When the engine is running, it appears that some air must be pumped into the air springs; with the engine off, you are down on the stops.

With only a small amount of air in the air springs, it will be hard to get much vertical movement in a partially filled air spring but it sounds as if you see some movement in each of the four corners - that is a good start as that then suggests the problem may be compressor related rather than in the air system piping or wiring. That would eliminate a lot of looking.

Re the link below, there are a couple of albums with air suspension system files within. You may wish to study them as to solve the problem or at least find the problem, one needs a good understanding of how the system works.

It is actually quite ingenious - there is a block diagram within one of the albums that helps in understanding the various components.

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Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Anyway, update on the morning drive in. Kept it on the charger all night.

Suspension fault as usual, but only once I started moving, not as the car cranked.

Radio was gone again

Anyway, going to the dealer this afternoon, so we shall see.

 

BBYER, question...

What do you think the chances are this is a drier problem? It's just I know if I go to the dealer they are going to want to change out the full compressor and I just don't really want to give them $1200 bux to do it.

How difficult of a job is it to swap out the drier, or even the whole compressor if I did it myself?

Thinking I may just blow off the appt to get it looked and and try the drier before I take it in.

If that's worth a try...

Also, would the codes show if it was a Drier issue rather than a compressor issue? Got a couple INDIE shops around that I might could get to pull the codes for me, believe a couple of them have SDD.

 

For what it is worth, when my radio shuts down due to low power, I first get a Low Power message on the NAV screen.

The Low Power situation arises when I am parked with the engine off and listening to the radio.

These days, a message shows on the NAV saying low power and then both the NAV display and radio display go blank.

When I then start the engine, both displays remain blank for maybe 3 to 5 minutes and then the radio just starts to play again, still on the same station, and the NAV displays as it was previously.

Note that this is different than in the past where prior to a software update, the only message I would get is Low Power on the radio display and then the radio would quit but the NAV display would continue to display.

Anyway, I think all is OK with your radio, but that some other system is telling it to shut down, hence that is why I am back to the alternator being sick.

Also this morning at engine start up, I assume the air compressor also started and was running until you were about to depart. If so, perhaps there was not enough power for both the air compressor and the entertainment system? In other words, the charger did do some good last night.

I would however have thought there might have been a second or so of sound from the radio before it shut down.

 

One of the albums in the link I sent shows the air dryer. Also the jpg below shows the dryer. If I recall correctly, one removes the air line from the end and then rotates it - you can see the slot.

I think replacing it would be worth the money gamble. These days a new compressor means removing the existing Hitachi and installed a new AMK unit. That means a new plastic sound surround and a bit of revised air line - only a big deal to your wallet.

I think you can replace the air dryer in place but do not know for certain.
Others here on the forum will know for certain.

The hardest part will be removing that air line. I think you push in on a perimeter surround and then pull on the black plastic air line.

As to codes, again I do not know. The problem is the codes that get generated often are as misleading as the apparent problems. Having the codes and with experience, one can however sometimes figure out where the problem really is.

A defective brake light switch or wrong spec tail light bulb shows as a cruise control problem and/or tranny problem, but never as a brake light switch or bulb problem. That is an example of what both you and the dealer are faced with.

Spend some time with a voltmeter - turn the head lights on, engine running and not, that sort of thing and see what changes re voltmeter readings. If the head lights work - the high beam inner halogen ones should illuminate regardless. If they do not, you have some sort of electrical problem making the air compressor look sick.

But yes, hold off on the dealer for a bit as even they can have real problems figuring out a problem. It is cheaper for you to throw parts at it than the dealer, and that is what can happen regardless.

If working under your 3, set axle jacks under the frame on all four corners. It can and will drop for no reason and with no warning. Down on the stops, there is not much space under there.

 

Have not seen any issues with the HIDs until the auto function stopped working... If I flip the switch to turn them on, the come right up whether the car is on or not.

As for the radio, no sound at all... The CD still works and bluetooth still works, but AM,FM and aux are gone. Now, the interesting thing is that when the radio is not working I get no data for the tuner at all, it wont lock on to stations, just scans past all of them, wont get RDS data, nothing.

As for the suspension, EVERYBODY I talk to wants to put a new compressor on it. LR and two indie shops so far this morning...

When I started it up this morning and didn't see the suspension warning, I sat there a minute watching an listening. Didn't appear to move at all and couldn't hear the compressor running.

Just don't know what to do... Got a finite amount of money to throw at it... And a new compressor pretty much eats every dime of it.

 

Re the HIDs, I misunderstood - I thought you did not have any headlights at all. Re the auto function, that is probably a fuse or something minor.

The air compressor relay R7 is in the fuse box under the bonnet by the starting battery. It is a 70 amp relay; just swap it with R9, the heated windscreen 70 amp relay and see if the compressor runs OK or at least for awhile.

With the compressor, it is either the air dryer, some rubber valve bits or like mine, totally jammed.

The nut came off the "crankshaft", the piston jammed, and the con rod broke. To test, you can manually start the compressor by jumping the relay contacts. Use heavy wire and wear gloves as if the compressor is jammed, the amps gets real high and the wire hot.

Figure first time you try, just connect for maybe two seconds; any more time than that, if the compressor is jammed, you can melt wires as there are no safeties - that is what the relay is for - to disconnect.

Two seconds gives you long enough to know if the compressor will run - then try again for a bit longer if things sounded OK. Do not run for more than a minute however with the bypass trick even if things seem OK.

You disconnect, wait for five minutes for the compressor to cool off then again for a minute and keep repeating until your 3 is at normal level.

Then pull the F26E fuse also in that glove box. That will shut the air system down completely and the air will remain trapped in your air springs. Then at least you can drive while you try to figure out where the real problems are. Pulling F26E depowers the air suspension computer that tells the exhaust valves and all other stuff to function.

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So, the plot thickens. Just walked out and started it up, now that the warning isn't coming up the compress is running, for a time anyway. That said, I am not getting any height change, and the compressor is very quite, but it is running.

Also, think I may have found a trick to the radio. I believe, that if I power the radio up by hitting say FM, it comes up and works fine on all the inputs. However, if I just power it up, or it powers up when I start the car, then it has issues... Still testing that theory...

 

Can you hook your battery charger up at work? If so, and if you have it with you, do so. I think you are making progress.

Also swap the relays if you can. Quiet suggests slow, and slow suggests reduced amps and that usually results in compressor shutdown due to overheat.

The radio thing, it just may solve itself if the problem is the compressor or power related. It appears the FM button has become the round **** for on off purposes and you have to hit the button prior to engine start or even key in the ignition? One has to love software as this is what does all this now.

Even if swapping the compressor relay works, there still is the question of whether the relay is the problem is just a symptom of a problem.

 

Unfortunately no, no place to hook up the charger at work, and didn't throw it in the car anyway...

Will try the relay trick before I head home and see what I get.

Thanks!