Hello,
a sidekick of my EAS problems is this:

Nanocom tells me this:

in EAS/Inputs Menu: it does not say that the driver (LH) door opens. All others are recorded correctly. Therefore EAS continues to level with that door open.
in BECM/Inputs Menu: it records correctly that the driver door is opened (12V->GND). All others too. But the interior lights do not go on. But with the other doors.

How can that be?

Microswitch in door must be OK. And EAS ECU gets that info from the BECM, but the information is lost....?

greetings, Max.

One thing I would like to add:

The ride state "levelling" which in my case occurs while driving and sends the car to the bump stops (preceeded by the stae "ECU wakeup"), is the state the EAS system is in when ignition is ON but engine OFF.
So would that be the state of "self-levelling" which occurs every couple of hours?

That could mean only two things:

Either there is some impulse from the delay timer relay to the ECU while driving (which would be some kind of fault in the timer circuit) OR the EAS ECU has some kind of fault going into that state uncommanded.

I still have the faint theory that the ECU is behaving erraticly and is therefore faulty.
But of course I am hoping tightening the 13-way connector in the EAS box cured the problem.
As long as the system works fine I don´t care how weirdly the ECU is behaving internally...sounds very human to me :-.)

@Pete reassuring to know the system can work perfectly with the "invalid fault code"

Hi just wanted to give a small update:

I tightened the connector pin sockets in the 13-Pin Connector which is in the EAS Box.
I didn´t mechanically check if they were loose, but I could see that the sockets were not too tight.

The drove for about an hour, logging all the data, no umcommanded height changes, system operating as intended.
Then went through all the log thoroughly and found the actual heights to be much closer to the target heights than before, also the rear left (which was mostly too high in all of the states) is now reigned in and much closer to the other corners.

There is still, though, the "invalid fault code", (which remains after clearing) but if that is what it needs to function properly then the system may happily keep it :-)

I am still only cautiously optimistic as I have had periods of error-free driving before but it would be great if that trick worked. I will continue to monitor the situation and give feedback here.

I will start another thread for the "door ajar" mismatch between EAS ECU and BECM, (and other woes), I guess for future reference it is best not to mix up topics too much in one thread....

greetings, Max.

I have now done several test drives with the Nanocom logging the data and have ploughed through numerous log files with endless number columns and many many graphs, comparing all data and how height changes ate influenced by them....
The cars I had until now mainly needed a set of spanners and a welder, but with this one I am staring at excel spreadsheets for hours...^^ Well, that´s evolution for you....

There are more ride states aside from Extended, High Profile, Standard, Low Profile and Access, namely "ECU Wakeup", "Levelling" and "Dormant". They are mentioned in the Blackbox Solutions Manual, but for example not what they really mean.

What I found out is that "ECU Wakeup" can occur at any time while driving, always after (in my case the rear left) one corner is too high, the corresponding valve and inlet valve have opened, but no change in height has occurred. (This can of course also happen without resulting in the ECU Wakeup Mode, so I am not sure how the ECU decides to do so.) When the ECU goes into ECU Wakeup, all valves are closed. This Mode is always followed be "Levelling", which causes all corner valves and the exhaust valve to open, the ECU sets Target height to 20, and the car goes all the way down to the bump stops (hard fault). This will stay. As fault I will then always have the "invalid fault code".

The other state is "Dormant", which can also occur at any time, but when one corner (again, rear left) is too low, the corresponding valve and inlet valve are open for some time and no height change has occurred. But in this state the ECU continues to function "normally", i.e. opening and closing valves according to target height, and no sinking to the bump stops.

Another, maybe not connected, thing is that when I open the driver (left) door, the inner light does not come on and the opening of the door is not recorded by the EAS ECU, so no inhibiting of function. But in the BECM Menu, I can see that the "Door ajar" switch is functioning properly. As far as I know the BECM send that signal to the EAS ECU....could that be related and point toward some kind of intermittent electrical problem or is that something else...?

BTW, I have not checked/tightened the Multiconnector in the EAS box, that is still to be done....

hope I am not boring anyone but I am trying to sort this all in my head and writing it helps too :-)

greetings, Max.

P.S. The forum response time seems extremely slow since yesterday or is that just me?

I marked the spreadsheet starting at the left top corner, marking the first couple of columns down to the end, then right-clicked "fast analasys (?)" (Schnellanalyse in german) and then one can choose what kind of graph excel shall produce....
But the Nanocom csv viewer is a lot better to analyse the data because you have many more viewing options. You just have to convert all words (on/off, open/close, etc.) to numbers. But that is easy with Ctrl-H (find and substitute).

So I spent some hours going into the details of all the logs in excel and converted them so one can see them graphically in the csv Viewer.

The trick is to convert any "words" in the spreadsheet (like on/off, closed/open, standard/high pro, etc.) into numeric values (e.g. on=1, off=0). Then you can open the csv file with the Nanocom csv viewer which is great to see every detail although the handling of the program is pretty clumsy.

