hello everyone,

if anyone remembered my previous post about the air suspension problem, there is a new update.

in case anyone forgot about what happened before, here is the recap.

my car is 2013 model rr autobiography which just passed the warranty in late march. in may, i noticed that there was a problem with the air suspension when i manually select access height, the car will start to lower, then raise to off-road/extended mode without staying at access mode.

i was busy during that time so did not bring the vehicle to to do a check, plus there was no warning light, therefore, i was not paying too much attention, hoping the problem will solve itself after a while.( i think most rr owners have experienced problems like some warning light on, but when switching the car off and on again, problem will disappear).

however, after coming back from holiday in mid july, when i switched the car on, the amber warning light appeared in dash showing 'suspension fault' and after trying a good motorway run as well as switching the engine on and off several times, the light is still there. what's more important is the terrain response system stops working. neither do the ieb(intelligent emergency braking) or the cruise control.

this is when i posted my previous thread seeking for help. as suggested by one the of kind members, i called the lr customer service team informing about this situation. the gentleman called glen suggested me that before taking any further, the car needs to be booked in for an initial diagnosis. then there was this hassle trying to book the vehicle in. i live in fulham, the nearest dealer is lookers land rover battersea london. the customer service was one of the poorest i have ever seen. i can never get hold of the service guy, i was promised to call back but never did. finally get through to the right person, asking me to email him all my details but never received any reply with regards to the booking. poor poor poor.

anyway, by then i have wasted nearly 2 weeks. then one of my friend who is also a range rover owner suggested me a land rover specialist called 'rr london' near clapham. i don't want to make it sound like i am from the advertising agency but the guys from rr london were really helpful. just check out the reviews on google. anyway, they plugged their laptop in and initial diagnosis showed faults in air suspension. there was in fact a technical bulletin with reference: ltb00604v7 showing the problem was caused by front air spring- damper hydraulic fluid leak. because there was a oil leak in the front damper, when lowing the car, the car thinks it is beached/grounded. therefore, it will automatically raise to off-road height. however, i did not ask the technician to remove the damper and check for oil leaks specifically as i am unsure what lr customer service is going to do about it. at the same time, there was one thread in another land rover forum. this gentleman is from california and he had the same problem as mine before. here is his thread link and his pm reply.

http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/24-range-...ost1059785


hi david,
thanks for the message. are you referencing the post that i made awhile back about the front suspension riding rough and bouncing? it also kept trying to put the car into extended off-road height...

turns out the struts had gone bad. from what i was told, earlier l405 models (2013 and 2014) had struts that had manufacturer defects. mine is a 2014 and they changed the front struts. the dealer indicated that the new struts were made by a new manufacturer and that this would not occur again. i'm at about 32000 miles so, theoretically, if the struts were to wear out again prematurely it should start to happen soon. i haven't had any indication yet that this is happening.

yes my struts were replaced under warranty. i am not sure about how uk warranties work but here we have 4 year / 50,000 mile warranties on jlr products so it was covered free of charge.

i hope this was helpful.

duncan


by then i was quite confident about the cause. with the report in hand from the specialist and forum, i phoned the glen( lr customer service guy) again, telling him about what happened and the potential cause of the problem. to my surprise, he completely disregard the report or the bulletin and he insisted that i need to bring the vehicle into the 'official dealer' to do the initial test. for the f*** sake, it is not like i don't want to, it is because your 'official dealer' does not give a f* about customer and never bother to even make the booking. however, i understand where he is coming from, in case lr is going to offer some gesture of goodwill, it will have to be through the main dealer.

then i phoned all the official dealerships around london, finally i managed to find grange land rover in woodford. took my car in this morning, guess what, the ' lr specially trained technician' found different problem. they insisted that the air suspension problem was caused by the air suspension compressor and a new replacement is required at a cost of 866.52 in total. they also insisted that this is the only cause and the bulletin i provided has got nothing to do with the actual problem, so damper fluid leak was out of the question. at this point, i was very confused. the service guy seems to have noticed my worry and confusion. he reassured me that these are 'lr specially trained technician' and i should trust them. well, the so-called lr specially trained technician based in the us said a different story based what duncan replied to me. after emptying my wallet with 180 pounds for the labor to do the diagnosis, i phoned glen again. this time he said he was going to call the service guy in woodford asking him whether the compressor was manufacture defects. if it is, then something can be arranged, if not,like normal wear and tear, then i have to pay myself. he then highlighted the importance of having the extended warranty bla bla bla..... it is very important and highly recommended to have one if case of anything goes wrong.

