drivesafe
15th September 2007, 05:06 PM
Here’s one to watch for and this is a short story long.
In case your not aware, many dual battery systems are not compatible with the D3’s advanced battery monitoring system and installing these dual battery systems can lead to a number of supposedly unrelated “failures” with the most common one being a shutdown of the air suspension compressor.
The SC40-LR and SC80-LR are modified versions of the SC40 and SC80 and were specifically designed to operate in a manner that would not to interfere with D3’s the battery monitoring and to date, there has not been a single problem where either of these devices have caused any problems.
That is until this past week.
A D3 owner purchased an SC40-LR Plug-&-Play kit but as he had other wiring work to be done, he organised to have the kit installed by his local auto electrician.
One of the other wiring jobs to be done on the D3 was to remove one of the 7-pin plugs at the rear of the D3 so another plug could be mounted in the same spot. This was done and the original plug and wiring was removed from where it connected to the a loom plug behind the D3’s blinker housing.
The kit was installed and all other work carried out and seemed to be working.
The owner picked up his D3, drove for about 10 seconds and then the dreaded “Air Suspension Fault” came up on the display and the D3 could not be raised or lowered.
To shorten the story a bit, many phone calls, tests and operating procedures later, including disconnecting the dual battery system and reinstalling the original D3 plug and loom at the rear, the fault could not be reset.
The LR dealer finally decided that the only way the problem could be resolved was for the D3 to be take to them, some hours away.
At the dealers, after analysing the D3, the compressor was found to be unable to maintain a suitable pressure, so it was replaced, problem fixed.
NOT QUITE.
The new compressor was also found to be unable to maintain a suitable pressure.
Thanks to some good detective work by the dealers service staff, not only was a pin hole found in one of the front air suspension pipes but the reason for it was also worked out.
Apparently, when the D3 was in for its 24k service, the owner had reported that he had found a very small amount of fluid on the top of the cranking battery and after the service staff inspected, the battery was replaced.
The problem is that the leak had been a tad more than had been apparent and the electrolyte had leaked down onto the air suspension pipe, corroding it.
Now by nothing more than pure coincidence, the pipe finally started to leak air at the very worst time for all concerned and the fault pointed to other likely causes.
The pipe was replaced, the fault cleared and all is well.
So if you ever notice electrolyte in either battery compartment, not only clean it out but check your all your pipes, both suspension and brakes.
Cheers.
In case your not aware, many dual battery systems are not compatible with the D3’s advanced battery monitoring system and installing these dual battery systems can lead to a number of supposedly unrelated “failures” with the most common one being a shutdown of the air suspension compressor.
The SC40-LR and SC80-LR are modified versions of the SC40 and SC80 and were specifically designed to operate in a manner that would not to interfere with D3’s the battery monitoring and to date, there has not been a single problem where either of these devices have caused any problems.
That is until this past week.
A D3 owner purchased an SC40-LR Plug-&-Play kit but as he had other wiring work to be done, he organised to have the kit installed by his local auto electrician.
One of the other wiring jobs to be done on the D3 was to remove one of the 7-pin plugs at the rear of the D3 so another plug could be mounted in the same spot. This was done and the original plug and wiring was removed from where it connected to the a loom plug behind the D3’s blinker housing.
The kit was installed and all other work carried out and seemed to be working.
The owner picked up his D3, drove for about 10 seconds and then the dreaded “Air Suspension Fault” came up on the display and the D3 could not be raised or lowered.
To shorten the story a bit, many phone calls, tests and operating procedures later, including disconnecting the dual battery system and reinstalling the original D3 plug and loom at the rear, the fault could not be reset.
The LR dealer finally decided that the only way the problem could be resolved was for the D3 to be take to them, some hours away.
At the dealers, after analysing the D3, the compressor was found to be unable to maintain a suitable pressure, so it was replaced, problem fixed.
NOT QUITE.
The new compressor was also found to be unable to maintain a suitable pressure.
Thanks to some good detective work by the dealers service staff, not only was a pin hole found in one of the front air suspension pipes but the reason for it was also worked out.
Apparently, when the D3 was in for its 24k service, the owner had reported that he had found a very small amount of fluid on the top of the cranking battery and after the service staff inspected, the battery was replaced.
The problem is that the leak had been a tad more than had been apparent and the electrolyte had leaked down onto the air suspension pipe, corroding it.
Now by nothing more than pure coincidence, the pipe finally started to leak air at the very worst time for all concerned and the fault pointed to other likely causes.
The pipe was replaced, the fault cleared and all is well.
So if you ever notice electrolyte in either battery compartment, not only clean it out but check your all your pipes, both suspension and brakes.
Cheers.