EAS inlet valve open

[philjphil]

Hi, can any one help point me in the right direction to help find this fault. I have replace airbags, rebuilt valve block and suspension maintains ride high for several days when parked and works fine in all height modes but I am getting a recurring fault "inlet valve stuck open" at least once a week sometime twice in a day. It always unlocks OK using SW software and things are back to normal. It nearly always happens when I am turning the ignition on after refueling or calling at a shop and has only once faulted while I was driving. Can anybody help I thought the next step might be to change the control pack under the valve block. Cheers Phil

[PaulP38a]

probably just a sticky solenoid or an o-ring not seated properly... you may not even need to remove the valve block from the car to check and clean. It is the second solenoid from the front on top of the valve block.

Cheers, Paul.

[Rupert Prior]

it sounds like a driver box fault (the control pack under the valve block).
the part number is ANR3900.

[philjphil]

Thanks Paul I can always rely on you. Now I know which solenoid it is I will clean and replace o rings and see if that fixes it.

[philjphil]

Thanks Rupert I will try Paul's suggestion first as it sounds like I can do it without removing the valve block. If it doesn't solve it I will see if I can borrow a driver to try before I purchase a new one. Experience tells me that an intermittent fault like this can be any number of things. Cheers Phil

PS If anyone reading this thread has a good EAS driver box I could use to fault test this issue it would be much appreciated.

[PaulP38a]

Yeah think I have one here. Will check shortly and drop you a email or text to confirm. If I express post in the morning you should have it for the weekend.
Cheers, Paul.

[PaulP38a]

Hey Phil - found it... will Express Post it to you in the morning for testing, so you should have it before the weekend.

Cheers, Paul.

[p38arover]

I, too, suspect the valve driver pack.

[philjphil]

Hi Paul many thanks for help. I cleaned and checked the inlet solenoid last night there were no obvious signs of a problem. I will see how we go the next few days and if it faults again I will change the driver at the weekend. Thanks again for your help. Cheers Phil

[33chinacars]

I'm with Rupert. I Had a simular problem. Also Exhaust value perminately Closed / Open. Did all the usual "o" rings etc then Fitted new drive motor. All Fixed, for now that is :):). Got mine from LR Direct in the U.K. Cheapest I could find at the time. From memory delivery was about a week. I'm happy

Best of luck with your problem.

[philjphil]

Well I guess the solenoid clean & check didn't do it... it faulted twice in a day. I fitted the Driver Paul kindly sent me on Monday afternoon and drove the RR last night and most of today with lots of engine stop/starts and fingers crossed it seems to be OK now. I have to go to Brisbane in it tomorrow so we will see how she behaves but feeling quietly confident. I hope that last comment doesn't put a curse on it.... Phil

[philjphil]

Well unfortunately the replacement driver hasn't fixed it. I have had the same fault show up everyday since Thursday "inlet valve stuck open".. I think it is just coincidence but the new driver was fine for three days it was only when I had new front tyres fitted that it faulted while in the workshop and has continued to fault everyday since. The RR was jacked under the axle for tyre change and I would have thought that any fault relating to this would have shown as a sensor fault not an inlet valve fault. I am now thinking of replacing the inlet valve solenoid. Any other suggestions would be appreciated it is now starting to bug me to the point where I am thinking of re calibrating the high mode to a level for general on road driving and leaving it in fault mode. Cheers Phil

[Grumbles]

I'd be looking real hard at those front wheel sensors after the tyre fitter had a play there even though the fault is listed as an inlet valve. It may be coincidence and you do have an in inlet valve fault but it's funny how often I hear of EAS faults after an EAS fitted Rangie has been jacked up by non Landie people.

Perhaps a simultaneous front double wheel sensor problem was caused by the tyre fitter and the car was overwhelmed by the two simultaneous faults and in its confusion logged it as a valve error????????? :confused:

[philjphil]

Thanks, I will take a another look at the front sensors. The only thing that steers me away from them is that after three months of ownership the only EAS fault to show up is "inlet valve stuck open" and this has come up about 20 times during this period before and after airbag replacement, valve block overhaul & EAS driver replacement. Any tips on changing front sensors. I thought I would try swapping them side to side first as mentioned elsewhere.

