Should i or shouldnt i

[MarknDeb]

We had the 80,000 service today and given the bad new of trouble with the SLS (ERRORS logged: Pump relay open circuit, Shuttle Valve switch electrical failure, Rear sensors electrical failure) when the car sits for more than 10mins she sinks as far as it can go, so before we drive away we wait till she comes back to ride hight. We are now wondering if to replace the airbags and what ever else needs to be fixed or go for new coils fitted with polly inners. As we tow a caravan that weights over 2T so i would like the usual helfull feeback. MR Automotive are our service agents and will get the job for the work or replacement.

[Kandy]

Hi MarknDeb, I dont have air susp. but I was talking to a D3 owner the other day who said he was a specialist in this type of engineering and swore by it. Because it gives you choice in ride height Id be inclined to sort it out and stick with it. Im sure Harry at MR would give you good guidance.
Steve

[Disco_owner]

Hi Mark;

I've got this same set up on my disco as you've just described , Coil Springs with Polyairs Bilstein dampers ,although I've not have any experience with air bag suspention , but I swear by this set up ,it's great for touring.

[RonMcGr]

Hi Mark,

If it were mine, I'd change the air to spring.
That Caravan would be putting a lot of stress on the rear air bags, especially without a WDH :D

Cheers,
Ron

[MarknDeb]

Kandy - the D2 doesnt have the same setup as the D3, it would be nice to have the choices of ride they do.

Disco_owner - do you tow anything heavey mate, this is where my decission will lay, Dwayne at MR is the one saying to run this setup and he hasnt steered me rong yet

Ron, good to hear from you on this, yes mate i would definately have to run with the WDH on this setup ;), the good thing would be i could set it all to work together and have best of both worlds

[Redback]

I would imagine that fixing the underlying problem with your SLS would be the better option and probably cheaper too, that's what i would do.

Sounds like an airbag or an airline has a leak, the faults would be because of things working overtime to keep the air in, fix what's wrong and in theroy the faults will go.

Baz.

[Disco_owner]

Mark;

The set up is ideal for Towing , often I tow a heavy trailer to the Tip , Just pump the your PolyAir bags and readjust the ride height. no worries.;)

[BradM]

Hi MarknDeb,
I have a 21.5 Lotus Sprint sitting up on 3 tonne simplicity suspension. It is about 2,500 kg loaded up. I have towed it about 15,000 klms with the SLS and 750kg Hayman Reece load leveling hitch/device. (Yeah, I know).

Put some very soapy water in a spray bottle and spray it all over the air bags, lines and fittings. Leave for about 3-5 minutes and look for a patch of tiny bubbles. This may identify a leak.

Both my air bags had a leak from the cheap stuff they put on the tread as a sealant where the air line goes into air bag itself at the top. There is a screw in setup that locks in the air line. Good place to start. A dose of Number 3 aviation gasket on the treads fixed mine.

Personally if any thing else in the SLS system on my Disco plays up then it is getting Lovell springs fitted all round with polyair bags in the rear. The last thing you want is no rear suspension on the side of the raod with the van on the back.

Also the shuttle valve error is ABS.
Pump relay open circuit, I believe is also ABS
Rear sensors - could also possibly be wheel sensors ABS

Regards,
BradM

[Kandy]

Just throwing in my opinion (not experience with air susp.) but Im with Redback, fix the probs. before going all out with alternatives (might save you a lot of dough). My understanding is the design (if all things are sound and a good service programme should complement that) of the air susp.system is such that it supports and enhances towing BUT I have no experience only word of mouth and its all good BUT I appreciate the view that a system failure in the middle of nowhere (dud compressor, airbag blowout/leak etc. ) would be a real bugger or worse BUT so would an alternator / starter motor etc. SO get everything working top notch and enjoy the ride.

[WildOne]

I've also got the SLS on my D2 and although it has'nt given me any trouble yet i always wonder if it will let me down when i'm in the bush. I'm at a crossroads at the moment with the Disco, as to wheather i keep it or look for another vehicle, if i keep it long term the SLS will definately go in favour of springs and poly-airs just to improve reliability while in the bush.

[MarknDeb]

Thanks for the feedback its just what i want, For MR to replace 1 airbag is around $650 and i would feal much better to replace both if to do this so around $1300 to do both, MR will charge $1000 to replace airbags with good springs and polly's so i would be saving good money to do the change over. I love the SLS and has served us very well with towing the van and when we do our day trips with 7 people onboard.
A couple of months ago i tried the spray with soapy water and could not find a thing ???????, MR did this on the service aswell and even they couldnt find a leak :(.
This problem all started after our Camberra trip last September, on the first leg of the trip we tried the WDH to see if it helped the car any and the next day when at Camberra we noticed the car dropping in the bum, it was probably a coincidence but you just done know, as Dwayne at MR said, when we are out in Winton on our trip this June and the bags fail, there would be no one to fix it out there so we will get one or the other done before we head off

[MarknDeb]

I've also got the SLS on my D2 and although it has'nt given me any trouble yet i always wonder if it will let me down when i'm in the bush. I'm at a crossroads at the moment with the Disco, as to wheather i keep it or look for another vehicle, if i keep it long term the SLS will definately go in favour of springs and poly-airs just to improve reliability while in the bush.

