Driving to work this morning, Air Suspension Inactive pops up (strange I never get a BONG with these..?)

Car sat at normal road height

No time to check before or during work, so plugged IID in before setting off for home.

Got a 0x64 Articulation Validity Fault back and another one about it being the Front Right.

OK lets reset - you know what is coming next, as I watched the car sink to access height or below on the front right, with front left not far behind then faulted again

A gentle drive home at below 50mph, interesting handling and bumps, and headlights pointing about 2ft in front of the car

On inspection the bolt for the metal tie rod had snapped (so pleased it was a visibly obvious problem for a change )
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Moral of tale: don't reset an ASI fault if you are at normal height and away from home, you never know what your FFRR will do next! .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

sods law springs to mind! Glad it's an easy (er) fix this time  If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

I thought of you as soon as the message popped up! .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

That's a pain Jo, do you mean the rod connected to the height sensor... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

OK

The lower ball joint sheared off on my front right height sensor. The link rod on their own are not available for purchase, meaning one has to buy a whole height sensor for @ £75 from dealers. I was not in the mood for that so decided to have a go at repairing it with what I had knocking about in the garage.

First job was to remove the offending item, just had to release link rod from height sensor arm 10mm spanner to hold flat side and 10mm socket to undo locknut.





Sorry fuzzy picture of where it sheared off





Next inspected the ball joint, which is simply a bolt with a flat in the middle encapsulated in a silicon/rubber case which is press fitted into the arm. I first cut off the outer edges of the joint with a craft knife. A sharp tap with a hammer over a socket released the joint from the houising




Now I could see what I had to deal with I dived into my bits boxes and came up with 2 x half inch tap washers, a 35mm long M4 (well same as the bolts in the ball joint and takes a 10mm nut) bolt, a couple of nuts and a locking nut and some suitable washers.





I trimmed the tap washers making octagons, so that they were easier to fit into the housing, and to give a little more "flex", then wound the bolt in with a big washer on the end




I then took this apart as this arrangement would not allow any movement and fitted two small washers (smaller than the housing, before the big washer (which will stop the thing from falling apart or through). With the bolt out the other side another small washer and a nut to loosely tighten up. Used lots of grease in assembly.




Before fitting back on the car I gave the other ball joint a good dose of WD40 and a good wiggle to get it moving freely, and greased that up too.

Refitted back onto the car, and wheel back on, jacked down. Car on bump stops but with faults cleared.

Started up car, and nothing happened, so I asked it to head up to off road height which it did, then dropped to normal. No complaints from the ECU

Needs a road test but can't see any issues with this. .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Joe90 wrote:

I thought of you as soon as the message popped up!

simples, glad it sorted and not the usual 0x74 fault that pops up now and then ( like today again lol ) If it dont work.......burn it!

If the IId tool cant fix it.......burn the FF.

If the FF cant be fixed......buy a Land Cruiser!

If the LC cant be fixed..............................................BUY a horse !!

Joe

Nice fix, should be well up to the job

When I used the Johnsons rods on mine the rears broke as I touched them, they are a fully rubber end fixed to a metal rod, not all metal like the front ones, so virtually irreparable...

The Johnsons rods are a bit of a con as they are a bent piece of wire, about as thick as a clothes hanger, so if your rears go just bend up an old hanger....

The rubber bush they came with was far too small so I just left it off and bent the rod to an oval at the end so it can't fall off the car... recalibrated the ride height afterwards....... been on ages now and work fine...



Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

This is a real gripe I have with JLR main agent servicing!!! NO preventative maintenance is carried out on any service with their schedule! I check and protect the height sensors on ever service we do! It's really quite easy & straight froward! The same as white greasing all of the suspension bolts annually stops them from seizing!

Glad its sorted and yes sound advice I did similar with my old p38 and had to drive 100 miles on the bump stops

I believe I will need to fit a big rubber washer between the arm and the lower suspension, to stop the arm "falling" into that gap over time.

@ Haylands

Agree with you on the rear ones, I taped mine back together with strips of gaffa (duct) tape as they both disintegrated when I dismantled the rear end a while back. Survived so far.

