PPP38vouge
Active Member
:jawHi all, found this from the great man on RR.Net just wandered if anyone knew what it's all about?
EAS Manual Electric Control - Under Hood - DIY
I have devised a somewhat easy method to tap into the EAS suspension. Although it takes a fair amount of time, I believe it is better than pushing wires into the C117 connector. Over time I found that pushing wires into the C117 connector was prone to errors and hard on the back. This is one part of two overall methods, that will work in conjunction with each other or individually.
Here is a picture of the major items you will need. A Soldering Iron, Solder, Shrink Tubing various sizes, Automotive butt connectors (16-22 gauge), DB-9 male and female connectors, DB-9 housings.
This method will tap into 7 wires inside the EAS control box under the hood. The first step is to identify each wire we are going to use. We are going to tap into the wires that lead into the C152 connector, see figure 1. We will be piggybacking just above the connector.
When using the C152 connector picture, remeber that this image is looking at the bottom of the plug as if it were unplugged. It is reversed if you are looking at the top of the plug while it is plugged in. Use the wire colors to get your bearings on the connector.
To piggy back onto the wires, I decided to use automotive but connectors. Very carefully, one wire at a time, so to avoid confusion, cut the wire about 1.5 inches above the C152 connector. Strip the each end and put solder on each exposed wire end. Take an automotive butt connector; you might have to strip the plastic cover to get the exposed metal tube. Then fill the butt connector with a good amount of solder. I usually do this by holding the butt connector with a pair of vice grips while holding the soldering iron on the metal, push in the solder and it will melt. Use the butt connector to rejoin the cut wire from C152 and insert your own wire for signaling. See picture below of the finished junction.
You can see in the picture above, that the original wire has both ends joined together with a butt connector and I have inserted my own wire that will connect to the DB-9 Female connector. The wires that will go to the DB9 are approximately 8 inches long and a somewhat small gauge. No need for heavy gauge as these are signaling wires. It is all sealed shut with a piece of shrink wrap; do not forget to put shrink wrap on the wire before soldering it all back together.
Next connect each of your wires from the C152 butt junctions to the DB-9 female connector. Take your time in striping the wires slightly and putting a piece of shrink tubing on the wires.
Here is a picture of the overview; completed C152 butt connectors all sealed up and leading to the DB9 female connector. Notice the shrink wrap also placed on the length of the signal wires.
Now for the best piece of all. What are we going to use for our switch box? Well we are going to use a drivers window control unit from a Lincoln town car. I purchased this on EBay for approximately 19.0 USD including shipping. This control unit is self contained and contains all the momentary switches we need. Simply use the DB9 male connector to wire this up to the DB9 female under the hood. Make sure and follow the pin outs that we setup above.
Each switch should be a simple SPDT momentary switch. This is exactly what we need to control each corner of the suspension. Follow the diagram below and use a multi-meter to scope out the correct paths in your window switch panel.
Once you have all this wired up, you still need a method to turn on the compressor. The compressor can not be activated with low current logic signals inside the Compressor housing. To turn on the compressor, you must jumper the EAS compressor relay socket with your own jumper lead. I made mine using automotive spade connectors and some 12 gauge wire.
Place this jumper in the following fuse box location. Double check you cars fuse diagram for any changes. For mine, the diagram on the fuse specifies that the top and bottom spade (Pins 3 and 5) are the main Relay Switch. This should be obvious from looking at the side of the relay and then mapping it to the fuse panel.
All relays have a low current and a high current side. The low current side is an electromagnetic that when energized, switches the high current side into action. The two pins you want, are the ones that lead to the switch drawing on the schematic, pins 3 and 5. The other two pins are the low current that energize the relay. Double check yours might be different. Also always have the engine running before you jumper the compressor, otherwise you will drain the battery quickly.
I use this method to pump up my air bags about once a week. As always you must use caution when manually inflating or deflating the bags. Take care not to crush anything important like yourself or over inflate the bags. I find that the under the hood operation is useful when I am working on or under the car. If you want to have the same control and more, then look for the next posting where we take the same switch box and wire it directly to the EAS C117 connector under the drivers seat.
R. Storey Wilson
- 1996 4.6 HSE
A Healthy EAS At 130,000
- 2003 HSE
Tried to Kill Me...
