My 4.2 SC was dropping down on the left hand side. Tried pulling the suspension fuse and it seemed that the whole of the left side was dropping, although mainly the front.

Decided to rebuild the front valve block with new seals and reinstalled everything to find that the right hand side is now dropping. I think I’ve eliminated the air struts themselves as the left hand front is fine.

Can a whole side drop ? From what I’ve read it’s either the whole front or whole rear if the valve block is faulty.

I’m now an expert in getting to the front valve block. It’s a right pain in the ass for the 4.2 as there’s an auxiliary radiator in the way and 2 x hidden 8mm bolts, which whilst easy to remove, can take 5 mins or an hour to get back in.

Looking for a bit of guidance before I go in there for the 4th time this weekend.

Thanks in advance !

So with fuse removed, right front dropping ?

If it’s a pain to access the valve block, maybe buy a new one.
Or service again, but don’t refit the difficult parts till the next day when you have confidence it was successful

Thanks Andy - yep, front right dropping this time and pretty quickly. Typically the tab on the electrical connector broke off and I didn’t realise, so having stripped everything and put it back together I was getting a suspension fault. Stripped down again to find the connector hanging loose.

After that happened twice I tie wrapped in on, hence being an expert in stripping down.

Will I need to clear all the fault codes each time, just wondering if that’ll affect anything, although with the fuse pulled the car can’t talk to the suspension ?

If a tiny seal falls out the valve block, it will blow the connector off. Even with a good tab.
I wonder if this has happened to you

Not sure I’m understanding that correctly Andy - surely the electrical connector and pressurised side aren’t connected ?

Might bite the bullet and strip down again at some point to check all the seals are in the correct place. There’s that many seals that you always doubt yourself…

Also having an issue with the car going into extended mode when I try to go into access mode, as it’s sensing something under the car, but that’s another kettle of worms for another day.

Appreciate the swift responses and helpful as ever.

Cheers

Jonny

Connector shouldn’t be pressurised. But as said. If a seal is lost it can be! Ask me how I know!

False detection of something under car is probably exhaust valve in compressor

New world record for stripping and rebuilding everything, including stripping down the valve block !

Luckily I had bought a used valve block off eBay and took that and mine apart and compared the two.

Turns out the lower most o ring on the centre solenoid was ever so slightly too small, meaning that that solenoid unit wasn’t a snug fit.

Swapped it for one of the correct size from my kit of 8million valve block seals, put it all back together and the car is now sitting at full height, with fingers crossed.

Even the 2 pesky 8mm hidden bolts went in in 3 mins.

I think the car was trying to tell me something - I.E it won’t let you put it back together easily if something isn’t right.

Massive thank you again Andy, for setting my mind off on the right track.

Will report back in due course.

Well done that man .....

Not so fast sunshine ! (as my dad used to say..)

Front right dropped again after 30mins. Reset all the fault codes and it came up with a new one. Pressure does not decrease when venting gallery.

More investigation needed I think…

Compressor was replaced a couple of years ago or so, with the uprated version by the previous owner.

Would the dessicant need replacing so soon ? Also, is the exhaust valve in the middle valve block ? Got a seal kit for that, but not yet fitted.

Oh yeah. Sounds like middle valve block
Exhaust in compressor. Needs a service
I guess u need to remove fuse overnight and see which front drops

It’s front right dropping - used to be front left.

Will strip out the compressor and middle valve block next weekend and have a look at the desiccant.

I’ve got approx 50 smalls bags of desiccant- can these be used or should I get a proprietary replacement?

I guess you need to put soapy water around the valve block and pipe connector and may as well do front strut. (while it has air in the system!) see if it has bubbles.

Don't know about desiccant. I was going to try packing desiccant too

The packing silicagel would get rid of the issue of degradation, but not sure it would have the same drying ability.

And another update...

Still getting the significant drop at the front right. Bearing in mind it was originally front left, that to my mind says I've done something when putting the new seals in.

Decided to bite the bullet and order another set of seals - this time from 4x4seals, which come with very handy instructions as well as a big blob of silicone gunk.

Followed their instructions on YouTube and ensured everything went in exactly as it should and am now as confident as I can be that all is correct. I have a spare valve block so I can rebuild that and have the car on axle stands for as short a time as possible.

For anyone attempting this, ONLY buy the 4x4seals kit - my first one was from Ebay and came without instructions or silicone.

Might have a go at fitting this afternoon if I can.

There's a world fitting record to be broken !

More updates - front valve block rebuilt and installed (twice).

The instructions showed the yellow inlet/outlet pipe in a different location to my set up, so thought that was my issue. Connected the air pipes up n the new configuration and fired her up. The suspension didn't like that at all ! re-visited the instructions and the very helpful chap at 4x4seals kindly emailed over the LR3 EAS manual and I realised my pipes were connected the correct way round originally, so re-connected correctly.

The valve block has been off at least 5 times now (lost count tbh) and this morning I set it in extended mode, pulled the fuse and am pleased to report both left and right fronts dropped by the same amount. Previously I'd been getting one side or the other dropping, but not both.

I now know the following..

1.) Both air struts are fine - each held air whilst the opposite side dropped
2.) The valve block has been rebuilt correctly, with all correct seals in the correct place and installed with silicone grease.
3.) There's something now common to both air struts that's causing the front end to sag.

I think it's the yellow inlet/outlet pipe which has been a bit chewed up with all the on and off action. The Voss connectors and collets have no doubt mangled it up quite a bit each time they've been loosened and tightened.

My next thoughts on this are to either shorten the yellow pipe a bit so I've got a clean smooth length to work with, or alternatively, replace the whole of the yellow pipe.

If anyone has any experience of either solution I'd welcome guidance as usual !

Many thanks

Jonny