[Rupert Prior]

was it a used driver unit that was fitted? if it was then it may also be faulty with the same problem.

[philjphil]

Yes, it is a S/H driver unit that was reported to be working OK so I suppose it is possible but what are the chances of showing exactly the same fault. Would I be right in assuming the problem has to be somewhere between the valve block & driver unit to show this recurring fault or could it also be after the driver unit ie in the loom or under the seat.

[Rupert Prior]

it is normally a heat related circuit board fault inside the valve block driver unit. some times the fault is so bad it can be seen through the soft insulation material as a dark patch or even a burnt away hole.

[philjphil]

Thanks Rupert, I will check it out. Can they be repaired by a competent electronics guy I have a friend that designs/builds pcb's? Although I like to save money at every opportunity I am more than happy to buy a new driver if it is a fix but there seems to be no way to confirm that it will cure the fault!!! I also saw the following on another site:Inlet Valve stuck open No Alternatives. Set when system is unable to make more than one sensor meet it's target value. Could this lead me to a faulty height sensors?

[Rupert Prior]

yes some of the driver faults could be repaired but removing the board from the case is tricky. thinners disolves the rubber but i have never tried to reuse a board after this as the insulation is always too damaged.
faulty height sensors can also cause the inlet valve stuck open fault,but it is rare. i have seen this when only one new height sensor is fitted and the system is not calibrated. the vehicle may have an intermittent lean to one side and the live readings show a difference of about 12 between the two height sensors.

[philjphil]

Well I have just realised that I have been ignoring another fault "vehicle has moved" while concentrating on the "inlet valve stuck open" It appears that whenever the soft fault occurs both the above faults are logged. Does this help narrow down whats causing the problem or make it harder to locate. Also I recalibrated using spacers on the bump stops and the settings for the front L & R differed by 5 to 7 points would this cause an issue with the ECU

[Rupert Prior]

i ignore the vehicle has moved fault, i think testbook reads it as something slightly different and then adds a note to i say this is not a fault, (some abs testers give a simular message saying vehicle has exceeded 10kph but this is not a fault)
a small difference in the calibrated target heights is normal. the problems start when the combined difference between actual and target heights on the same axle start to exceed about 10 to 12counts.

[philjphil]

Thanks again Rupert, If the inlet valve has a bad seal would that reflect in the ride height lowering overnight. The reason I ask is that I am thinking of checking the NRV's again for ware but I have no sign of leaks & the RR holds its height for days without any significant movement when parked and shows no erratic movement while driving also the compressor does not appear to be running that often compared to what I read re other owners comments. Is there anywhere I get replacement NRV's? Cheers Phil

[wayneg]

Is there anywhere I get replacement NRV's? Cheers Phil

I am looking for an exhaust NRV and plan to buy a used Valve block in the UK and have a mate take the NRV valve out and post it over. How long can you wait and are you willing to take a punt on a second hand valve? Whats a NRV valve worth?

Silly me had a valve block in my garage doing nothing so I gave it away for someone doing a project on a classic, I never though I would have any use for it.

[Rupert Prior]

if the valve block is working correctly, you can remove the inlet and exhaust valve and the vehicle should stay up, you just lose all reservoir pressure.
the tip of an NRV has to be very worn before it stops the O ring from sealing and replacement O rings are readily available.
if you need it i do a valve block testing and repair service either directly to me or via TR Spares Padstow NSW

[philjphil]

I am looking for an exhaust NRV and plan to buy a used Valve block in the UK and have a mate take the NRV valve out and post it over. How long can you wait and are you willing to take a punt on a second hand valve? Whats a NRV valve worth?

Silly me had a valve block in my garage doing nothing so I gave it away for someone doing a project on a classic, I never though I would have any use for it.