- 2008 LR3
Miss the Range Rover.
EAS Manual Electric Control - Under Hood - DIY
I have devised a somewhat easy method to tap into the EAS suspension. Although it takes a fair amount of time, I believe it is better than pushing wires into the C117 connector. Over time I found that pushing wires into the C117 connector was prone to errors and hard on the back. This is one part of two overall methods, that will work in conjunction with each other or individually.
Here is a picture of the major items you will need. A Soldering Iron, Solder, Shrink Tubing various sizes, Automotive butt connectors (16-22 gauge), DB-9 male and female connectors, DB-9 housings.
This method will tap into 7 wires inside the EAS control box under the hood. The first step is to identify each wire we are going to use. We are going to tap into the wires that lead into the C152 connector, see figure 1. We will be piggybacking just above the connector.
When using the C152 connector picture, remeber that this image is looking at the bottom of the plug as if it were unplugged. It is reversed if you are looking at the top of the plug while it is plugged in. Use the wire colors to get your bearings on the connector.
To piggy back onto the wires, I decided to use automotive but connectors. Very carefully, one wire at a time, so to avoid confusion, cut the wire about 1.5 inches above the C152 connector. Strip the each end and put solder on each exposed wire end. Take an automotive butt connector; you might have to strip the plastic cover to get the exposed metal tube. Then fill the butt connector with a good amount of solder. I usually do this by holding the butt connector with a pair of vice grips while holding the soldering iron on the metal, push in the solder and it will melt. Use the butt connector to rejoin the cut wire from C152 and insert your own wire for signaling. See picture below of the finished junction.
You can see in the picture above, that the original wire has both ends joined together with a butt connector and I have inserted my own wire that will connect to the DB-9 Female connector. The wires that will go to the DB9 are approximately 8 inches long and a somewhat small gauge. No need for heavy gauge as these are signaling wires. It is all sealed shut with a piece of shrink wrap; do not forget to put shrink wrap on the wire before soldering it all back together.
Next connect each of your wires from the C152 butt junctions to the DB-9 female connector. Take your time in striping the wires slightly and putting a piece of shrink tubing on the wires.
Here is a picture of the overview; completed C152 butt connectors all sealed up and leading to the DB9 female connector. Notice the shrink wrap also placed on the length of the signal wires.
Now for the best piece of all. What are we going to use for our switch box? Well we are going to use a drivers window control unit from a Lincoln town car. I purchased this on EBay for approximately 19.0 USD including shipping. This control unit is self contained and contains all the momentary switches we need. Simply use the DB9 male connector to wire this up to the DB9 female under the hood. Make sure and follow the pin outs that we setup above.
Each switch should be a simple SPDT momentary switch. This is exactly what we need to control each corner of the suspension. Follow the diagram below and use a multi-meter to scope out the correct paths in your window switch panel.
Once you have all this wired up, you still need a method to turn on the compressor. The compressor can not be activated with low current logic signals inside the Compressor housing. To turn on the compressor, you must jumper the EAS compressor relay socket with your own jumper lead. I made mine using automotive spade connectors and some 12 gauge wire.
Place this jumper in the following fuse box location. Double check you cars fuse diagram for any changes. For mine, the diagram on the fuse specifies that the top and bottom spade (Pins 3 and 5) are the main Relay Switch. This should be obvious from looking at the side of the relay and then mapping it to the fuse panel.
All relays have a low current and a high current side. The low current side is an electromagnetic that when energized, switches the high current side into action. The two pins you want, are the ones that lead to the switch drawing on the schematic, pins 3 and 5. The other two pins are the low current that energize the relay. Double check yours might be different. Also always have the engine running before you jumper the compressor, otherwise you will drain the battery quickly.
I use this method to pump up my air bags about once a week. As always you must use caution when manually inflating or deflating the bags. Take care not to crush anything important like yourself or over inflate the bags. I find that the under the hood operation is useful when I am working on or under the car. If you want to have the same control and more, then look for the next posting where we take the same switch box and wire it directly to the EAS C117 connector under the drivers seat.
R. Storey Wilson
- 1996 4.6 HSE
A Healthy EAS At 130,000
- 2003 HSE
Tried to Kill Me...
- 2008 LR3
Miss the Range Rover.
