Well yesterday actually.

Summoned to Manchester for month over Christmas by the "official un-official kid sister" the big red beast appreciated the chance to stretch his legs and clear his sinuses over 300 odd miles at motorway speeds. I'd forgotten just how good the P38 is at the magic carpet bit when settled on a decent road.

But now we are here he has dropped down onto the bump stops so clearly a leak somewhere. Took about 3 - 4 hours to drop I think.

Is there anything obvious I could check, and perhaps sort with only my on car toolkit, 300 miles away from the big toolbox and the set of new airbags in the spares department?

If not is another 4 hours / 300 miles (mostly) on smooth motorway roads with a leak of that size likely to be OK without killing the air pump or thermal fuse. Should have been suspicious when he'd dropped after loading the night before and took about twice as long to lift as he normally takes on the odd occasion when I park in just the wrong place so he self levels down.

If worse comes to worse it might be possible to get the bags sent up and arrange fitting up here, assuming it is a bag. They are old enough that I don't mind changing on spec.

Clive

Start it up and see how long it takes to rise up to standard height and then see how long it is before the compressor shuts off. Once up to standard, switch off and pull fuse 29 (assuming a Thor, fuse 44 if GEMS). That will stop it from self levelling and is a lot easier to get at than grovelling under the passenger seat trying to find the timer relay. Then wait and see what happens. That will tell you if it is one corner dropping due to an air spring leak or something common to all corners.

Thanks for that advice.

It's well over a decade since I've had any non obvious suspension issues and I've forgotten all the tricks.

Should be able to find some time for that over the next day or four. When I'm not under orders!

Clive

Possibly the two ugliest words in the P38 lexicon:
Ball Joints.
Finally got psyched up enough to tackle these on Bolt.
Middling decent hand tools loaned by the local O'Reilly's auto parts shop.
Actually, the job was not as bad as I thought it would be.
4 hours for the first set an a bit over 2 for the second ones.
I would like to know what the proper press cup looks like for the bottom one?
Had to use a cut off wheel on the grinder to cut off the flange on the bottom of the lower to allow it to be
pressed out.
The first set only lasted 215k miles! (How many sets have you been through Gilbert?)
Glad I do all my own work as I imagine the current crop of ham fisted shop apes could really screw up the job!
With any kind of luck I will not have to do them again!

Bolt wrote:

The first set only lasted 215k miles! (How many sets have you been through Gilbert?)

Been changed once at about 300k so likely to need doing again in the next year or two. Did them on the Ascot before selling it and got to do them on the red 4.0SE when I get time. They don't seem to have much slack in them but the boots are perished and split so were an advisory on the last MoT (should really have been a fail but as the tester knows me his comment was, "I'll put them down as an advisory as I know you'll do them"). I've got them, just waiting for a spare day or two. The first set I did, I spent a weekend at it and did one side a day. To be perfectly honest, getting the ABS sensor out without destroying it is the hardest part of the job.

Glad I do all my own work as I imagine the current crop of ham fisted shop apes could really screw up the job!

After being quoted £420 to do one side by a local specialist and after a week was given a bill for £1080, it was that day when I decided that spending money on the correct tools and doing it myself was far cheaper that paying someone else to balls it up. I also work on the principle that if I do a job and have to bodge it for one reason or another, I know it has been bodged so know why if it fails. If I've paid someone else to do it and they've bodged it and it fails, I've no idea where to start.

Totally agree that getting the original abs sensor out is objectively the hardest part of the job. Factory didn't use enough coppaslip or equivalent on the assembly line to hold back corrosion for more than 5 to 8 years (at a guess). Even after destructive removal it was almost a workbench job to shift the remnants of the collet and corrosion from the holes on mine. Used lashings of coppaslip and the white anti-corrosion grease when I put mine back in about 10 years ago after doing the ball joints. Almost fell out last month when I did the nearside CV joint boot.

I have all three of the common import bearing press tool sets and found all the pressing cups and other gubbins needed. Pretty sure one would be enough but which one?

Unconvinced by the giant G clamp extractors. The one I got managed three but was clearly working hard and bent a bit under the strain. The fourth one defeated it completely. Made a knock off of the proper Sykes Pickavant 18771100 hydraulic extractor using a US Pro version of one of the cheap import "12 ton" rams sold as spares for various hydraulic extractors. Did the stubborn one effortlessly so I should have just made one in the first place as even the ones the giant G clamp managed would have been easier.

Shoulda done a batch.

Reckon Richards £1080 bill included a full Sykes-Pickavant set. Nearly £680 list these days, much cheaper then, but at least it does include all the press tooling for all the Land Rover and Range Rover models. Sykes-Pickavant want over £130 for the 12 ton ram unit alone when US Pro want under £30, albeit without the pointy bits for the end. Outrageous.

Clive

I was expecting an update on the EAS Clive......

The set I have is the big one with lots of different sized cups (at least half of which have never been used) and the big G clamp. I haven't managed to bend it yet, despite using a 4 foot bar on the 3/4" drive socket on the end of it. I got lots of pressure on then used a MAPP gas torch on the housing and it lets go with an almighty crack. After that initial movement, they press out fairly easily. If I was anticipating doing them regularly, I'd probably invest in a hydraulic one though.

RAVE says to use Silicone grease on the ABS sensors which is what I always use, but only because I've got a tube of it.....

Hoping for some time on the EAS tomorrow depending on progress with her ladyships list of things to be done. 5 months between visits means plenty of time for her to work one up. Might be Monday before I get a permit to work! So much easier home alone.

6 ft (and a bit) scaffold pole bent my G clamp ball joint extractor device just fine and even heat didn't help the stubborn one. I was really surprised how effortless the knock off hydraulic device was.

Clive