Battery life??

[PD Miller]

Dreaded Air Suspension fault came up last night on the x350 but it kept going without ant drama till I got home. About 30 miles with the Amber light on. This morning I plugged the icarsoft LR3 in and it showed faults in Suspension, Engine and instrument modules, all voltage related. They all cleared and so far haven't come back.  🤞 . Battery is 18 months old. Hoping it was just a glitch. These cars like to keep us on our toes.😗

[Big John]

Hi Peter

First thought is low battery voltage. I had same fault on mine just after purchase following being sat in a station car park for 30 mins with the engine off playing with all of my new toys before getting the "low battery - start engine" warning. Air suspension warning came on 20 minutes into subsequent journey. Stopped and re-started and no problem since (5 years + now!).

Had you done a lot of short journeys, and or not used it for a while?

John

[PD Miller]

Morning John.

The car has been laid up over winter so that could be part of the problem. The message came back a couple of times over the weekend but now the codes tell me that it's 'Reservoir pressure implausible' which I think usually points to compressor.  All wheel heights look fine and the compressor was overhauled a few years ago. Going for a run today with the icarsoft plugged in and my long suffering better half recording data. If she doesn't get bored and we don't  fall out I'll report back.

[PD Miller]

Update!

The problem turned out to be a worn compressor and a slightly flat battery. The latter was easily resolved but the compressor turned into a saga.

I had a new piston ring in my spares stash which I seem to remember buying because it came with free desiccant for the drier. I fitted the new ring and the message was still there.  On the bench the compressor struggled to reach 5 bar never mind 14.   A new, proper ring saved the day , restored compression and broke the daily routine of removing the compressor.  We never have time to do a job properly yet find time to do it twice.....or three times. 

The moral of the story is 'Only buy the original Bagpiping Andy kit or risk becoming very efficient at removal and replacement of the compressor. 

[Big John]

Hi Peter

Glad you got it sorted, and thanks for the update. Always nice to know how people have actually solved the problems rather than just having a list of problems and suggestions for solving them which may or may not have worked. 🙂

John