Keeping a stock of wire coat hangers at the ready, might need to become a part of the in car tool kit!  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

i had that type of fault on an old bmw 5 series touring, it had hydraulic rear suspension, and the previous owner said it bong-ed everytime you drove it for 5 minutes. no dealer could fix it! it turned out to be a tiny version, of a height sensor...within the rear suspension mount cage, the nipple had rusted off, and it thought the suspension was flat down etc. did the same repair as you! i double nutted a bolt in place, -simples...
no more bong! took 1/2 hour, and very satisfying...

Hey everyone,

Wondered if I could interject here for some advice.

I have received the Articulation Validity Fault…. and the Passanger side of the RR is sinking, but it seems to go to access height and not full to the bump stops…..

A bit of background……

Basically last week the drivers side bag burst, I got the too much energy required code and when the garage investigated there was a massive tear in the bag….obvious problem and easy fix…new strut and bag ( @ at cost £350 ).

When this went, I of course got the air sus inactive hard fault and as the air emptied from the bag both front ends hit the bump stops. I reset the code to try and get it back to height but it kept returning to the bump stops…….BUT….NO air Sus Code this time, no fault……….

Anyway, garage changed the strut, happy days….until about 2 hours after it was changed the from passenger side looked as if it was sinking……..Everytime I would put it to access height and back up it would level out perfect then over time start sinking again…..

Now I can hear a hiss for a short time as if air is coming from the bag, but if I leave it even for 12 hours it never hits the bump stops and the drivers side never goes down with it……but I now constantly get the Articulation validity code and the EAS inactive fault. I reset the code I can immediately get back to normal height….then the sinking….but never to the bump stops.

If I got to offroadheight it pushes straight up then both front ends return to normal.

the front passenger side looks as if it always just drops to access height….never any lower…..

So……… the garage were ordering me in another strut, but I will of course ask them to do the soapy water trick to prove the hole in the bag…so I guess what I am asking to everyone with some prior experience here…..does this sound more like a ride height sensor than a burst bag?? is the air hiss that I can hear it releasing the air to get to access height because the ride sensor is 'goosed'?

Your experience and wisdom is greatly appreciated.

I am going to look now for what you were talking about JOE 90….. but I am afraid that this isn't my area of expertise.

I am however learning a lot from trawling this forum and by necessity having to learn about the L322 demons and gremlins.

My first foray into the diagnostic side was a an i carsoft i930 reader ( Yeah I know its prob a toy to most of you here ) but it was a good price and has allowed me to see many weird and wonderful codes and do some bedtime reading on them….and let me see and reset EAS codes and try and learn something before hitting the garage.

I still get my P1172/P1175 on a regular basis…on both fuel and LPG for anyone that saw my thread a while back…..they come and go like ships in the night and never a fluttering hindrance on driving…..strange but everyone seems to be stumped…..

Enough of my rambling….Articulation Validity that is todays problem… I am heading to the garage in an hour or so for a quick word with them in advance of my booked in appointment tomorrow for the full strut change…….if I was armed with some extra knowledge I amy be able to save myself a bundle……


Cheers in advance as always.

 2002 / 52 Range Rover Vogue 4.4V8 with 2012 front end and rear light cluster conversion.

Also my front left ride height is -47.47 Front right is 13.97mm

And the front left voltage is 48.65V and front right is 2.85 V

Just incase that adds to some advice.

Cheers….AGAIN

Hopefully one day I will learn enough to help back with some advice…... 2002 / 52 Range Rover Vogue 4.4V8 with 2012 front end and rear light cluster conversion.

@Morango

Either bag has a hole ("Garage")
Pipe not connected back onto bag properly ("Garage")
Height sensor not in correct position or broken ("Garage")
Suspension not calibrated after fitting of new strut ("Garage" should do this as a matter of course)

Other problem caused by strut being changed ("Garage")

You see where I am going with this  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Well….

I took your advice…..and took it to the garage JOE90

as soon as it was at off road height it was obvious where the hole was, so new bag and strut….All seems good and well in suspension world now….

I actually didn't ask if they re-calibrated the suspension now that they have done both front side bags but I will, and if not most certainly have it done to be on the safe side.

Happy motoring from now on I hope. 2002 / 52 Range Rover Vogue 4.4V8 with 2012 front end and rear light cluster conversion.