Occasional severe vibration from eas compressor

[stickso]

Finally got my p38 muddy yesterday for the first time, but on the way there and at random intervals during the afternoon the eas compressor started vibrating far, far worse than normal. There's the normal operation which it'll usually do then there's this random situation when it tries to launch out of the engine bay.

A couple of weeks back I fitted a new Teflon seal, cylinder, o-ring for the compressor taking care to follow the directions exactly and it's only started doing it since then - maybe once or twice before yesterday.

I have an o-ring set for the valve block (thanks Paul) and replaced the 6mm and 8mm o-rings on the outside as I had some bad leaks, but am yet to fit the full kit. I'm wondering if there's something wrong in there which is only an issue now the pump is pushing decent pressure (gauge connected to line 6 shows it gets up to 145psi)... Or is this something else?

Just wondering if anyone has seen this before? I'm not over concerned yet as I'll do the valve block seals in the next week or 2 but thought I'd ask.

Thanks,
Damien.

[TheTree]

Hi,

I would suspect something in your rebuilt compressor is lose or misaligned, I can't even hear mine running over the engine noise.

Steve

[stickso]

Thanks, I'll pull it apart and have another look but 90% of the time it runs nice & quiet... very odd.

[Offender90]

Can you physically see the compressor "vibrating" or are you going by the noise it makes? Does it sound like a body panel is vibrating? If it started after you refitted the compressor, is it possible that you somehow "shorted" the isolation mounts?

Is any part of the compressor close to touching something in the engine bay?

What size washers are you using - you didn't go bigger by any chance? The securing bolt should only be secured to the metal sleeve that's cast in the rubber mount. There should not be a washer anywhere near the metal bracket - if a washer touches part of the compressor, vibration will be tranmitted to the body panel through the washer and will sound horrible

Also check that the rubber mounts are not damaged, and that the three bolts holding the compressor are not misaligned.

HTH

Bojan

[benji]

My first classic that had eas had a really loud compressor that would make the cabin boom when it ran, I could feel the vibration in the wheel as I was driving. It turned out to be a missaligned piston ring collar was eating out the side of the bore. Just another possibility.

[stickso]

Can you physically see the compressor "vibrating" or are you going by the noise it makes? Does it sound like a body panel is vibrating? If it started after you refitted the compressor, is it possible that you somehow "shorted" the isolation mounts?

Is any part of the compressor close to touching something in the engine bay?

What size washers are you using - you didn't go bigger by any chance? The securing bolt should only be secured to the metal sleeve that's cast in the rubber mount. There should not be a washer anywhere near the metal bracket - if a washer touches part of the compressor, vibration will be tranmitted to the body panel through the washer and will sound horrible

Also check that the rubber mounts are not damaged, and that the three bolts holding the compressor are not misaligned.

HTH

Bojan

I've seen it in action and the compressor was shaking quite violently and then settled down into it's normal operation. I can only hear it because the lid of the box over the compressor vibrates very loudly so all the isolating rubbers are fine.

Benji, thanks for your input too - I'll report back once I've opened it up to check it out.

Damien.

[stickso]

I spent a bit more time on this today and let the car idle as the pressure built up. After about 110psi it starts to get louder and by 140psi it's shaking violently. I think the motor is struggling now that the piston seal has been replaced. It's
probably seen better days as I suspect it was constantly running before I gave it an overhaul.

I may just have to stump up and buy a new compressor - any recommendations where to get one?

Damien.

[PaulP38a]

for a new compressor, check the UK P38 spare parts shops. Dont know what they are going for now, at least $500 I would guess.

It could be a fairly simple repair on yours though.
You can buy piston and sleeve/cylinder kits, rubber mounts, and bushes online.

Really comes down to what is the more cost effective and convenient solution to you.

[Keithy P38]

Dunlop EAS compressor from island 4x4 are £150 + delivery (wouldn't imagine it'd cost that much).