Thanks for the offer but the more I find out the less I think it is a valve block issue. Today I cleaned the front height sensor connectors & swapped the sensors over side to side. I found that on the one sensor the bolts were only finger tight, recalibrate ride heights which were not far out... so far so good but not holding my breath.

[philjphil]

if the valve block is working correctly, you can remove the inlet and exhaust valve and the vehicle should stay up, you just lose all reservoir pressure.
the tip of an NRV has to be very worn before it stops the O ring from sealing and replacement O rings are readily available.
if you need it i do a valve block testing and repair service either directly to me or via TR Spares Padstow NSW

Thanks, that sort of steers me away from the NRV's as the reservoir pressure also seems to be holding well. If I don't get some joy soon (see last post) I will look at sending the V block to you if I can arrange another vehicle to cover the down time. What would be the turn around time?

[PaulP38a]

Phil - can't remember if you have an EAS Bypass Kit or not... If you do, just insert the spare straight-through or elbows where the tee-pieces usually go and you can inflate the bags manually with another compressor or service station air compressor while the valve block is out.
Cheers, Paul.

[Rupert Prior]

i try to do testing and diagnosis the same day i recieve the unit, so if there is nothing wrong turn round time just depends on how long the couriers take, which from Gold Coast to Sydney is usually 24hrs each way. i keep rebuilt units in stock which is quickest, repairs to customer supplied units are cheaper but take longer. driver units i can only inspect for visible damage, this does give a good indication of their faults but not 100%. it is recommended that they are replaced when the valve block is changed or rebuilt.

[philjphil]

Thanks Paul & Rupert for your continued help. I do have an emergency EAS kit so we will see how we go this week after cleaning & changing over height sensors, failing that it may be time to look at sending Rupert the V block. The reason I am looking at the height sensors is that all appeared to be OK when I installed the driver Paul sent up until I went through a car wash just before going to the tyre shop. The car wash had an underbody wash system & I was thinking that it may have triggered an electrical issue causing the fault to come back as I drove out of the tyre shop. As you can probably tell this is playing mind games with me but I am now P38 hooked for some weird reason :angel::):(

[PaulP38a]

there must be something contagious here... mine has started to lose pressure in the past couple of weeks too.

Was just out in the garage and noticed the tank pressure had dropped from 130psi earlier this evening to approx 60psi in the space of a few hours. I had pulled the delay timer to exclude self levelling.

It was very quiet out there and I could hear a slow hissing from around the valve block. Did a quick soapy water test to check all the tee-pieces and had already isolated the on-board air kit and locker lines.

Loosened the exhaust filter and the hissing got a lot louder. A ha! looks like I need to check my NRV too. Probably not tonight though... It might be Spring, but it's still Winter in Canberra.

Cheers, Paul.

[PaulP38a]

In the "spare" hour I had this evening between getting home from work and going to the LR club meeting I pulled out the valve block, replaced the o-ring on the suspect NRV and the diaphragm.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/
Since it has been home, in the last 3.5 hours, only lost about 5psi and that could be due to self-levelling. Am pretty happy with that considering I just slapped the connectors back together, and drove off to the LRC ACT meeting with an EAS Buddy in the glove box... just in case :cool:

[wayneg]

Can you explain what the diaphragm does. I will be taking out my valve block tomorrow for a re-check. I had a quick look at the diaphragm whilst I was doing the o rings. It looked perfect although there did seem to be a white powdery residue build up where it seats. I cleaned the residue before refitting. Did you use any of the o ring lube?

[PaulP38a]

Hi Wayne
Here's how I understand the diaphragm to work... some smarter folk here please correct me if I get it wrong...

the diaphragm basically controls the air flow to ensure that all air passes through the dryer/filter. The solenoid that operates it is controlled by the compressor relay, not the driver block. When the solenoid is open, air flows in to pump up the reservoir and the springs. When the solenoid is closed, air flow out through the dryer before passing through the diaphragm and the exhaust silencer.

When I found air leaking through the silencer it may have been a combination of leaking NRV and/or diaphragm.

Cheers, Paul.