Hey all, new here. Combed the site for years, but finally just got around to registering.

Anyways, I have two LR3's, both '06, one HSE (wife) and my SE. I have two issues going on with suspension faults in both vehicles. One may not be an issue, but the other seems to persist. Love to get any feedback on these.

First, the easy one; may not be an issue at all, but curious if anyone else has experienced it. I finally got around to trying to put some J Rods on my LR3 this morning, but had some issues with the factory rods not coming off. I sprayed the things pretty heavily with some lithium grease, but still couldn't get them to pop. I got the front right off on the top, but not the bottom that connects to the control arm. Anyways, I was short on time, so said "screw it; do it later". So, hopped in my car about 30 minutes later to drive into town, and after about 10 minutes, I got a suspension fault; never had one on this car before. I turned the engine off to reset, but still kept coming back. I let the car sit for a couple hours and just restarted and appear to not get the fault; at least not immediately. Im curious, when I sprayed the grease on the rods, I got some of the wiring harness and maybe the control module mounted behind the rods. Would that have tripped the fault? I'll be driving again here shortly, and hoping I dont see it, but curious if anyone else has any similar experience?

Now my wife's LR. We started seeing a recurring suspension fault last summer. I didn't think too much about it at first, because I could clear it and it would stay off for some time (usually), but occasionally, would come right back after the reset. Anyways, the behavior of it (not consistent at all) led me to believe that it was some sort of short. As the summer came to an end, and temperatures dropped, the issue became less and less frequent. Through the winter, we got no faults at all. Now, back to warming temps, and it's happening again. Any ideas? When there is no fault, the EAS compressor seems to operate just fine. I actually bought a new one last year intending to replace, but when the faults went away, I sold the compressor. Been looking around and stumbled on the EAS fault issues related to the brake light switch. You think that might be the issue?

Any feedback is appreciated and welcomed.

Also, I live here in central CO, as Im hoping some others on this board do. Im curious, does anyone know of a reliable LR shop anywhere, other than Roaring Fork? I have a local indy that takes care of most things, but occasionally, it's out of his expertise. Just trying to find someone that can provide sound advice without losing at minimum a grand everytime I walk into Roaring Fork LR. I initially took my wife's car to them last year with the EAS fault issue, but they simply said "It's shot. You need a knew one." Clearly, it wasn't shot. It operated just fine, and continues to, so long as the fault is not present.

Look forward to finally being a contributing member here.

 

On yours, I'd just go back to the sensor arm that you got off and make sure that you got the rod back on properly. Make sure nothing tore or that it's seated all the way on that little peg that it pops on and off of.

For your wife's vehicle, you'll have to be a lot more specific, I think. The brake light related fault comes with a host of behaviors and lights...what did you experience?

 

I would be double checking the physical connection of the sensor arm for yours, make sure it is pivoting the right way, and not binding.

As for the failure when warm, usually temperature dependent failures like this are due to wiring issues for the sensors, although, I have seen sensors themselves cause this. Does your wife's truck have navigation?

 

Mine seems to back to normal. Think I just got the grease on the sensor. I went back, wiped off, made sure the the rods were mounted firmly on the arms, and all back to normal.

As for my wife's, yes, she does have Nav. What sort of wiring issues are you referring to?

Sorry for the lack of detail on my wife's LR, but it's really been so inconsistent, Im not really sure how to describe it any better. The only consistency is in the fault occurring during warmer temps. Sometimes it throws the fault, I then restart the car, and the fault clears. About half the time, it stays clear for days or weeks; but other times, it simply faults within minutes of restarting - even if the car hasn't moved.

Im looking into getting an IIDTool. Im guessing that it would throw some detail at the fault, but not entirely sure. Thoughts on that?

 

The IIDTool is invaluable.

Now that that's covered, let's get back to your wife's LR3's fault. Do you remember if there was also an HDC fault? Did it say "Special Programs Not Available?" Did it throw you into Access Height or anything like that? These are the details I'm asking for. The characteristics of a fault associated with the brake switch are like I've described above...may'be been a "brake" light illuminated as well.

A bad battery will also commonly throw multi-faults/icons at you.

 

No other faults have been thrown. When it's thrown, it shows the amber light and says "suspension fault - normal height only". Never had the Special Programs say unavailable. Also, never been thrown into access height.

I was curious about the potential for a bad battery. I read somewhere that a guy was actually fully charging his battery every other month or so because the LR3 does not fully charge which can lead to false faults, etc.

 

I suspect that if you were to pull the codes on your "supension fault - normal height only" that it would be something about filling reservoir too slowly. The reason it tends not to show up in colder weather I suspect is because the compressor gets the job done before being shut down for over temperature which is more likely in hotter ambient temperature. It's possible that the air dryer is attached to the compressor is not passing air through as efficiently due to the dryer beads breaking down. You can get the dryer part for about $160 from your LR dealer. What tends to happen is people run the compressor anyway and it dies requiring whole unit replacement.

You will probably find over time the fault becomes more prevalent.

 

Since she has nav, while driving have it up on the 4x4 screen, watch the wheel heights that are shown on the screen, see if any are moving around a decent amount while driving on a flat road. Since it is intermittent, you may need to be watching it as it fails, or right before it fails rather, so might take a few times to see anything. I am betting you have a height sensor issue. The wiring I am talking about is the wire/connector right at each sensor, there have been issues with corrosion in the wires right there.

The compressor actually has to work harder when it is cold outside, a change in ambient temperature doesn't make as much of a difference in motor temp as the increased load on the compressor due to compressing colder, denser air.

That is not to imply that there is nothing wrong with the compressor, including dryer and exhaust/delivery valve, they fail pretty regularly. But with your symptoms, and the way and times that it is failing, my money is on sensor.

 

Thanks for the feedback on that. From what you've said, I tend to agree based on the behavior. I am going to watch and see if I notice anything on the next fault. I'll keep you all posted on what I see.

Thanks again. Invaluable resource here.

 

You're going to want to be looking at it before or as it faults, as once it does, you may be left with default readings that will do you no help.