Just to draw a close to this, it looks like the EAS compressor was at fault.

The flat battery was a red herring. The fuse was always blown, but because my wife thought she'd left the lights on I assumed the battery was at fault when it wasn't. There's a lesson to learn in there somewhere!

I've disconnected the EAS compressor and the fuse has stopped blowing. I'll swap it out with a spare and refurbish this one if I can.

Do we have a "preferred supplier" of compressor refurb kits. I'll always go for quality over price.

If the compressor is blowing master fuse 2 it is either seized solid or a dead short and may need more than a refurb kit. Take it out strip it and see what you find. Maybe a new one will be needed.
 
Just to draw a close to this, it looks like the EAS compressor was at fault.

The flat battery was a red herring. The fuse was always blown, but because my wife thought she'd left the lights on I assumed the battery was at fault when it wasn't. There's a lesson to learn in there somewhere!

I've disconnected the EAS compressor and the fuse has stopped blowing. I'll swap it out with a spare and refurbish this one if I can.

Do we have a "preferred supplier" of compressor refurb kits. I'll always go for quality over price.

Nearest guy to you is in Maidstone 3U2 or something. Used him before and he's very good. Then there's P38Symilise near Liverpool.

The little tracks in the circuit board in the top of the compressor are utter ****e so it could be them. You can solder a wire across as it is only a simple track.
 
Gently tap the starter on it's largest bit the motor housing. I mean gently ! Alloy can break.
The Relay can be bridged if you have RAVE then look up the starter relay. You can get the solenoid feed from the relay. This should if bridged give you voltage at the starter, use a meter or test light. If it's clicking when you bridge it, then the brushes have gone on the motor and do not leave it bridged for too long. If a manual (stick shift), check it's in neutral
and do not have anyone in the vehicle. When you get the solenoid to click, you can tap it gently and get it started, to return to somewhere you can work on it. Do not flat tow it without reading about the transfer neutral in the handbook.
 
Gently tap the starter on it's largest bit the motor housing. I mean gently ! Alloy can break.
The Relay can be bridged if you have RAVE then look up the starter relay. You can get the solenoid feed from the relay. This should if bridged give you voltage at the starter, use a meter or test light. If it's clicking when you bridge it, then the brushes have gone on the motor and do not leave it bridged for too long. If a manual (stick shift), check it's in neutral
and do not have anyone in the vehicle. When you get the solenoid to click, you can tap it gently and get it started, to return to somewhere you can work on it. Do not flat tow it without reading about the transfer neutral in the handbook.

Moved on a bit.

The EAS compressor was blowing fuse 2. Unplug EAS compressor and replace the fuse and she runs. Never listen to the missus when it comes to cars. :)

Question now: what is wrong with the EAS compressor!
 
Moved on a bit.

The EAS compressor was blowing fuse 2. Unplug EAS compressor and replace the fuse and she runs. Never listen to the missus when it comes to cars. :)

Question now: what is wrong with the EAS compressor!
Rear bearing failed and it's mangled the guts.
 
Rear bearing failed and it's mangled the guts.

Spot on. Spectacular fail. The first thing you noticed was the smell. Then the piles of black dust. Then the mangled parts of ball-bearing race that dropped out. Then noticed one of the ball-bearings had gone AWOL. The seal on the piston had had it too.

So, think it was probably old, the seal failed, tried pumping too much to compensate, overheated and then ... FUBAR. Maybe a bearing escaped and after that it was self-destruct time.

Good call Datatek.
 
Looked worse than a bit of over pumping to me! When the bearing failed, the current draw to keep the motor turning has burned the entire insides, wrecking everything.
 
Looked worse than a bit of over pumping to me! When the bearing failed, the current draw to keep the motor turning has burned the entire insides, wrecking everything.
Fecking lucky MrG....I have heard very scary reports of the compressor catching fire and...well the results are to be expected!
 
Now I think about it I took a trace of the EAS system a year ago. I noted at the time the compressor was working more often than mine, possibly a sign of the piston seal wearing? So, if more regular traces had been taken this could have been spotted before it went catastrophic. Just a thought.
 
Now I think about it I took a trace of the EAS system a year ago. I noted at the time the compressor was working more often than mine, possibly a sign of the piston seal wearing? So, if more regular traces had been taken this could have been spotted before it went catastrophic. Just a thought.

If the dog had not stopped to **** it would have won the race. :D:D
 
Fecking lucky MrG....I have heard very scary reports of the compressor catching fire and...well the results are to be expected!

It would have really ****ed me off if the thing had caught fire after the work I've done on it this year! So long as I got out that is...

There wasn't any warning of the impending failure though. EAS went up and down at speed on the touch of the button as always. It wasn't any noisier than usual. Just about audible when stationary.

Thank god for fuses!
 
Glad I followed Datatek and drilled those holes in the compressor lid. Must help the cooling.

No need to vent the EAS box it is already vented. On a correctly functioning system the compressor should never over heat.
 
No need to vent the EAS box it is already vented. On a correctly functioning system the compressor should never over heat.
True, but heat gathers in the top of the box that is detrimental to the driver pack. Existing vents are on the side well below the top.
 
True, but heat gathers in the top of the box that is detrimental to the driver pack. Existing vents are on the side well below the top.

Yes but i am more concerned about people masking a problem by venting the box rather than fixing the problem being masked. If you have a good well functioning system venting won't do any harm, but if it must be done best method would be to have a vent pipe from EAS box to lower part of air cleaner box so that the hot air is sucked out.
 
Yes but i am more concerned about people masking a problem by venting the box rather than fixing the problem being masked. If you have a good well functioning system venting won't do any harm, but if it must be done best method would be to have a vent pipe from EAS box to lower part of air cleaner box so that the hot air is sucked out.
Lowering the temperature in the EAS box on a good working system will prolong the life of the Driver pack considerably.
 
Lowering the temperature in the EAS box on a good working system will prolong the life of the Driver pack considerably.

Quite possibly, but on a good working system under normal use the compressor should not work to often and neither should the driver pack get stressed overly. The only time the driver pack will come into play on a steady run is to transition between standard and motorway settings as required. And the only time the compressor should run is to replace air used to transition back to standard from motorway setting below 35 MPH. It is only when there are faults in the system, mainly leaks, that either are used to any extent whilst the car is in motion. :);)
 
Quite possibly, but on a good working system under normal use the compressor should not work to often and neither should the driver pack get stressed overly. The only time the driver pack will come into play on a steady run is to transition between standard and motorway settings as required. And the only time the compressor should run is to replace air used to transition back to standard from motorway setting below 35 MPH. It is only when there are faults in the system, mainly leaks, that either are used to any extent whilst the car is in motion. :);)
If that's all that happens, might as well throw the lot away and fit schrader valves.:rolleyes: When do you ever get a steady run in the UK? It's all stop start and it levels after every stop.
 
If that's all that happens, might as well throw the lot away and fit schrader valves.:rolleyes: When do you ever get a steady run in the UK? It's all stop start and it levels after every stop.

The front valves open to equalise pressure across the axle at every stop. The rears do not do that. That is still minimal use of the valve block and compressor. It is all that happens on a steady run what else were you expecting. If you drove the entire length of the M5/M6 from southern England to Scotland none stop at speeds around 60/70 mph the only time the valve block would be used would be to drop the car to motorway height at the start after a minute at over 50 mph. And when you leave the motorway at the other end and travel at below 35 mph for a minute to lift back to standard height. Depending on the pressure in the tank at the start of the journey and the load in the car that may not even bring the compressor on. Extreme example i know but things don't get used as much as some may think they do.
 

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