Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
Leaky suspension after fixing FBH (plus other woes!)
Due to work commitments and us having another car, MrsWizbongre's D3 has been pretty neglected for a few months and I've hardly had a chance to get on Disco3 properly for a while. Last week though I decided (after finishing a long stint of travelling) to start sorting out all the jobs I've been putting off. So today I finally managed to fit a replacement FBH plus a BAS remote... Put everything back and tried it all and I've now got a working FBH at last - just in time for the coming cold spell
However, after priming the FBH to get it going and then letting it run for a cycle, I suddenly heard a loud hissing noise like a very large balloon bursting and the front passenger side dropped. I started the car and I could then hear what I assume was the compressor fighting to keep the car level. It lost that battle as the pressure just rushed out. I dropped it into access mode and turned it all off but could hear air leaking. I got the two messages "Car raising slowly" and "Car will raise once system has cooled" whilst it was trying. My Nanocom shows no fault codes and there were no warning lights in the car.
So, I'm putting 2 and 2 together and assuming the heat out of the FBH has managed to push something weak over the edge. The air leak is coming from somewhere at the very top of the inner arch of the front passenger side - you can hear it clearly from under the wheel arch and also from under the bonnet, coming somewhere underneath the FBH.
Any suggestions?! Could it be a simple pipe or something more significant?
Typically, I ordered full steering, front brakes & suspension overhaul kits plus a service kit from Steve at Advanced Factors on Friday and now it looks like I'll be hammering the credit card again to fix the suspension! (The broken air-con can wait till summer, and I've got some sealant to try and fix the still leaking front windscreen which means the drivers foot-well is more of a pond than anything else - MrsWizbongre is also annoyed that the driver's side heated seat isn't working any more - she's made up to be using the D3 all the time again...)
With the long list of stuff to fix, I reckon I'll be back pretty active on here again!Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
30th Nov 2014 7:53 pm
Allan_T
Member Since: 10 Sep 2012
Location: Northampton
Posts: 1034
First thought would be the FBH exhaust has melted the green air line that connects the front valve block to the NSF air strut. You can see the air line in this picture.
Click image to enlarge
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30th Nov 2014 7:58 pm
wizbongre
Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
Thanks - that looks like it could well be a likely candidate. I assume that shot was taken with the inner arch removed? I'll need to get the car jacked up somehow and take a look.
Assuming it is that, is it a straight-forward repair/replacement?Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
30th Nov 2014 8:19 pm
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Dead easy. Buy a Voss connector (Steve at AF) or from a local place and snip-out the melted bit and replace with the connector.
Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 14 Oct 2013
Location: 'Sunny' Zomerset
Posts: 9402
Out of interest, why does the FBH melt the plastic pipe,? Shouldn't there be a heat shield around the air pipe to stop this from happening, or did the pipe move?
Concerned that after fitting a remote timer to the FBH, I'll see the same issues Iggy/Ieuan
Current LR =
2015 RR Sport Autobiography
&
1992 Land Rover Defender Camper
- Gone but not forgotten:
MY10 D4 GS
MY05 Disco 3 'S'
MY14 FL2 HSE manual in Blue
MY15 Disco 4 HSE Lux in Santorini Black
MY08 Disco 3 SE manual in Buck Blue
1960 Series 2 88" (No idea why I sold it!)
1st Dec 2014 2:06 pm
wizbongre
Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
Exactly what I'm worried about - I've disconnected the FBH wiring for now, until I figure out just what happened. It could be a complete coincidence that the suspension went at the exact same time as I fixed the FBH... ****ing doubt it though!
Looking at the picture Allan_T posted earlier, the FBH should be away from the green pipe so I'm assuming something has moved, possibly as I've wrestled the new FBH in or maybe just over time.
I'm hoping to finish work early and take a look later...Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
1st Dec 2014 2:31 pm
SpiderBaby D3 Decade
Member Since: 21 Sep 2007
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 1399
Maybe the air pipe has come / been unclipped and was resting on the FBH exhaust.
Perhaps someone has worked on the suspension unit at some time?
Slightly O/T but related when I test fired the house boiler up a couple of weeks back I was bemused as to why it tripped after a short while - it was BGas maintained. On inspection the main power feed had been unclipped from the casing and not put back - it was resting on the combustion chamber - melted wires, big short, tripped fuses - thankfully I hadn't touched any part of it until it tripped....
Similar to your experience.I see no ships........