Air Suspension Compressor New ANR3731 SLP Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order. (http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/suspension-compressor-dunlop-anr3731-p-97.html)

Cheers
Keithy

[FANTOM P38]

May also pay to ensure that bolts which go through isolation mounts are securely bedded into EAS enclosure ( they have been known to come adrift )

[RR P38]

Dunlop EAS compressor from island 4x4 are £150 + delivery (wouldn't imagine it'd cost that much).

Air Suspension Compressor New ANR3731 SLP Island 4x4 - Specialists in Land Rover and Range Rover Parts and accessories for all models. UK and worldwide mail order. (http://www.island-4x4.co.uk/suspension-compressor-dunlop-anr3731-p-97.html)

Cheers
Keithy

Thats cheap as chips!

Its hardly worth messing about with it at that price.
Probably 7-8 years ago I pulled my compressor motor apart, there was an enormous amount of crap from the brushes and armature floating about in there.It was a bugger to get back together from what I remember.
My compressor runs on a manual isolation switch and has done for best part of 8 years.........the compressor I thought was dead is still going...LOL.

You might have a stuffed bearing?

[stickso]

Thanks guys. The compressor side has new seals and cylinder and the rubber bushes are fine but for £150 + delivery that sounds like the way to go for peace of mind. The wife is giving me "that look" everytime she sees me poking about the engine bay seeing as I've only had the car for about 6 weeks!

The compressor is still functioning ok but it gets ridiculously hot so just concerned about getting stranded if it decides to pack it in.

Damien.

[RR P38]

Thanks guys. The compressor side is all new and the rubber bushes are fine but for £150 + delivery that sounds like the way to go for peace of mind. The wife is giving me "that look" everytime she sees me poking about the engine bay seeing as I've only had the car for about 6 weeks!

The compressor is still functioning ok but it gets ridiculously hot so just concerned about getting stranded if it decides to pack it in.

Damien.
At that price I have just ordered one my self.

Well hate to tell you this............but she will give you that look plenty while you own a P38.
The up side of P38 ownership is women seem to love driving them:)

[Keithy P38]

They do run hot when they cycle a fair bit (on uneven terrain for example). I have two EAS compressors running my system. Not because one is dragging the chain! As I regularly take my P38 off road, I'm airing up and down frequently so I thought it a good idea to mount and plumb in a second one.

[stickso]

At that price I have just ordered one my self.

Well hate to tell you this............but she will give you that look plenty while you own a P38.
The up side of P38 ownership is women seem to love driving them:)

I think she's just a bit sceptical the RR was really bought for family activities :)



They do run hot when they cycle a fair bit (on uneven terrain for example). I have two EAS compressors running my system. Not because one is dragging the chain! As I regularly take my P38 off road, I'm airing up and down frequently so I thought it a good idea to mount and plumb in a second one.

Mine's getting very hot (too hot to touch) just sitting in the garage. Great idea mounting a second one - good confidence booster as well I'd imagine. Do you have pics of how you set it up?

Damien.

[Keithy P38]

I do. There's probably a thread in here with pics somewhere! I'll try and find it.

[RR P38]

They do run hot when they cycle a fair bit (on uneven terrain for example). I have two EAS compressors running my system. Not because one is dragging the chain! As I regularly take my P38 off road, I'm airing up and down frequently so I thought it a good idea to mount and plumb in a second one.

I pulled the drain plug out of my air receiver and put an air out and inlet fitting into the plug. Well its just a tubeless tire valve, its handy though, if you need to put air back into the system or if you want to do a quick inflation on something.

[Keithy P38]

Similar thing to mine. I've got a ball valve off the tank, air lines front and rear with quick connect fittings.

[stickso]

Just closing the loop on this. I received my new compressor from Island 4x4 and it runs up to full pressure in the tank and stays quiet as a mouse.

When I get a chance I'll pull the old one apart to see if I can work out what the issue was as it'll be a handy spare.

[TheTree]

Glad you got it sorted mate, enjoy the luxury ride ;-)