As I am nearing the end of my warranty, I want to make sure I've got any open issues with my 2006 LR3 addressed with the dealer. I few weeks ago I noticed that the air suspension had lowered, by what appeared to be 2-3 inches, after sitting at the airport parking garage for a week while I was on a trip. When it d not immediately raise up after starting, I tried to raise it manually and got a message that said something like "Suspension Raising Slowly". When I got home, my wife notice it sounded like air was escaping, and sure enough I looked under the drivers door and and found a pinhole lead had developed in the air reservoir.

I took it to the dealer, and despite it sitting for 4 days until they could service it, they claimed that the suspension was still at normal height and they could not verify my claim that it had lowered, but they did see the obvious hole in the reservior and replaced it under warranty.

I assumed that would fix my problem, but I noticed yesterday after sitting for 2 days in my garage that the suspenion appeared to have lowered again. This time, I took measurements, and after I started up the car the suspension jumped up about 2-1/2" on both the front and back. I have not made any funny settings to the computer, and it was in "normal" made when it was parked. I listened all around and under the car, but I don't here that air leak any more, so I'm sure they at least fixed that one but I'm worried there may be another, and it might get worse fast and be expensive to fix.

My guestion to he smart people of this formum, is this normal? Seems like a saw post once where someone said the LR3 does this by design to make getting in and out easier, but I don't believe that is case here. Once I park it and get out, it stays at the normal height for several hours, and it really takes a couple days to notice any lowering.

 

That is completely normal. Air will eventually leak out and cause the bags to deflate after a few weeks. But, because of those error messages, and the other symptoms you noticed, I would just take it to the dealer and have it fixed... might as well since it is still under warranty. It might just be a leak in the lines or the airbags themselves. Either of which should not be difficult to find.

 

This is happening in just 2-3 days, not weeks, and asa result Ihave a hard time believing it's normal. When I go to the dealer, I can see rows of LR3's sittling there, and all at their normal height. I would have to assume that some have sat there for several days without running.

My worry is that I do have a small leak somewhere, and perhaps the air bags themselves are worn out and starting to leak. I'm sure that would be a wallet drainer to fix out of warranty. I have been to the dealer and they fixed the leak that I found, but I really want to understand what is normal before I go back again. The manual does not say anything about the suspension slowly leaking out over a few days, so I have to assume it's not normal.

 

Mine has been doing that since brand new. If I leave it parked for a couple of days, it will be lowered when I start it up. Even parked just over night 14 hours or so, will cause it to rise some when I start the truck. I don't know of any LR3 that wont settle some over time. The system is not 100% closed that I can tell like that of refrigerant in an A/C. So the compressor starts back up every morning and the truck re-levels every morning. This is what I have found to be normal and so have others I know. If any actual tech out there knows something different, please chime in and educate the rest of us

 

As Jantiz pointed out the LR3 settling to a lower height after a few days is normal. But, the symptoms that you noted which were the error messages and hissing noises are not normal at all and indicate a problem.

 

If that is the case, then it sounds like I'm OK now. The hissing noise that was caused by the obvious hole in the air reservoir was fixed under warranty by the dealer, and I cannot hear any air leaks now despite the slow settling of the car after a few days.

Thanks.

 

What many people forget is the the air suspension is dynamic, always making adjustments to compensate for ground level, etc. Mine nearly always settles at the rear when I park and lock it, although it settles to "normal". Normal is not fixed, it moves around based on the level of the ground. In my driveway, it perks up in the rear, trying to keep level, but then settles down when the vehicle is turned off.