LR3 Suspension decided to stop running!
 

Hey guys, long time no posts! Haven't had much trouble for awhile! I parked my LR3 for about a week, two weeks roughly as I bought another car. However, now when I go to use it the suspension is lower than I have ever seen(lower than the access height option) I start the truck, and the compressor comes on and the car thinks its at normal ride height. I hit the raise to extended or "off road height" and it doesn't attempt to lift. Compressor still runs and sounds like normal but it will not raise. After awhile it just says Suspension fault with an amber light.

I had this problem varying 1-2 out of every 5 starts but I have not been able to get it to lift since.

My question is, if this is not an easy fix, is it worth it to convert to coil springs? I don't offroad much and don't have a huge amount of money to spend on trouble shooting the air suspension. My nearest dealer is about a 2 hour drive away as well so I can't easily get diagnostics. No lights on dash besides a pesky park brake light thats been there forever(until the air suspension stops trying that is!)


Any help is *very* much so appreciated!

Hi, I have a 2005 currently in similar state. I have the benefit of an IID diagnostic tool. It shows that the left front suspension has widely gyrating values. So I'm pretty sure that I need to replace either the left front height sensor, or there is a common problem with the wiring from the sensor getting chewed, so I bought a sensor ($90) and rewiring kit ($35). I broke my ankle, so haven't installed anything, so I can't say whether this will work. But your problem is that without diagnosis, you'd have to buy 4 sensors (each corner is different) or the downstream wiring, or perhaps the air bags, or the valves, or .....
I have to admit that the coil conversion crossed my mind (and will more so if my suspects don't pan out). Some argue that the coil conversion goes against the entire engineering perspective of the vehicle. Personally, I tend toward this argument, but at some point the idea of $1000 and being done with it holds sway (if you are mechanically inclined and can do it for cost of parts). I talked with a guy who did the conversion and still takes his LR3 off road a lot. He's happy with his decision.
I realize there's nothing definitive, but I hope that some of the info helps.

Air leaks can be "seen" with a little help from the kitchen - an old spray bottle and some soapy water. Bubbles away. And the is no Rover that can't use a little soapy water now and then.

Not worth going to coils anywhere close to yet. It does sound like a sensor issue, and will need a proper diagnosis, which you can come close to doing yourself if the vehicle is fitted with navigation. The 4x4 info screen displays each corner's height, and can be used to see what each sensor is thinking at the moment.

Thanks for the responses! My problem with getting diagnostics is towing 2 hours drive away to my nearest dealer! With how low it went down I wouldn't consider driving it. A rover should never sit nearly as low as my Mazda 3 does.
The alert only lights up after the compressor runs for nearly 5 minutes, and then just gives up.
Is there a way to force the suspension to lift to at least "normal" ride height so I can drive it to the dealer for a diagnose?

Thats my whole thing, I'm tired of throwing time and money at temporary fixes with electronics on this truck. The idea of just throwing $1000 for coils and never having to worry about air suspension issues again seems very attractive right now! I wish I had a dealer or somebody who could diagnose closer to me. I'm in Port Dover Ontario so about a 2 hour drive to any LR dealer.

Do you have nav?

Unless there is a leak, once it is at normal, it should stay there, but if you have a bad sensor, it may not know where normal is.

Usually a fault occurring with the time frame you said, compressor runs and then it faults after a minute, is due to an issue with the compressor. But you should be able to trick it into getting up.

If the failure is compressor related, start the truck, leave a door open, and let the compressor run, once it faults and compressor shuts off, cycle the key, and do it again. Repeat that about 3 times. Then after the next key cycle, and engine running and doors closed, try to raise it before it faults.

I don't have nav, It's an option I wish I had! I tried tricking it and it didn't work. However, I had it off the ground to clean the wheels and for some reason my mind decided it would be a good idea to start the truck and see if air would go in while the suspension was stretched out a bit from being off the ground. To my surprise, it did lift the rear wheels to the "normal" height setting, but the front wheels are still lower than can be. The truck was so low before that it was literally less than an inch or two from the wheel touching the wells.

I'm really willing to try anything just to get it safely to the dealer. Trying to find a land rover tech near me who can come to my location and help me out for less than the cost of the tow+diagnostic from dealer 2 hours away.

Rover Guy needing some help! I have a 06 LR3 and Supension is at lowest point! Tried your suggestion above and after several attempts vehicle will still not raise! With the door open the compressor will turn on but Supension fault will show on dash before LR will raise! Suggestions please!

Vicki, your issue sounds very much like a wheel height sensor. But it's really just guessing unless you can do some diagnostics. If you have a decent code reader pull the codes. (I wouldn't bother with one of the cheapo generic ones) If you have nav, turn it to the 4x4 info screen and see if any of the wheel position indicators are showing an out of range fault (they'll be red). If you have a hard fault like that, the suspension won't raise because the truck won't be able to tell what height it's at.

I'm assuming your stock? If you are running Johnson Rods and the truck has settled down to the bumpstops the sensors can be driven out of range. The simple fix to that is simply to jack the truck up a few inches so things are back in range then the computers will take over. Again, that's only relevant if you have rods and are on the bumpstops.