Thread: Emergency air up instructions

Originally Posted by BradC

One issue that may crop up is the amount of moisture your tyre pump will have pushed into the system. Last time I went away I added a moisture trap to my compressor when airing up after a few off road excursions and the amount of water it caught was surprising.

It is something Im aware of and have thought about having repacked the dryer in the LR system. A moisture trap will only catch/stop water liquid that has already condensed out of the hot compressed air once it cools sufficiently before the trap (generally in the source compressor tank, not applicable for tyre pump, though some cooling can occur in the hose), depending on this distance and cooling ability, there is likely still more cooling it will do inside the destination tank/system where it can condense more water. Though it wont hurt and they are cheap so you could add one to the kit, but only at the end of the hose not the start unless you are using a tanked source.

This is why what you really need ideally is an air drier, which is something else and what LR have built into the onboard system with desiccant in it. You could easily make one your self and even just use damp rid or silica gel in a bit of pvc pressure pipe and filter pad at one end with fittings each end, and hook this tube inline. But you have to keep your chosen desiccant sealed before use.

Another idea ive seen is a cooling coil of metal tube that the air flows up through or/and a water trap/filter at the end.

One test id like to still do is see if GAP will still activate the valve test function with the tank valve wires unplugged, this way you could choose to just pump into the bags and not fill the tank as well, which is not really needed in hindsight, since I currently prefer just pulling the valve body and/or ecu fuse once full and level.

But really (and hopefully, as i didnt have any choice) its likely a relatively small amount of air/moisture that you are pumping in maybe once or twice in an emergency, compared to the volume that is pumped by the car normally in its life, and that this dryer air in the future should dry out any moisture that has gotten in this once.

For short term emergency use there would be very little risk of excess moisture and any that went in would be expelled when the system vents at shutdown.

All this BS for buying a cheap arse pump. For others out there, learn the lesson and enjoy your holiday by buying a good quality replacement or servicing the existing genuine beforehand. 16 years in my pump. Overhauled once, desiccant rebuild twice. 400,000km.
I admire your efforts to survive this issue and you know the system like an expert now, but this isn't the holiday I'd have chosen. Still, I think you thrive on this so maybe it's been fun Admirable efforts, but ...

My 2013 model is still on the original pump at 145,000km , before our next big outback trip I plan to replace the pump with a new original spec to avoid any issues
as the old saying states ? the poor man pays twice ?
Not stating anyone's financial situation but trying to save a few $ on such a vital item just isn't worth the risk IMO

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

All this BS for buying a cheap arse pump. For others out there, learn the lesson and enjoy your holiday by buying a good quality replacement or servicing the existing genuine beforehand. 16 years in my pump. Overhauled once, desiccant rebuild twice. 400,000km.
I admire your efforts to survive this issue and you know the system like an expert now, but this isn't the holiday I'd have chosen. Still, I think you thrive on this so maybe it's been fun Admirable efforts, but ...

This very rude & dismissive language seems to suggests a factory pump or any parts of the suspension system has never failed, which is rubbish. If you dont like my posts dont ready them, and when you get stuck in the simpson desert because you didnt care to read about and carry a $10 air fitting so you could use the existing tyre pump you likely will be carrying to self rescue than good luck ... For sure it seems the ebay pump didnt last as long as the original, I specifically posted that detail, knowing i would get flamed for it, but to help others learn from my mistakes or prepare for breakdowns (I will teardown the pump and report what broke)

Who is to know if that car you just bought hadnt had a cheap ebay one installed before you bought it ? And your 16 year old one wont last forever, nothing does. That being said I will be putting my original pump back in (that I rebuilt after replacement with the ebay one), rather than buy a new one, in the confidence knowing that i can handle a failure should it happen.

Originally Posted by discomatt69

such a vital item just isn't worth the risk IMO

My experience is now that it is not such a vital part, and that if caught early and the right actions carried out you can pretty much recover yourself easily without a working pump.

Now back to my latest update:


Put the van back on, and levelled enough using the tank air, rears taking about 130psi with the van on (~250kg ball) without having to jack it up this time.

Having the luxury of a proven and working backup air supply i ran another test, I tried driving again with the ecu fuse in, and at times the valve fuse, to find out the following:

During ecu startup (either car start, or enable eas option in gap) it will first do a vent test, letting a bit or air out of the tank first to test that system, then if that passes it will test the pump circuitry and run the pump if needed. This is one of the reason why if your pump stops working, each stop/start of the car, the tank will eventually run out of air, unless you pull the valves fuse.

If the ecu can not detect a pressure drop in the tank pressure sensor during this venting, either because you have a one way schraeder valve on the pump line, or the valve fuse is removed, (or blockage / valve problem) it will throw an error something along the lines of "pressure would not drop when expected" and its this error being present that will cause the constant red warning "50kmh max" to occur.

This can be prevented from happening by either pulling the ecu fuse as well (and loosing height sensors) or keeping the schraeder valve open during startup/ eas enable at the cost of some tank air. Or you could install a T in the line rather than a end fitting, so that the factory venting can happen.

I also worked out a way you can pump the springs directly without filling the tank as well, maybe you're worried about mositure, or maybe just to save time, by once the backup pump is connected and ready, if you use the test valves function in GAP, but instead of pressing up (which opens the tank valve) you hold down, and start the pump running, it will actually make the car go up instead of down, bypassing the tank. (note if using T in pump line you would have to disconnect factory pump multi plug to stop it opening the vent valve, though im still to confirm if you can use the 'test valves' function with either the tank or vent valves disconnected electrically )

Nup, sticking with vital part theory with the pump.
reason being when I am away travelling I want and expect a headache and stress free trip not mucking around with a faulty car every day
This reminds me of a time camped in the caravan park at Coober Pedy years ago, a couple of other campers walked past our camp and commented/laughed at the crap Disco sitting so low with failed air suspension.
They didn't know it was just at access height and the look on their faces the next morning when I backed the car up to the camper and lifted it up to its high mode to hook up the camper without even getting out of the car was priceless

Everyone's definition of vital will be different, and situation dependant, mine for this is, that the item would stop the car from being driven which this does not.

Originally Posted by haydent

During ecu startup (either car start, or enable eas option in gap) it will first do a vent test, letting a bit or air out of the tank first to test that system, then if that passes it will test the pump circuitry and run the pump if needed. This is one of the reason why if your pump stops working, each stop/start of the car, the tank will eventually run out of air, unless you pull the valves fuse.

Just to clarify this. The test on startup is measuring tank pressure. It opens the reservoir valve which brings the gallery pressure up. This is measured and if it's less than about 1 bar from set point, then it'll close the valve, vent the gallery, start the compressor then open the reservoir valve to pump it back up.

If it is within 1 bar of set point then it'll just shut the reservoir valve and vent the gallery.

In my D3 I get about 3 measurement cycles before the pressure drops enough to require topping up.

During that process, it applies all sanity checks, so as you say if the gallery doesn't vent when the ECU tries to then it'll throw a code.