1st Dec 2014 2:43 pm
Robbie
Member Since: 05 Feb 2006
Location: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Posts: 17932
Iguana wrote:
Out of interest, why does the FBH melt the plastic pipe,? Shouldn't there be a heat shield around the air pipe to stop this from happening, or did the pipe move?
Concerned that after fitting a remote timer to the FBH, I'll see the same issues
Things break, get fatigued or get disturbed during maintenance. Steady state all should be well but some D3s are 10 years old and may have been worked quite hard. At least this is a cheap and simple fix.
Land Rover - Turning Drivers into Mechanics Since 1948
Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
I managed to have a really quick look by jacking the car up and poking around underneath. I've not stripped anything off yet as didn't have the time or the light to do a proper job, however pretty sure I know what the issue is. With the wheel on, the inner arch still in the way and the lower part of the FBH exhaust in situ it's pretty clear what the problem is...
I've edited Allan_T's original picture to show the problem - where I've highlighted with a circle the green pipe and the black pipe next to it, on my D3 they aren't there. Instead, they have been routed behind the FBH exhaust where I've added the arrow. With the car jacked up, I started it up and let the suspension system try to sort itself out for 30 seconds and could feel air rushing out from this area.
What I won't know until I whip the tyre and inner arch off is whether it is the green, black or both pipes that have burst. Luckily I ordered a couple of 6mm connectors from Steve @ AF and I assume the black pipe is also a part of the air suspension system?
You can just about see the problem on this photo (again highlighted with a red circle and sorry for the poor quality, I was on my back in the cold with an iPhone and a small torch!):
Hopefully I'll be able to re-route the pipework back to where it should be away from the now-working FBH exhaust.Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
2nd Dec 2014 10:36 am
Allan_T
Member Since: 10 Sep 2012
Location: Northampton
Posts: 1034
The black pipe is the air supply to the front valve block located behind the OSF wheelarch liner, it's attached to the rear of the bumper. The green pipe is routed back underneath the radiator/intercooler to the NSF strut.GAP IID Pro Multi Vehicle Defender L316 2007-2015 - Discovery 3 - Discovery 4 - Discovery Sport L550 - Freelander 2 - Range Rover Evoque L538 - Range Rover L322 - Range Rover L405 - Range Rover Sport L320 - Range Rover Sport L494 Electrical Fault Diagnostics
2nd Dec 2014 11:35 am
wizbongre
Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
Thought it would be something along those lines - cheers.
Fingers crossed fixing the leak and re-routing the pipes will be straight-forward (is it ever?!)Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
2nd Dec 2014 11:45 am
Iguana
Member Since: 14 Oct 2013
Location: 'Sunny' Zomerset
Posts: 9402
Hi Gareth,
I've just had what I think is exactly the same problem - I think mine happened because I had a leak in the FBH exhaust, which when it was running with the remote timer was pushing hot air onto the Green air pipe. I then after 30 mins or so, got in to my nice warm Disco, started the engine, air was pushed through the pipes, hit the by now very hot and soft section and burst through.
At the same time I think my valve block also died
Pipe and block now replaced and a temp heat shield has been put over the exhaust - I've also ordered a replacement FBH exhaust - All seems to be working fine
Will take a pic later and see how well it looks before posting on here
EDIT: Pics added, sorry not very clear, but you can see the new pipe and the temporary heat shield on the FBH exhaust
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
Iggy/Ieuan
Current LR =
2015 RR Sport Autobiography
&
1992 Land Rover Defender Camper
- Gone but not forgotten:
MY10 D4 GS
MY05 Disco 3 'S'
MY14 FL2 HSE manual in Blue
MY15 Disco 4 HSE Lux in Santorini Black
MY08 Disco 3 SE manual in Buck Blue
1960 Series 2 88" (No idea why I sold it!)
2nd Dec 2014 5:24 pm
wizbongre
Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 690
Funny its happened to you too Iguana!
Stripped it all down tonight (in the dark and cold ) and it was indeed the green pipe. Cut the small melted bit out and re-connected it with a connector from AF. Tested it and all working fine again
Whilst I was in there, I cut out a slightly melted bit of the black pipe too and replaced it, just so it doesn't let go in future. I also re-routed the two pipes so they are away from the FBH exhaust again.
This is an in-progress shot with just the green pipe fixed:
Cheers,
Gareth
'57 D3 2.7 TDV6 HSE gone and soon to be forgotten!
‘15 D4 3.0 SDV6 HSE Luxury
'64 Audi A6 3.0BiTDi Quattro S-Line Black Edition with lots of toys
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) and it was indeed the green pipe. Cut the small melted bit out and re-connected it with a connector from AF. Tested it and all working fine again 
