Hitachi to AMK compressor conversion

[Nomad9]

Hi There,
My installed compressor is still fine however starting to show signs of its age. I have now embarked upon the purchase of an AMK conversion kit which comes with "all the bits" apparently.

I have scanned threads and found one from Nov 2014 which was very useful, I have now found Tech bulletin LTB00420v2 which seems to cover everything I really need to know.

There is only one item as usual which caught my attention, this is the bit about upgrading the installed software to a later version. One of the comments a bit further on in the thread mentions that the upgrade is only to lower the operating pressure of the air tank to extend the life of the compressor, so three questions really:-

1. Can I lower the operating pressure of the air tank now to extend the life of my Hitachi compressor?

2. Can I run the AMK compressor at the higher pressure, not do the upgrade of the software and expect the same life I have had out of the Hitachi compressor?

3. Can I use my Faultmate MSV2 to change the operating pressure of the air system to save taking my LR into a LR agent?

[shanegtr]

I would think you should be able to make the change with the msv2 - don't quote me however. I do know it can be done with the IID tool as I have it. When I first got my IID tool I had a play and changed the software from Hitachi to AMK. For some reason the suspension didn't want to play the game afterwards (can't remember the exact details of what it did - was a while ago now) so I swapped it back.

[Nomad9]

Hi Shane,
When you say "swapped it back", are you talking about AMK to Hitachi compressor or are you talking about the software? When you switched back, (I am assuming the software) to Hitachi did the suspension work again with the AMK compressor?

[shanegtr]

just software i was referring to. Mine still has the hitachi compressor

[Nomad9]

Hi Shane,
So you tried to put the updated software on your D3 with the standard Hitachi compressor, this was just to try and lower the working pressure of the air receiver so prolonging the life, I am assuming.

[shanegtr]

That's the theory. I figured the lower pressures wouldn't hurt, but I didn't have any joy with it

[~Rich~]

Long before the AMK compressor there was a software update to lower the pressure in the holding tank to help prolong the compressor life.
How you find and get I'm unsure, perhaps just getting the last update before the AMK update would be your best bet.

[Nomad9]

Hi Rich,
My compressor was replaced in 2011 by the previous owner at a Land Rover agent, updating the software is mentioned in the invoice text. Interesting, I thought the software update was specific to the compressor, I didn't realise that it was system specific.

This being the case I suppose I can now assume that my D3 has the updated software installed so I can fit the new AMK compressor and everything will be fine.

Does anyone out there know what the pressure was the original pressure and what the new system pressure is? I can hook up my MSV 2 to confirm the actual working pressure now, that will confirm if the right software update has been done.

Thanks Rich.

[~Rich~]

Back when the 3 was designed, the compressor max shutoff pressure was as above, 244 psi.

Then in April 2010, a fix was announced that reduced the shutoff pressure to about 205 psi or 14 bar.

The air springs run between 100 psi and 140 psi.