Mate we are now at the same cross road, i was talking to Deb and think it we spent close to 5grand we could make it very reliable, MR have made sugestions for some stuff, IE: chip upgrade, intercooler upgrade, bigger exhaust (to breath easier) snorkle to feed clean cool air, exhaust manifold studs and a new harness to sensors ???? (MR told me there is a replacement harness and takes 2hrs to fit, they say sensors errors are not bad sensors but a resistance in the original harness that gives errors) i think if we get all this done the car would be a beast and should be relitively trouble free.

[RonMcGr]

Mate we are now at the same cross road, i was talking to Deb and think it we spent close to 5grand we could make it very reliable, MR have made sugestions for some stuff, IE: chip upgrade, intercooler upgrade, bigger exhaust (to breath easier) snorkle to feed clean cool air, exhaust manifold studs and a new harness to sensors ???? (MR told me there is a replacement harness and takes 2hrs to fit, they say sensors errors are not bad sensors but a resistance in the original harness that gives errors) i think if we get all this done the car would be a beast and should be relitively trouble free.

Mark,

Sounds like MR have given you some very sound advice :D
I have fitted the snorkel and big bore exhaust to our V8. It has helped a little. Performance exhausts in Brendale did a good job with the exhaust.

Cheers,
Ron

[BradM]

I am at a bit of a loss as to why you would change the air bags out if you cannot find a leak in them. Would not you move further along onto the valves and compressor for troubleshooting. It sounds like you have a bad air leak maybe back through the valves or the compressor is bad.

Spray the soapy water around the valves in the compressor box under the passenger side of the Disco.

Vortex High Performance Exhausts (http://www.vortexexhausts.com.au/products.html)

Tombraider ECU upgrade $440, remove EGR valve (kit $110) and fit Vortex muffler where the LR centre muffler currenly is sitting($288.50 plus fitting).

Cost is less than a $1,000 and gives 30 to40% more power with the same fuel economy. I would not worry about the bigger intercooler $1,000 at least until you have tried the above setup.

Also a snorkel is good as it gets the air intake away from the hot engine bay and up out of the dust. Get the replacement loom if needed.

BradM

[MarknDeb]

I have tried spraying with soapy water before and MR tried it ????? so as for the leak it is a mystery, i am off to Noosa North Shore with the van next Wednesday so i will try the soapy spray again on Monday.

As for all the other stuff i mentioned well from reading all the posts on here regardinfg what we have to look forward to, i thought if i could nip it all in the butt before it happens all the better for us when on trips, its all this or try to convince Deb to sell the Disco and get a V6TD Tourag

[MarknDeb]

I am at a bit of a loss as to why you would change the air bags out if you cannot find a leak in them. Would not you move further along onto the valves and compressor for troubleshooting. It sounds like you have a bad air leak maybe back through the valves or the compressor is bad.

Spray the soapy water around the valves in the compressor box under the passenger side of the Disco.

BradM


Gday Brad, i had a good think about this and tonight i went rite over it again with soapy water (airbags, lines and all round thew compressor), not a leak to be found, i marked the broom handle with tape and sat it beside the car while i changed the light bulbs over, while doing this Matthew was playing in the car and i heard a click sound, i checked the broom and behold it was down so it is now looking like the valve, maybe elctrical who knows, ill give MR a call Monday and see what they can tell me.

Thanks mate your advice may pay off and be a dam site cheaper

[BradM]

Starting to sound more and more like an air pressure valve. Let us all know the outcome.

BradM

[MarknDeb]

Ok MR told us the compressor/valve is US and we are looking at around 1 grand to replace, the car is booked in on the 30th to have springs installed, they will fit heavey duty ones for the towning and after our big trip in June/July if we want to install pollies they will do it then, they dont seem to think we will need them.

[MarknDeb]

Ok we got the conversion done today and it actually feals real good to drive actually i would nearly dare to say its better but then the springs are new and have to settle in, i picked our van up at Caboolture after the job was done, the van tows very different so we are going to Stanthorpe for a weekend very soon to test it all out before our big trip in June. So all up very happy and MR did the job for just over $400. They used King springs (heavy duty)

[BradM]

Hi,
Glad it all worked out. King springs seem to be a good unit. I run them (dare I say it..ehh no I won't ;)) on my other vehicle with 2" lift.

At least the cost factor made the decision in the end for you.

BradM