EAS Buddy

[98se40]

Hi Guys, been reading a lot about the " buddy " system on the internet surfing around, and I also notice Paul from Hard Range that you sell it. Can you advise if its something that all P38 owners should have in their kit, or should a more upmarket version of the full diagnostics be in the kit. I have not yet had the unfortunate " bump stop " ride, and if it ever does occur, then a quick fix would be the answer. Paul, if so, is it best to call, or just order online via your site?
Cheers

[DT-P38]

FWIW, If you are wanting to be prepared for EAS break downs, I would suggest you get an EAS bypass kit from HRA as well. You can make them yourself, but their kit is quite competitive and will save you a lot of mucking around looking for bit's and trying to make it work properly.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

I would go for an EAS Kicker rather than a Buddy. Better for fault finding and overall diagnostics.
Well happy with mine.

Andrew


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

[PaulP38a]

Somewhere else here I gave my opinions on the various EAS tools available. From memory it went something like:

The EAS Unlock Cable is the cheapest and most versatile tool IMHO. Make it yourself or buy one from hardrange.com for $40... do a search around here and I think I promised a better deal for AULRO subscribers. Some people find it a bit challenging to get the (free) EAS Unlock Suite from RSW Solutions working reliably. This is my tool of choice when fiddling around with the EAS.

EAS Kicker Lite is similar to the EAS Buddy in that you just plug it in and wait for the green light, however it does not remember the faults it clears. About half the price of the EAS Buddy.

The EAS Buddy stores the faults it clears (and the ones it can't) in internal flash memory for later reading on your PC. You need to BYO mini-USB to USB-A cable.

Both the EAS Kicker Lite and the EAS Buddy are great tools if your fault is non-persistent. They won't clear a hard/persistent fault until the cause has been rectified, which can be frustrating as neither has a screen to tell you what the hard/persistent fault is at the time. All you see is that the LED hasn't gone green yet!

EAS Kicker does most of what the EAS Unlock Cable does in a convenient stand-alone unit with LCD screen. Needs to have the EKU01 upgrade to adjust stored heights and get real time readings. I don't keep this in stock any more.

FaultMate MSV-2 Extreme is the most powerful and does all ECU's in the car. Also the most expensive at around $900 and is locked to the VIN of your car. Can be multi-vehicle too (more $) and moved to another LR if/when you sell. My MSV-2 is locked to my 99 P38, my wife's Freelander and has multi-vehicle modules for selected ECU's in any P38.

What do I carry in my car? There is a EAS Kicker Lite (or is it a Buddy? can't recall as I haven't used it in a long time) in the glove box as a "just in case". If going on a trip or off-road, netbook PC, EAS Unlock Cable and FaultMate go in the back.

Also carry a Bushranger air compressor in the boot if I need to manually inflate the system using the EAS Emergency Bypass Kit.

In the past 6 months I have had 2 occassions where I ripped out the rear right height sensor (due to me breaking the rubber loop where the sensor mounts on the trailing arm, and the zip ties coming off :o) and put the EAS in fault mode. Before it dropped down I just pulled out the delay timer to stop it. This was a quick fix to let me get to a better (less muddy and/or dangerous) spot to have a proper look at it.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Paul.

[33chinacars]

I have an BBS EAS Kicker LOVE IT Some days would be lost without it

Gary

[korbz]

Gonna order a Kicker Lite today... Hopefully it means gone are the days of fault alarm and complaining girlfriend on long drives home...

Aaron

[wanglemoose]

Gonna order a Kicker Lite today... Hopefully it means gone are the days of fault alarm and complaining girlfriend on long drives home...

Aaron

ive got coils in mine and never get the suspension faults.........however it is still a range rover thats why i still keep a hawkeye in the glovebox.

[Rushy]

I have a Kicker Lite and like the man said "never leave home without it" I like the Lite because it does the job of getting you home and is cheap. I have had two soft faults in the last 45K and it cleared both and that is the main thing when you're in the bush.

Cheers

Rushy

[RANGER]

Kicker Lite, Always have it handy. More importantly know your system. Rebuild your Compressor and EAS V/V Block and seek out and seal all leaks as they are generally the root cause of EAS trouble. Get to know how to disable (couple of ways) and manually operate the system with pigtail wires in case the controller gives up (gets wet!!). Most times this will get you home, barring spring punctures and undercarriage damage (Paul's Post).

My biggest reservation about buying a P38 was the EAS issues that seem to surface constantly in RR discussions. I have spent time getting to know the system and now think it is a robust and simple system.

Cheers

[korbz]

My EAS Buddy arrived in the mail yesterday from Hard Range (thanks Paul) and as fate would have it, yesterday I had my first EAS fault in 6 months. Good timing.

Fault read like this...

1.--Current Faults---->
Air Supply Fault
Vehicle Has Moved
Faults Cleared
<-END Faults


Its weird, this is the first fault I’ve had in a while. The eas has been playing up for a few months now, in that it wont pump it self up if it lowers below normal ride height. Solid light on access height and flashing light on normal ride height. for some reason the compressor doesn’t seem to want to kick in. I’ve driven for hours like this without it pumping up and without getting a fault.

(However yesterday had same issue-but it went into fault after about 5 or 10 mins of not reaching normal ride height)

However, I can get it to normal ride height by bypassing the relay and manually running the compressor for a while. Then its all good again for a day or two...

Im guessing its prob air leaks but initial check with soapy water shows its all good...

any thoughts?

Thanks
Aaron

[PaulP38a]

I'd be suspicious about the driver unit (sealed black box bolted on to the side of the valve block).

If you ask nicely on here, you might find a fellow Perth-ian who has a spare driver unit you can borrow to test with yours... or even swap their own in. Only takes 10-15 mins to swap out.

Check the compressor thermal switch by doing a continuity test with a multimeter across the orange and black wires. If no continuity, the switch needs replacing.

There is definately a logic fault somewhere. The EAS shoud go in to fault within 10 minutes if it cannot reach the target height.

Cheers, Paul.