1996 P38 Random suspension movement

[Nomad9]

Hi There,
Recently got a '96 P38, came with the usual suspension challenges. Got it home following morning on the bump stops, soapy water found a couple of solenoids leaking a bit fixed them..........sweet. Suspension now seems to be holding its own and you can no longer use the casing of the compressor as a bar-b-q plate.

My issue is that the suspension seems to settle out differently on occasion. Last night sat perfectly all night drove off this morning virtually no movement, no compressor activation. Get to work this morning and I would guess settles out pretty close to access height. Stayed there all day, 12 hours later drive off and it takes maybe five minutes to reach normal ride height. get home compressor warm but not hot.

Tonight, back is overly high, front is normal, hasn't moved since I got home, I'll see what it looks like tomorrow morning.

Any ideas so far? Everything seems to happen together, no one corner is lower than the others. The car does not appear to lean to port or starboard, anomalies appear to be back to front or all four the same either high, normal or low.

[Keithy P38]

Could be a bung height sensor. When they go they tend to do all kinds of weird things to your ride height!

[superquag]

Could be worse... at least they're still available (from the UK)

[33chinacars]

Buy yourself an EAS Kicker from BlackBox Solution. Reads & clears EAS faults. Great bit of kit.

Blackbox Solutions Ltd - Designers and manufacturers of the best vehicle diagnostic tools.

Gary

[mtb_gary]

Nomad9.

Another bit of hardware & software you may want to look at is from rsw solutions (rswsolutions.com) EAS unlock suite. If you are changing or calibrating hour height sensors you are going to need it.
If you are changing height sensors, beware as there are 2 different types. Mine for instance have a lead around 50cm long with a plug on the end of the lead that connects up at the top of the wheel arch. The other variety has the plug directly into the sensor. How do I know? I've still got the ones that don't fit sitting in the garage .

Gary

[Nomad9]

Hi Gary,
I have got an MSV Extreme I'm just waiting for Ronnie to get back to me with the price and software. I agree great peice of kit, thanks for the reply. Just wondering if it was something easy I coud fix before I got the software.

[davidsonsm]

I was led to believe that the NRV's were the prime potential souce of your woes? Check them out. Ensure the cones are nice and round. They have a tendency to wear on one side (gravity hey), which means they don't centre on the O ring very well - which can cause the front to drop uniformily (one of the symptoms).

If the cones aren't nice and round - what I did was pick the three best from the two valve blocks I had at the time (now up to two spares plus duty!).

Beginning to think buying a new one would be a worthwhile investiment, given I'm planning to keep the car a while longer.

[Hoges]

Hi Gary,
I have got an MSV Extreme I'm just waiting for Ronnie to get back to me with the price and software. I agree great peice of kit, thanks for the reply. Just wondering if it was something easy I coud fix before I got the software.

The Storey Wilson software (EAS Suite) is free, works on MS XP and the website has detailed instructions for making your own cable. Only need a USB-serial converter plus OBDII plug (Jaycar). You can buy a cheap second-hand laptop and load it with all your P38 stuff... well worth it!
Also get yourself a copy of RAVE and load it on your laptop (see "Dave's Interesting Things" on this forum for details)

[mtb_gary]

The Storey Wilson software (EAS Suite) is free, works on MS XP and the website has detailed instructions for making your own cable. Only need a USB-serial converter plus OBDII plug (Jaycar). You can buy a cheap second-hand laptop and load it with all your P38 stuff... well worth it!
Also get yourself a copy of RAVE and load it on your laptop (see "Dave's Interesting Things" on this forum for details)

Hoges

The free version is no longer available from rsw solutions. He now sells another chargable version complete with USB cable which is claimed to be a big improvement on the previous free version (that I still use).

Gary

[Nomad9]

Hi David,
Great reply, helps me possibly identify the problem. When I repaired the solenoid valves I wouldn't describe the cones as "nice and round", however they weren't that bad.
A pattern is starting to develop now, his morning, back still high, front OK. Set off levelled of straight away, compressor on for a minimal amount of time. Got to work parked up and as I left suspension went down to just above access, stayed there all day and then took about 2.5 klms to come up to normal ride height.

Tonight come home parked up and the back is now marginally higher than normal, front normal. the saga continues.......