isnt much, so if you have it, keep it.
At that age it is possibly due a complete bag change TBH (we did our 2011 all round this year). But my P38 is 2001 and on original bags (I think) so not all are equal

But first you need to check if its a physical issue, if it was unseated because of poor strapping, I don't know if it can be reseated.

Have no knowledge of the "paid" for RSW software but would think it has functions to inflate individual corners.
Dont overrun the compressor or you will be fitting a new 1 of them too.

Good luck with it and do let us know your progress.

J

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information Marjon,

With respect to the bags I was thinking more along the lines of can you refit the VDS strut with bags from a non VDS strut?

I’ll keep the VDS, but rather than change the whole strut I was thinking of just changing the bags themselves.

M

IamSpartacus said:

Update… I’m hoping this means more to you than me!

I managed to get a copy RSW up and running (ish!) and whilst actually trying to get some data off it via the compressor voltage the whole car raised itself to off road height! With a quick run up and down the road I received a “normal height available only” warning. On parking it up I noticed the drivers right starting to sink and on investigation heard a steady flow of air until it fully lowered over the course of 1 to 2 minutes.

Going by KDS’s earlier comments I’d assume this could be a pipe as opposed to the bag, although it was definitely coming from the strut type area.

Tomorrow I’ll reapeat the exercise and get some soapy water out.

Click to expand...

It could just be a split so could sound like a hiss now it is trying to continuously feed.

The warning maybe cos the compressor has been overworked and cut out on overtemp (can you see that on the RSW/Live data? so the car conserves air I.E no height changes allowed.

If it sinks that quick a good look should spot/hear air getting out, soapy water is usually for slow gradual leaks that cant be heard.

J

marjon said:

It could just be a split so could sound like a hiss now it is trying to continuously feed.

The warning maybe cos the compressor has been overworked and cut out on overtemp (can you see that on the RSW/Live data? so the car conserves air I.E no height changes allowed.

If it sinks that quick a good look should spot/hear air getting out, soapy water is usually for slow gradual leaks that cant be heard.

J

Click to expand...

That’s a good point it should be easy to find as it’s quite audible.

I can’t do much with the RSW software as it appears to be communicating, but doesn’t display any real information,

I have a feeling when I code read the suspension faults it found something as it said faults cleared when I erased them, yet the dialogue box didn’t show anything.

I’ll get back to it on Boxing Day to see if I can pin point it.

Thanks again for the pointers, it’s much appreciated.

IamSpartacus said:

Thanks for the information Marjon,

With respect to the bags I was thinking more along the lines of can you refit the VDS strut with bags from a non VDS strut?

I’ll keep the VDS, but rather than change the whole strut I was thinking of just changing the bags themselves.

M

Click to expand...

I don’t know if the bags are the same. But the whole strut doesn’t need changing. From what I see here.

We had ours changed at our very good LR garage and they left the old 1s for me to see.

Couple of pics.

J

marjon said:

I don’t know if the bags are the same. But the whole strut doesn’t need changing. From what I see here.

We had ours changed at our very good LR garage and they left the old 1s for me to see.

Couple of pics.

J

Click to expand...

I’ve just found bags online which say they fit VDS and non VDS models, so if that’s the case I’ll just get those and replace both sides. The only problem is they aren’t open until the New Year now.

At least that gives me enough time to check everything else through.

IamSpartacus said:

Update… I’m hoping this means more to you than me!

I managed to get a copy RSW up and running (ish!) and whilst actually trying to get some data off it via the compressor voltage the whole car raised itself to off road height! With a quick run up and down the road I received a “normal height available only” warning. On parking it up I noticed the drivers right starting to sink and on investigation heard a steady flow of air until it fully lowered over the course of 1 to 2 minutes.

Going by KDS’s earlier comments I’d assume this could be a pipe as opposed to the bag, although it was definitely coming from the strut type area.

Tomorrow I’ll reapeat the exercise and get some soapy water out.

Click to expand...

Sounds like the bag has failed to me. On the P38, the air springs have a design life of 80K miles/8years.

IamSpartacus said:

I’ve just found bags online which say they fit VDS and non VDS models, so if that’s the case I’ll just get those and replace both sides. The only problem is they aren’t open until the New Year now.

At least that gives me enough time to check everything else through.

Click to expand...

I will have to check but to replace you will need to release the strut and then refit, I am not sure if that would then need some suspension alignment. I want to say no at the moment, but apparently that little rubber tit on the top has some effect. Need to check.

J

marjon said:

I will have to check but to replace you will need to release the strut and then refit, I am not sure if that would then need some suspension alignment. I want to say no at the moment, but apparently that little rubber tit on the top has some effect. Need to check.

J

Click to expand...

If you remove the strut mark round the nuts on top before undoing them to stand a chance of getting them back in more or less right place.