i basically expressed my two points:
1. i have never been off road before, mainly central london( 10 mph average speed maybe if not 15) driving and motorway. only covered under 30000 miles during the 3 year plus of ownership. if this was normal wear and tear, then how come the compressors are not changed as frequently as tyres? when people change tyre( wear and tear), it is because less tread and caused by contacts with road. what is the cause with the air suspension compressor? what made it broken? i am sure it is not official suggested by land rover to get it changed every 3 years or 30000m miles.

2. the importance of having the extended warranty. if every range rover owner needs to have either warranty or extended warranty during the time of their ownership so that they do not have to worry about heavy repair bills later. this only shows how unconfident land rover is with its own products, especially the customer service say the need to have warranty. in my opinion, their job is to help customer and solve issues, not to highlight the irrelevant aspect. when people spend over 100k on a car, you will expect some long lasting quality, not like "you need to have this and that,otherwise.....".kind of drama.

i hope to hear from the customer service team tomorrow about what they think on this matter. any suggestion or experience in dealing with customer service especially out of warranty is appreciated. please leave a comment and i shall keep everyone updated in due cause. thanks for reading and your time, i know it is pretty long.... :d :d[/size]

thanks
rrguy

Last edited by rrguy on 23rd Aug 2016 10:45pm. Edited 1 time in total

It's only a long read as it's using a text font for overhead signs on a motorway  Is this where I put the car details and a bit about myself ?........

mod edit , font adjusted ... ... - .- -.




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Sorry rrguy that is way to much text for me alien

could i get short german one by any chance ?  All my spelling errorz are belong to me!

2023 FFRR L460
2020 Range Rover Velar

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2023 FFRR L460
2020 Range Rover Velar

OK, you're right, it is a long read.

But, if LR insist that a new compressor will fix it then hold them to it. I would approve the repair and make 100% plain that if the fault should re-occur within a few weeks I will look to them for a refund on that since it was clearly not required and not the cause of the fault you asked them to fix.

If it turns out to be the dampers leaking and there was a TSB for that then LR will probably honour that TSB under warranty. I've not had any issues with getting TSB or recall work done regardless of warranty status.

I expect there to be 2 problems, with the failing compressor the obvious one because it produces a fault code. Extended mode occurring whilst lowering is caused by height sensor signals not changing when the vehicle should be going lower as air is exhausted from the air-springs.

If the damper was leaking, could that not be seen?

Hi,
My 2013 had similar problems. Knocking o/s/f suspension and the suspension going to extended setting if access height selected. Problems all sorted, two new front legs and new compressor.All done under warranty
Drives better now than when new.

Mine went in last week as the ride was getting worse, especially at the front offside where they replaced a leaking shock (you can't see it as the fluid is retained within the ait bag apparently). They also replaced left and right front struts due to oil contamination and changed the springs for modified ones I think. This fixed the hard knocking at the front end but still getting an overall hard ride so back in next week for 2-3 days to allow them to do end to end check. I also mentioned the uprated twin damper arc valve that has been fitted to some cars mentioned on this forum so they are looking into that aswell. Steve

Main car : FFRR L405 Vogue SDV8
Other car : Vauxhall Lotus Carlton
Past cars : FFRR L322 Vogue TD6 SE (Sept 2006 MY07) ; LandCruiser SWB ; 4-Runner ; Supras; XJS V12 LeMans

^ Bear in mind the 3.0 V6 diesel didn't come with ARC. The OP looks to have the 3.0, not the 4.4

Good point, ignore my comments about the twin dampers. Steve

Main car : FFRR L405 Vogue SDV8
Other car : Vauxhall Lotus Carlton
Past cars : FFRR L322 Vogue TD6 SE (Sept 2006 MY07) ; LandCruiser SWB ; 4-Runner ; Supras; XJS V12 LeMans