2010 RRS 3.0 TDV6 Suspension

[woody919]

Hi Guys,

I have noticed that when my car has been parked for a number of days the front end seems a little lower (just a little, not bump stops or anything). On engine start the car raises itself, I measured it to be about 16mm. Is this normal? If not where should I start looking?

I have recently had the body off for a turbo replacement so was wondering if the air lines have been disturbed. Also was told by the tech that the compressor is fairly slow to change the vehicle height, and is probably on its way out. The rear seems to hold its height without any issues.

Many Thanks

Chris

[Graeme]

I suggest that you remove the engine bay 20A suspension fuse overnight to see which corner is lowest next morning. The other side will also be a little lower because it's taking a bigger percentage of the weight of the front. When you have determined which corner you will be in a position to start spraying soapy water on the air-spring whilst at off-road height particularly at the folds and on the airline joins at the air-spring and the front valve block, which is in front of the right wheel under the bumper. Valve blocks have been known to leak, either due to a split where the airline connector screws in or occasionally the valve leaks allowing pressure into the airline back to the compressor but airsprings more commonly develop cracks at the folds that eventually leak.

[woody919]

I suggest that you remove the engine bay 20A suspension fuse overnight to see which corner is lowest next morning. The other side will also be a little lower because it's taking a bigger percentage of the weight of the front. When you have determined which corner you will be in a position to start spraying soapy water on the air-spring whilst at off-road height particularly at the folds and on the airline joins at the air-spring and the front valve block, which is in front of the right wheel under the bumper. Valve blocks have been known to leak, either due to a split where the airline connector screws in or occasionally the valve leaks allowing pressure into the airline back to the compressor but airsprings more commonly develop cracks at the folds that eventually leak.


Thanks Graeme,

Do you think its likely to be the airbags? The car has done 94K with no off road work, would expect to get at least 200k out of them. I will pull the fuse tonight and see what happens. FYI its a Hitachi compressor. Is it worth rebuilding this if its the issue or just get an AMK?

Thanks

Chris

[Graeme]

The folds of my now-gone D4's air-springs had bad cracks on the inside at 90K so I determined to replaced the whole assemblies before very long, which happened 5K later although not triggered by the cracks. IMO it's the folds always occurring in the same spot that creates the cracks rather than changing the fold position, as occurs with suspension movement.

[woody919]

The folds of my now-gone D4's air-springs had bad cracks on the inside at 90K so I determined to replaced the whole assemblies before very long, which happened 5K later although not triggered by the cracks. IMO it's the folds always occurring in the same spot that creates the cracks rather than changing the fold position, as occurs with suspension movement.


Ok I'll see how the leak detection goes. I also put the car into super extended mode using the jack method, the rear is higher than the front. Is that normal?

121511121510

[Graeme]

The front should be almost as high as the rear. Did the compressor stop to cool?

[woody919]

The front should be almost as high as the rear. Did the compressor stop to cool?


It did stop on the third time but going from normal to off road, and it took ages to get to off road height. It's the old hitachi compressor maybe it timed out due to temperature. The car has recently been at the mechanic for a body off turbo change and he did state that the compressor seemed slower than normal. Up to and including extended mode that car was level between the front and back axles, but the front then lower in super extended. Could it need a suspension calibration?

Thanks again

Chris

[Graeme]

It wont be due to a calibration issue, just that the compressor stopped. Whilst LR had a program to replace all MY10 Hitachi compressors under warranty, somehow your vehicle missed out and unfortunately the free replacements are no longer available. However the compressor may be overworking due to an air leak, possibly one that gets worse as the front is raised making it impossible to get the front any higher. Soapy water really needs to be used to try to find the leak because guessing the faulty part will most likely result in unnecessary parts being replaced.

[woody919]

It wont be due to a calibration issue, just that the compressor stopped. Whilst LR had a program to replace all MY10 Hitachi compressors under warranty, somehow your vehicle missed out and unfortunately the free replacements are no longer available. However the compressor may be overworking due to an air leak, possibly one that gets worse as the front is raised making it impossible to get the front any higher. Soapy water really needs to be used to try to find the leak because guessing the faulty part will most likely result in unnecessary parts being replaced.


The front left dropped overnight by about 10mm. I'll try the soapy water trick, will focus on the front valve block, left air bag and compressor.

So, I inspected the following with no external leaks detected:

Front valve block under bumper
Front left strut air connection and the folds on the strut I could see from underneath
Connection into reservoir
All connections around compressor and reservoir valve block

I put the car into extended mode then super extended and noted the following:

Front:

Rise of 10mm from Off road to Ext
Rise of 15mm from Ext to super Ext

Back:

Rise of 25mm from off road to Ext
Rise of 25 from ext to super ext

[woody919]

I had the car in super extended mode overnight two nights ago and it didn't drop at all. In normal height it dropped around 5mm each side (car locked and fuses in) again last night.

[Graeme]

The inconsistent height reductions suggests an air-spring leak but could still be a leaking valve in the valve block allowing pressure back into the main supply line, which is blocked by the exhaust valve. The valve blocks aren't particularly expensive especially compared with new air-springs or assemblies so in the absence of finding a leak in the air-spring, perhaps replace the valve block. If it doesn't cure the lowering then you have a spare front valve block which can be used in the rear, albeit with faster raising than usual due to the larger orifice in the front valve block than the rear catering for more front weight.

[woody919]

The inconsistent height reductions suggests an air-spring leak but could still be a leaking valve in the valve block allowing pressure back into the main supply line, which is blocked by the exhaust valve. The valve blocks aren't particularly expensive especially compared with new air-springs or assemblies so in the absence of finding a leak in the air-spring, perhaps replace the valve block. If it doesn't cure the lowering then you have a spare front valve block which can be used in the rear, albeit with faster raising than usual due to the larger orifice in the front valve block than the rear catering for more front weight.

Thanks Graeme, I'm going to 'see how it goes' over the next few months as its minor at this stage. If the valve block is changed do you need to recalibrate the suspension?

[Graeme]

No calibration required for a change in valve block. Indeed calibration is not required if the air-spring assemblies are replaced.

[12rrs]

Feeling your pain woody. Got quoted 2k for a new pump on my 2012 with only 60kms on it.

Mine just seems to be having issue lowering to access. Few fault codes apparently point to slow to re fill and exhaust valve problem. So like you I'm just going to leave it in normal mode and live with it for a while as I had to replace rotors and pads today and control arms soon.

My rangie experience starting to hurt.

[woody919]

Feeling your pain woody. Got quoted 2k for a new pump on my 2012 with only 60kms on it.

Mine just seems to be having issue lowering to access. Few fault codes apparently point to slow to re fill and exhaust valve problem. So like you I'm just going to leave it in normal mode and live with it for a while as I had to replace rotors and pads today and control arms soon.

My rangie experience starting to hurt.

Iv been told to only replace with an AMK compressor, you can get them for around $1200, if you are willing to DIY you could save some dollars there, apparently it's not too hard. I'll be doing my own when it's time. They are expensive, but what a weapon of a machine they are!!

[Graeme]

Be sure to update the suspension ecu with the software for the AMK.