Hello all,

First of all please let me thank you all for your contributions to this forum by sharing your experience and stories. I have already used the knowledge provided by you folks through reading different threads in order to fix couple of issue in my LR3.

Recently I purchased a LR3 from one of those small dealerships that buy cars from auctions and sell them as is. During my test drive it was obvious to me that the air compressor is working more than it should, and there must be some leak somewhere. The dealer told me it does not sink over night, but well, we know these dealers much better.... Knowing that this LR3 has a leak, I used it as a leverage during negotiation and the dealer let this LR3 go for a very good price. I had my eyes on LR3 for couple of years, and had already read many threads on the air suspension and potential weak points in the system and their cost. On top of it, I am a DIY type of guy, and trust myself with taking such gambles. So I purchased this LR3.


Took the LR3 home, parked it, and the next morning the LR3 had completely sunk all the way down. I followed the suggested trick in this forum to identify the leakage point by removing air suspension fuse. The next day rear end of the car was at the same height as I had parked it. But the front end was all the way down. Since both driver and passenger side were down, I concluded that it is the front air block valve. Purchased a rebuilt kit from Ebay, rebuilt the front valve, parked LR3 in my garage while it was all the way up (off-road height), removed the fuse, and left city for 6 days. Upon my arrival the front end was EXACTLY at the same height as it was when I had left! YAY!!! But rear end was about one inch down compared to 6 days ago. Usually I would consider one inch leak over a weak not very problematic, but since the front end was EXACTLY at the same height as before, I think I might have a very small leak in my rear valve as well. The kit comes with o-rings for all three valves, so why not fix the rear one as well!?

But what concerns me is that the compressor still kicks in very frequently! When I drive in city and in flat streets, I can hear compressor working every a few minutes. So the questions is where else I have a leak?

It is not in the front end.
The rear end has a very sloooowww leak, but it is not that bad to force the compressor to kick in so frequently.
I am looking at air suspension diagrams, and to me it seems the leak should be somewhere between and including air compressor, air reservoir, and/or the air block valve between the compressor and the reservoir.

My plan of attack is to:
1- use soapy water to spray those three components and the lines between them to locate any external possible leak.
2- rebuild the air valve block between compressor and the reservoir to fix any internal leak.
3- At the end when I fix all leaks and the system is completely sealed, I will rebuild the compressor because it has overworked and might fail soon.

Any suggestion or comment on my situation and where else I should be looking? Is my plan to fix the issue sounds good? Or I am missing something else?

By the way, there is no fault or warning code related to suspension or any other system on the dash.

 

No idea or suggestion on this?

 

 

You may very well have a leak and the suggestion above and everywhere else on the forum will help. If it is the rear, it is somewhere between the rear distribution block and the rear springs. The pneumatic system circuit diagram in the TOPix service manual section 204-05 will explain more than I can.

Keep in mind that this is a dynamic system and adds and removes air from the tank and springs all the time, and as such, the compressor need to run. City driving will tax the system more than steady state driving, by that I mean adding removing pressure to the springs for dynamic stability, readjusting after a hard braking action to stop at a red light etc., and general ride height adjustment.

Just some food for thought

Jeff

 

Thanks for replies:

A quick update: This weekend I managed to work on the truck. I sprayed the reservoir, the airlines going between the reservoir and the compressor, and the compressor itself, with soapy water. But no bubble. So no external air leak from those areas. That being said, I had no way to spray and observe the top end of the reservoir. I was spraying from underneath.

The truck's height stays the same when I leave it for couple of days parked, so I am positive that there is no substantial leak from the front and rear. So I concluded that there is no external leak in the system.


I removed the reservoir's air block and rebuilt it with new o rings. And since the compressor had over worked due to leaky front end (that I fixed one month ago), I rebuilt the drier. I put everything together and the system worked with no error code or leak whatsoever. I am not 100% sure, but I feel like that the compressor is working for a shorter period of time when I start the car, which is a good thing,

I drove around the city. And compressor was kicking in while I was driving.

Rufflyer: Thanks for indicating that the air suspension is a dynamics systems and therefore compressor tends to work while we drive around. The question is how often it kicks in? I understand that it should depend on how often and how hard I brake and perform maneuvers that require adjusting the pressure, that being said, during normal city driving with regular braking and turning, how often do you hear the compressor works? Mine works every a few minutes for a few seconds. Is this normal?