Front End Air Squeak & Squeal. VIDEO
 

Hi all,

2005 LR3 SE V8

We have been experiencing a little bit of pip squeak coming from the front right when driving over bumps. We suspected a bushing issue, though no other bush symptoms present, but today I think I figured out it is air suspension related and not bushing.

When jacking up the rear for brake work, I noticed the same squeak and now a bit more of a squeal coming from the front right. When jacking up the front for a bit more clearance during an oil change, Bezowww! i get this ear piercing squeal of a noise...

video:
It sounds like when you squeal out the air of a balloon.

In the video, i pause jacking when it starts squealing, the tire "raises" then i resume jacking with no further noise (I suppose all the air has leaked out). When i set the LR3 back down the front end is down to access height or below, the back is still up pretty high. When the LR3 is started, it will return slowly to whatever height it was in (in this case off-road) and stay there.

as far as i can tell, there are no other air suspension problems, sits over night OK, raises and lowers ok, after the squeal it did communicate... "air suspension raising slowly" and occurring previously on really bumpy roads we get an air suspension fault with no codes to read in the system, just the little info screen and yellow idiot light (scanning with 4DCan). The info fault and idiot light goes away after restart.

so... what is going on?

thanks for any help.

Well, first off, cute video.... you should only jack on jacking points.

It's got to be an air line, bag, or seal kit. You'll need to spray soapy water on it to see where it's coming from.

It might be time to rebuild your air strut, or all of them. When you do, you might replace the dampers with LR4 dampers or Koni FSD's depending on the ride you are looking for.

During that time, you can inspect the air strut rubber for damage or cracks, and install a new seal kit.

yep, love video, much better than onomatopoeia.

are the factory jacking points not the recommended jacking points? i used the owner manual & Bodsys Brake Bible as reference. The bottle jack was under the specified point with a little wiggle room for jack stand placement, perhaps this is not clear in the video. Video is great but not perfect.

Wife is on the way this morning to get a new squirt bottle, last night ol' squirty took a dump on me when i needed him most.

Thanks for the info, I'll squirt up the air bag et al and then go from there. When I locate definitively, I'll ask more about those rebuild kits if needed.

I couldn't exactly tell where you were jacking.. Just wanted you to use the right spots. Bodsy is Top Notch..

I'd be willing to bet the air spring is leaking at a certain height.
haven't seen many LR3/Sport failures but they're bound to fail sooner or later.
soapy water is your best friend at this point...

Soap and water test show the leak is coming from the very top of air spring. in the area of the upper shock mount (not the air fitting)

does not leak sitting stationary, only leaks when jacking (catastrophic leak down) or going over bumps (pip squeak leak)

My shocks feel & look to be in good shape.

is there an o-ring up there that can be replaced or a rebuild kit?

thanks.

The air spring is available as a kit. It may or may not be cost effective.
Other options are finding a salvaged strut or a new Arnott strut
https://www.arnottindustries.com/par...d4_pid175.html

Just pulled the strut out of the LR3, hoping for some mangled o-rings and a $27 seal kit repair.... not so lucky, the air spring is toast, at least it was obvious

http://www.kwazadilla.com/lr3/air-strut.jpg

2 new front air struts on their way from bputah