Here are the logs directly from the Nanocom (the ones I created for Post #5) Here one can read all the switches and valve positions:
https://c.web.de/@337510546125364120/VGPX1iUQQ0yyaWKdqnPx3g

As they are not images, one can not upload them to imgur....

And, in case anyone is interested, the csvs converted from "words" to numbers:
https://c.web.de/@337510546125364120/G8MjRHxSRq6vZhwm2agvLQ

My conclusion from going through all the data:

• Some of the time the system works as is intended, user inputs become the correct valve actions which lead to correct heights. (log EAS1)
• Some of the time (usually resulting in an EAS error) the user inputs become the correct valve actions but do not lead to the heights changing as expected. The only explanation that comes to my mind is that the valve actions of the ECU do not actually take place as intended, therefore the target height is not achieved. That would lead me to believe that the driver pack (or cable connections between ECU and valves) does not drive the valves properly. Since the ECU has no feedback if the valve is actually opening/closing or not.
• Another thing is that the on/off of the compressor is not in sync with the opening/closing of the pressure switch. Does that have to be?

Sorry to have dug this deep into this EAS hole, but I would like to know what is happening and found the log function of the Nanocom to be invaluable and new to me. Throwing new parts at the car and in the end not knowing which actually cured the problem is very unsatisfying...
Tomorrow I will be doing a longer drive with trailer, I will log the whole trip, there are bound to be surprises then, so I might catch something interesting on the log then.

greetings, Max.

OK, I finally managed it, tried it on the phone but wouldn´t work, but did on the computer.

Now updated Post #5 with the graphs.

OK, I tried doing that via imgur, but I don't understand how imgur works, it doesn't seem to be a filehosting Service but some Kind of "instagram" type thing, or?
So I create an account, post the picture and theb share the link or how does it work...?

Hm, if I copy the entire Link and paste it into a new browser tab it will show a thumbnail of the graph and give the options "herunterladen " (download) or "öffnen" (open/show).
Is there a better way to integrate pictures into this forum ?

I had the log files "closed" for quite a bit as I left the Naocom on until I was back home from the test drive....Maybe it didn´t work because I have the 1.37 beta version on the Nanocom ? Changed back to 1.36 and will see if it works then....

I am amazingly bad at excel but making a graph from the numbers was surprisingly easy :-)

OK, so calibration would be necessary, will have to make up some blocks then...

Thanks, Max.

OK, I did a test drive with several height settings and logged them on the Nanocom (didn´t know that that worked :-)

I tried the CSV Viewer Program from BBS but the program would not open the csv files, saying they contain invalid charactes and no log data, (any ideas why???) but I managed to convert the raw height sensor data to a graph with Excel. Here are three test drives:



The bottom four colours in the legend correspond to the height sensors described on the left hand side.
On the second drive the EAS went into Error mode and in the log the status went from "high profile" to "dormant" which is probably when the actual heights do not change as the EAS expects them to...but it didn´t go to extended mode though...

What I make of all this is that sometimes the system just does not react to the target heights and sometimes it does.
The front left sensor mostly sems to read too high and the rear left mostly too low.
There are also some peaks (mostly on the left side) that may show the sensor sending a wrong signal. But it was a bumpy road so I don´t know as to how much the signals fluctuate normally.....

I guess next would be to swap the sensors from side to side....?

Oh yeah, the connector from driver pack to solenoids looks clean, nothing obvious there....

greetings and thanks, Max.

What a conicidence, today a new fault came up: "Rear left height sensor out of range" so you might be right there, thanks....:-)

I still have some questions though:

When I drove today it did all kinds of weird stuff up and down. and even though the rear left was very high most of the time, the height sensor reported this correctly. The system war very erratic but the reported height at each corner always corresponded to the actual heights. Only the system didn´t react when one side was very high.

Also when the car goes to high on its own, I suspect it is going in the "super-high" mode, or is this the normal "high" height in this picture:
https://c.web.de/@337510546125364120/NhK4NfUiShKmRFb1PF9QDQ
I measured the height on the rear from mid-hub to wheel arch and its 57 cm (normal high is supposed to be 51 cm).

Also when I open the driver (left) door, the Becm will report door open, but the EAS will not detect an open door. Other doors report correctly.

Maybe I´ll also look for a used EAS ECU....?

greetings, Max.

Hello,
My EAS is giving me problems and I don´t know how to proceed further. I would be great if I could get some hints....I have read about every manual, document tand internet post there is for the EAS but I am at a loss now....

Since I have the car (2 years) it will rise to high without me commanding it. Sometimes every couple of minutes, sometimes once a month. Also when the inhibit switch is on. I could usually tell it to go down again, It would also give me faults (usually "pressure switch open") with the same regularity. I have a Nanocom.

I removed both multi-connectors behind the left and right kick panels and soldered them. They still look dry and fine. No change in behaviour.
Car will not lose height overnight, but will often be too low at rear left (new airbag) when I park. I replaced both left airbags when I got the car, of the remaining ones 1 looks like new, the other OK.

