Hi All,

Can anyone help with an odd fault?

The RR went into the garage today for air con and aux water pump. When it was delivered back the rear of the car was at an insane height and the front normal. It was displaying a fault on the dash "air suspension inactive" but whilst trying to diagnose the fault which was coming up as rear height sensor the drivers side rear exploded. it looks like the plastic top of the cone has blown but the drivers side rear is now on the floor. The pump didn't seem to be running at the time.

I don't want to replace the bag (or failed component) for the some thing to happen again so can anyone shed any light on why only the rear would be in the air, what may have caused this and is there anything I can check with the garage to see if it something they have done.

Faults are as follows....
Articulation Validity Fault
Rear Right Height Sensor activity invalid

Thanks, Andrew.

Last edited by an-drewm on 29th Apr 2014 8:17pm. Edited 1 time in total

Not an expert, more knowledgeable chaps will be along soon.......

But I'd hazard a guess that the height sensor on the rear side is faulty, so the pump carried on forcing air into the bag as it didn't get a signal to say the requested height had been reached.

The system would then figure out that something was wrong, by the signals from the other height sensors not matching, or the pump timing out.

The extra pressure in the bag caused it to burst, which then let the air out of the rear.

System will not work now until the faults are cleared using a diagnostic tool. 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Thanks,

I am amazed that a faulty height sensor would cause the system to pump so much air in it explodes.

Like I say I am a bit more worried about spending money on the failed parts without knowing if they are the faulty parts.

The bang was unbelievable my ears are still ringing.

That's where my knowledge ends I'm afraid. Never had the exact issue. The system wouldn't know it'd put too much air in, as it didn't get a valid reading.

I know it has a timeout on the compressor that stops it if the desired height is not reached in a given amount of time. Stops it overheating.

I know it's advised to replace the bags in pairs, just like with normal coil springs. 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

I read that there is a safety feature to prevent too much pressure going in which is why I think something else might be wrong.

We had an Audi Q7 and the other year, after 4 tyres were fitted at a well known company, the compressor started to run and run and run following which the compressor exploded and the front end of the car/ air suspension dropped down, resting on the front tyres, rendering the car undriveable. There were - post explosion - loads of little white pellets all over the driveway. That cost over £2k to fix, albeit under warranty.

Apologies if the RR has a different system, it's just when you mentioned an explosion and suspension failure it brought it all back.

Suggest you inquire at the garage you took the car to, and ask them exactly what they did. They must have had the car up on a lift at some point? Perhaps the lifting caused the height sensor to jam or even turn (difficult to imagine how?) What position is it in now, same as the other side? Does it look the same?

What do you mean by "plastic cone". The air bag has a metal top, rubber bag and plastic seat - onto the lower wishbone...

I would change the sensor at the same time as the bag (perhaps change both rear bags and sensors then you know what you have back there, .... and spares!)

Reset the air suspension and then try things, if the car starts to go up to high, switch off and remove power from the compressor to stop it going further and release air from the rear. I would then have a look at the control valve.

Assumes you have IIDTool or similar... .
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

Considering the age of your car the airbags may have been quite weak already. On mine (the 4.2 built 05/05) the front bags went 2 years ago. Completely cracked on the "fold over" all the way around. Pure old age plus hot climate I guess.

With the weakened air bag and possibly excess pressure that could have resulted in the explosion. If you see how thick the normal rubber is and then what it is when weakened by age, you realize that even a little bit of overpressure (nowhere near normal bursting pressure) can result in a big bang.

Sorry to hear though.

After work on brakes/suspension/wheels, the mechanics should always check the height sensors being in good condition as they are the primary feedback for the suspension system. Joe90 is right, replace the bags and sensors and carefully check if the system is having issues or not. You can also just replace the control valve as they could also be faulty after 12 years of service  MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Thanks. The garage claim it wasn't lifted and all work was done on the ground. I still can't work out why the rear only would lift to that height. If the rear height sensor was damaged then surely the ecu would detect no height change and fault then rather than pump to the point of going bang.

ebajema wrote:

You can also just replace the control valve as they could also be faulty after 12 years of service

Quote:

Thanks. The garage claim it wasn't lifted and all work was done on the ground. I still can't work out why the rear only would lift to that height. If the rear height sensor was damaged then surely the ecu would detect no height change and fault then rather than pump to the point of going bang.

Yes, I agree, logic would dictate that, but its a FFRR Something told the pump to keep pumping, and the only thing I know that would tell the car to send more air to the rear would be a rear height sensor? Unless of course the ECU has gone up tjhe swanny ?  .
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