ianpittas Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 hi all, my 98 p38 has decided not to lift the front end on either side,air comp seems to be running ok,only failed after quite a cold night,any quick obvious things to look for. regards ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 'Obvious things to look for' are a compressor that runs but has a worn out piston seal, so doesn't move enough air. It's worn out through trying to maintain pressure in bags that are cracked, and thus leak (and are worse in cold weather). As a very temporary recovery you might get the bags to re-inflate if you lift the chassis off the axle until it's in the 'HI' position, then switch on the ignition / pump. If you do get it up, always leave the car parked in the HI position, as there will be less cracks open with the bags extended. A slightly longer temporary fix is to just change the seal on the compressor, but it will soon wear out again, so if you go this route, buy two seals, so you can put the second new one in when you change the bags. The gamble here is that the compressor bore may be scored, in which case you need the full overhaul kit of crank, piston, cylinder liner, and seal. There is probably someone selling these on ebay, based in the UK or Holland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-rover Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Have the airsprings ever been changed? What does their condition look like? Can you get a pressureguage on to the compressorline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianpittas Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Have the airsprings ever been changed? What does their condition look like? Can you get a pressureguage on to the compressorline? managed to get to lift up,got under to find both have 1" splits in them ( booo ) ah well more money on the loved one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 There is probably someone selling these on ebay, based in the UK or Holland. I got mine from Andy at P38Spares (I've found them to be well above average, and as the name would suggest particularly where P38 parts are concerned). Not sure if there are any other UK based suppliers of pump refurb kits, but a few minutes with google should answer that. I fitted just bladders to the existing air spring pistons on my classic (in the tech archive, somewhere - the procedure is exactly the same for the P38), but complete spring units are now cheap enough I'd just fit them instead. Don't put off dealing with this - chances are your pump is only just managing to fill the tank before the (9min?) timeout at which point the air suspension control will throw a fault and you'll be left stuck on the bump stops until you can get it reset (free EASUnlock software is available now for this, but you'll need to either order the bits to make up a lead to connect a laptop or borrow a ready made one off someone else. Also bear in mind that you can unplug the EAS controller and operate all the components of the system by jumpering pins on the connector (it just switches 12V lines), so if getting it reset is going to be difficult or expensive unplug it now and do without until you've sorted out the air bladders and pump. I'm afraid this is going to dent your wallet it a bit, but at least it's all easy DIY work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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