Since a couple of months the usual fault changed to "invalid fault code" which I can clear but will come back regularly, sometimes doing nothing, sometimes leading to soft fault, sometimes to hard fault. Usually when the fault comes the car will be high at the back and low at the front...

Compressor was loud for some time but is quiet again now and works well (fills empty system in under 5 minutes). The green/purple cable leading to the compressor was burnt at the connector but still worked, fixed that.
I just refurbished the valve block but that made no difference other than now the rear left, which was usually to low when i park, is now too high.

Other new observations:
Compressor will run even when engine is off.
Height will change even when door is open ! That is new. But Nanocom confirms that door is open, so no lock switch fault...

I can switch on/off all valves with nanocom and hear them engage.

All that comes to my mind now would be the ECU or the driver pack.....any ideas or further questions would be very welcome before I lose faith in this wonderful car....

greetings, Max.

I measured the resistance across brown and black, so the motor itself.
Till now the fault has not re-appeared....
I´m near Hamburg, so up north :-)

Hello everyone,
Thanks for all the input, I managed to solve the problem but am not entirely sure why....
I measured the resistance across each motor and one (the right blend motor that was giving me the errors) stood out with different values than the others and also the new ones.
So I depinned the connector, left the left blend motor in and installed two new right motors and the new connector.
Then the book symbol disappeared.
After calibrating the motors and testing their movement with Nanocom I reassembled everything and now everything works fine.
I just hope it stays this way but not knowing exactly WHY it now works doesn´t give me much confidence that the problem will be solved forever....
The p38 is really a Zen master putting ones faith to the test..............
Thanks for the input !
Max.

Hi, thanks for the quick response...
The motors don´t move every time when I turn the ignition, neither the old nor the new. Only around every tenth time or so only one motor will move a little. Onyl once all three moved but only a few seconds. Seems random...
EDIT: Also the book symbol always comes on about half a second after the HEVAC powers up....

Hello, back again after some months...
I had repaired a blend motor a year back, but now the distribution stopped working and the right hand side only blows hot, and I have fault "right blend motor short to positive".
Had a new set of Valeo motors here so wanted to put them all in to have some peace....
Before ripping the old ones out I wanted to check the new ones so plugged them in (without installing them yet) but still the book symbol comes on after 1 sec. and the same fault appears !
Tried clearing fault with Nanocom but comes back (or rather stays). Tried the 10 sec. remove plug trick but comes back.
I even tried a different HEVAC Unit but the same thing happens so it can´t be the connectors either...So two motor sets and two HEVAC nits in any combination......
I am now at loss what the hell that could be...something in the loom to the HEVAC.....????
Help and hints are greatly appreciated, I am slowly going insane with that car....

Thanks, I found one of these and they fit well.
https://postimg.cc/rKNV3s0S

Now it looks like this, found a ground nearby and protected the wires with fabriccoated fuel hose...
https://postimg.cc/nMQMRnGk

Edit: Inserted different new links to the photos that now work....

Hi,
I have a similar issue, my temp gauge is also fluctuating around quite a bit and mostly shows cold when the Nanocom shows a steady 89 C.
Cleaned up the earths an connenctions but didn´t make it better.
But since the 2-wire sensor AMR5929 does not seem to be available anywhere at all and any similar replacement I can find here in Germany has metric threads, I decided to try the older 1-wire Sensor AMR 1425, which works great. Fits physically and shows correct readings.
I connected the earth from the 2-wire plug to an earth by the engine and the other to the sensor, but at the moment only with small crocodile test leads to see if that works.
Does anyone know where I can get the 1-wire plug from for that sensor ? I couln´t find it anywhere and looks like a smaller version of a spark plug connector....

Hi,
I changed the oil on my 4.6, since I only own it for one year it was the first time since it was fresh when I bought the car.
There was 10W40 in the engine before, don´t know which brand. Then I changed it to 10W40 Castrol GTX Ultraclean.
Since then the oil consumption has gone up quite a bit, before I rarely had to top up, now it uses up to 1 litre per 500km if I drive highway speed, normal driving less.
How can that be ? I also observe that the oil is quite black already even though I already "topped up" 5-7 litres in total, so nearly a second oil change by now ;-)
Is it the cleaning properties that make that difference ? Any other ideas ?
I can´t see any obvoius leaks and the engine has run 257,000 km...
Thanky in advance,
Max.

Now I´m confused. in the "other" forum someone said the O-Rings that were affected in the X8R Kit were:
"The larger orings on the bottom of the solenoids which seal it to the block and the other at the base of the stem which seal it to the cover. (Not the oring on the stem)"
X8R themselves said they know nothing from no-one that there are wrong kit being delivered and no-one has contacted them because of this.
I want to avoid dismantling the block and fionding out in trial and error that some rings fit and others don´t.
I also don´t want to throw the kit away and order another different one....
Does anyone have dimensions of all the rings so I could check my kit ? Or any other solution ?
Thanks in advance,
Max.