I have an 05 LR3. Lately I've been having more and more suspension issues. Now the rear end won't lower. When I try to lower it from off road height the front lowers fine. The back starts to go down then the compressor kicks on and the whole truck goes back up. The warning on the dash says "suspension in extended mode" and "clear any obstructions before lowering". There are no obstructions that I can see.

 

Does the rear lower slowly? The computer will think there is an obstruction if it drops too slowly. I recently had a similar issue with the front of my truck after installing the Proud Rhino bump stop extension kit. In my case the limit straps were bunching up as it dropped and slowing the decent enough for the computer to think it was stopped and jump up to extended mode.

FWIW I still sometimes get this when trying to drop to normal height with regular rods or access height with Johnson rods (the same height). If I hit the down button again as soon as it triggers the extended warning on the dash it will usually go ahead and drop. Sometimes it takes a couple tries.

But the short of it is the computer doesn't see the truck lowering, or not lowering fast enough for whatever reason. If you have a GAP iiD tool or similar, you can manually deflate the rear corners to verify if it will indeed drop.

Another possible test would be to simply drive over the max off-road height speed (35mph?) and let the computer try to lower it automatically to see what happens. If it does indeed drop to normal height you've proven the suspension can move as it's supposed to so I'd then look at how fast/slow it's dropping and proceed from there.

 

Yes the rear does try to lower, but very slowly. Driving over 35mph hasn't seemed to help any other time this has happened. Is it possible that the sunroof leaking and completely soaking the passenger side, which has happened multiple times, has anything to do with it? I currently have the passenger front seat out and the carpet up trying to dry it out. I know it is a well known issue with the wires in the door sill getting wet and causing all kinds of problems. Also, to make matters worse, my wife left the sunroof open and it poured out. The entire center console got soaked before she realized it was open.

 

oh boy....didn't count on the flood issues. While I don't know a specific issue with water that could cause this it's certainly a possible candidate given what you've described.

I'm only doing a quick check-in before getting on the road this morning so hopefully somebody else will chime in with more info. Sorry I don't have anything further for you right now.

 

Yeah I probably should have mentioned the water. I was able to get everything dried out today. I spent a good couple of hours cleaning grounds and redoing all the wire connections I could find in the passenger side sill. Are there any wires in the drivers side sill I should concern my self with? I cleaned the the grounds behind the drivers side kick and used dielectric grease on everything. After taking it for a drive was I able to get the back down.

 

Well before anything else can be addressed all that water must be 100% gone, hope you did not soak the controls on the center console to bad and fry them

Get the sunroof drains cleared, that not only soaks the floor but the a pillar air bag, relays in the kick panel, fuse box behind the glove box , its a mess

If this is an ongoing issue the wiring splices in the floor may be shot

 

I was able to get everything dry but I'm afraid the center console controls are cooked. It seems like every problem I'm having stems from it. Sometime the special programs are unavailable and lately it's the transmission fault with the big F on the dash. Wouldn't be the first time it's been replaced. The first time was a whole cup of cappuccino. I cleaned all the grounds on the passenger side, replaced all splices in sill and cleaned the grounds behind the drivers kick panel. I used dielectric grease on everything to, hopefully, avoid any more corrosion. I've cleaned the drains many times, even had the hose most of the way out. I think part of the problem is the way it sits in my driveway. All of the water gets directed to the front right corner of the sunroof. I think that single drain hose gets overwhelmed. When the truck is backed in there doesn't seem to be an issue. Unfortunately I'm not the primary driver so I can't always control how it's parked.

 

Thought I'd post an update. After getting everything dried out it rained two days ago and the passenger side floor got wet again. I cleaned both front drains and they flowed great. The only problem was water was still leaking in so I removed the air intake and found the rubber elbow was broken. I went and got two new hose assemblies and all is well. No more sunroof leaks. Now the ignition key will not turn back far enough to remove it.

 

If you can't get the key out, the shift assembly may have gotten wet as well. It won't release the key if it doesn't know it is in Park.

 

First off I want to thank everyone who's helped me so far with this issue. The key came out after I drove it a few feet out of my garage and I believe i have the water intrusion problems dealt with. Now back to the original reason for this thread. Back stays up and the front comes down. When driven over 35 the rear will lower. If it's in off road height the back will stay up but within a few hours the front will drop on it's own. Even in standard height the front will drop lower than the rear. My next plan, besides replacing the electronics in the center console and buying a scanner that will read all the systems, is to check the connections at the height sensors. At ant given time the left front will drop the lowest. The truck never seems to sit even. Can anyone tell me how the computer knows the rate at which the suspension is raising or lowering? Does it use the height sensors or use the rate at which the air pressure is bled off? I love my LR3 but if i can't fix these problems I my have to get rid of it.