Suspension Fault and Cold Weather
 

Hey all, hoping someone might provide some insight here. Live in Central CO and recently got back from longer vacation. My '06 LR3 sat in the driveway for nearly 3 weeks without being started, but ran fine before leaving. Yesterday got home and started her up, only to get an immediate red suspension fault on the dash. For whatever reason, I can't hear the compressor working at all. Checked the fuses in the engine compartment and seem fine but not entirely sure what else to check. I'm curious if sitting in the cold for that length of time can somehow freeze the compressor and render it inoperable? Anyone had this issue? This is the original compressor (surprised it's gone 140k) but it was operating just fine prior to me leaving so a bit surprised it suddenly doesn't work now that I'm back.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers.

That is VERY impressive that the compressor went that long!

I'd start by checking the battery. Then maybe change the EAS and compressor fuses anyway. There is a way to "jump" the compressor, you might find that on a search on this forum, I don't know how off-hand.

The LR3 does do weird things when it's cold...

Ive got 156K on the original compressor.

Amazing...

Usually, if the compressor is weak, it will at least run for a minute or two, until the car realizes it isn't pressurizing as fast as it should. If the fault comes on immediately after starting and you NEVER hear the compressor, then there is likely an electrical malfunction of some sort.
Either way, the Ride Level Module needs to be scanned for fault codes.

Yeah, figured it's something electrical as the fault happens immediately, even before turning the engine over. In the past on my wife's LR (she's on her third compressor now) the compressor would run for a minute or two before throwing the fault.

So I have changed all suspension related fuses and "jumped" the relay (per instructions elsewhere) and could hear the compressor running, but still get the immediate fault. Electrical is not my forte, so curious if there are any suggestions? Im simply trying to get some air in the bags so I could at least drive it down to the stealership with having to put it on a flatbed.

Thanks for your input.

Just running the compressor won't be enough, because there are cornering valves on the front and rear that can control the air springs individually that will need to be operated to inflate the springs. It will take a computer to override the system and inflate the springs.

Uh....couldn't he just get the suspension up to normal height by just running the compressor, then pull the fuses? That would make the valves and compressor inop after that and get him to the dealer, no?

If the suspension module set a fault for suspension and disabled the suspension, no amount of compressor running will help. The compressor doesn't go straight to the air springs, it puts pressure to the front and rear cornering valves and the cornering valves distribute the air to the air springs individually. These valves are normally closed and with the suspension disabled, they will stay closed.
Plus, two things are monitored when the compressor is running: gallery pressure and compressor temperature. Blindly running the compressor like that will override the monitoring of pressure and temperature which if ignored, will likely toast a so far good compressor.
I'd pay the tow bill and get it diagnosed, or purchase a scantool that can diagnose it, which will be useful for as long as you own the vehicle.

Couldn't he first clear the faults by doing a hard reset, THEN run the compressor to get it to Normal height and then pull the fuses?