Hi everyone,

I have a few questions this evening.

First, the entire front of my LR3 ends up "sagging" after a few miles while driving. I've seen many people who post about their cars doing the same thing, but only at night while the car is off. Mine on the other hand, does it while I'm driving and when I park the car, I notice that the front is still lower than the back, thus assuming, the compressor is not raising it back up. As soon as I turn off the car and turn it back on though, it will raise again. Within a few miles, drop back down. Does this sound like a leak, compressor issue, or valve block issue?

Secondly, I recently changed out my battery, about, 1 month ago. Tonight, while the car was running, the radio went in to "Low Power Mode." This is while I am driving. Then, the red battery light came on. I am trying to figure out if this is an alternator or battery issue, HOWEVER, am also wondering, if this could some how be connected to the suspension, e.g., continuously trying to power the compressor (if that's even how it works) or vice versa, that the air suspension has been acting up because of an alternator problem. Are these two connected in such a way? I also do hear a light whine/hum different than normal coming from the engine area as well, if that means anything.

I should also mention, there is a SLOW leak from the bottom left of my water pump (which I just changed two years ago ~20,000 miles). Is this where the weep hole is located and isn't this kind of quick for a water pump to go bad? Could the dripping coolant some how make its way to the alternator and affect it any way?

Any response/suggestions is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advanced!!!

 

The sagging while driving is odd, if it were a leak your compressor would be going and trying to keep it level. Do you hear your compressor running all the time while driving? It would also usually trigger a fault if it were a big enough leak. I would guess something is wrong with a front height sensor, where the EAS thinks it is at a good height when it really isn't.

Second issue sounds like your alternator is likely going. Test voltage while the car is running to see. Given how complex and electrically sensitive these trucks are, I would fix this first before diving into the EAS issue. There's a remote chance you are right and they are related.

For the coolant leak, are you sure it is coming from there and not further above and running down? It is fast for a water pump to go bad, but it could be a bad seal or something. It's possible this could affect the alternator, but from what I hear they don't need a cause to give up the ghost.

 

Hello Dj,

Thanks for your reply! I do NOT hear the compressor running WHILE the car is running. I do try and listen for it sometimes. Also, I do get a suspension fault warning while driving, but I am not sure if it actually pops up at the exact time the car drops. The warning will come on between 5-10 mins of driving, and it SEEMS (I can't be too sure) that this is dependent on the terrain I'm driving on. Also, it does ALSO drop overnight, the entire front, while the back is still raised at normal drive height. It is almost always lower when I park the car and get out to look, but even if I immediately start the car right after I turn it off, then it will trigger the compressor to raise the front to normal height.

I just bought a multimeter and here are my stats in the order I did everything:
Battery (1 month old) before start: 11.53
Car on: 11.23
+ lights: 11.09
+a/c: 10.83
+radio: 10.77
Rev to 2,000 rpm: 10.80
(lowest point noticed was 10.67)
I still hear a hum from the belt but I can't quite tell where as all these spinners are ~2 inches away from one another.

The coolant I am ALMOST positive is coming from the water pump, I stuck my finger in this little crevice and felt the liquid when I ran the car for like 10 seconds and turned it off. I looked above, which would be the thermostat housing and everything around it was dry.

Do these comments help with linking anything together? I haven't been driving the car, except for starting it up and rolling it up and down the drive way. My stepdad who's a mechanic is coming in a month so hopefully I can have the parts needed by the time he gets here. (I live on another island from him, and mine, unfortunately has no Rover shops) Thanks for your help, AGAIN!!!!

 

You should be getting around 13.2-14v from the alternator with the engine running and revved up (depending on ambient temps and current load). All of the voltages you provided are far too low and I would definitely suspect the alternator. Battery should hover around 12.5v or so with engine off.

 

Quick update...my rover has been unplugged from the battery for the past week. I purchased an alternator, pulleys, both serpentine belts, and a water pump (related to my other post as well about leaking). I did not get anything for the suspension yet. I won't be able to change these until this coming Friday but when I do, will re-post the progress...

 

Check your front valve block. If only the front of the LR3 drops it could be a sticking center valve, a front height sensor, or a leak.

 

If the voltage is good this sounds like a height sensor or crossover valve issue. I agree with Best4x4.

 

I would say that you have at least an internal regulator problem, for which the solution is a new alternator. If you replace the alternator, you must also charge the battery for a few nights at a low rate, say 3 amps.

For that, I use a CTEK US3300. The reason I say that is due to the odd ball regulator design built into our Denso alternators, a perfect alternator and a perfect battery in a perfect LR3 never fully charges - that is just the way it is.

This means you can start charging your battery right now as it takes days at 3 amps but you will find that with your battery sitting no load, all cables disconnected, it should show about 12.5 VDC, and yes, at idle, as cmb6s said above, system voltage should be nearer 14 volts than 12. It is usually an internal regulator problem.

DISCO3.CO.UK Photo Gallery - LR3 miscellaneous

Also until you get the electrical system working, pretty much none of the other systems work either.

You own the worlds first mobile computer masquerading as the Worlds Best 4x4.

Once you understand that, finding and fixing the problems is much easier.

 

Update:

Last weekend, I changed by water pump (connected to other post), alternator, pulley, and both serpentine belts. This seemed to have fixed the leaking coolant problem and the dead/dying battery problem. The suspension is still faulty, which I will get to next. Just wanted to post an update on the things that I was able to get fixed. Thanks for the replies everyone!