Hi Folks

So for some time now my 2011 5.0SC Fattie front suspension drops overnight, both sides pretty equally..

This problem was first noted 2 years back when parked outside with temps below 5 celcius, now it drops irrespective of temperature.

I had stripped my front valve block to clean all the o-rings and make sure there is no drier dust causing issues, to no value.

I replaced the front valve block from a scrapped vehicle (same year) and no difference, although I understand the risk being there that the replacement front valve block is faulty as well..

The drop happens with battery disconnected so it is a leak, not an electrical issue.

Fattie has exactly 106K kilometers on the clock..

I have ordered both front airsprings today, just the bellows, not the dampers, but I'm sitting here with that hollow feeling in my nether region wondering if I did the correct thing, or should I have just gone for a brand new valve block??

Is this fault common, can anyone shed a little light on the potential of both airbags leaking at the o-ring seals??

Many thanks and kindest - Marco

there are lots of things that can cause this issue pal , corroded pipework , reservoir leaking but I guess the fact that both are equally dropping suggest the front valve block or related to that part of the system is at fault

Mine has the same ailment yet has only travelled 65K kms I concluded that the front cross-link valve was leaking to atmosphere so bought a kit. However I only replaced 2 of the 3 o-rings because the smallest appeared too small but that should still have stopped the lowering if the valves had been leaking from both sides to atmosphere. However 1 side could be leaking and the cross-link valve not sealing properly between the 2 sides. The cross-link valve doesn't look to be well designed but good enough for its intended application except if one air-spring leaks over time.

bembo449 wrote:

there are lots of things that can cause this issue pal , corroded pipework , reservoir leaking but I guess the fact that both are equally dropping suggest the front valve block or related to that part of the system is at fault

GraemeS wrote:

Mine has the same ailment yet has only travelled 65K kms I concluded that the front cross-link valve was leaking to atmosphere so bought a kit. However I only replaced 2 of the 3 o-rings because the smallest appeared too small but that should still have stopped the lowering if the valves had been leaking from both sides to atmosphere. However 1 side could be leaking and the cross-link valve not sealing properly between the 2 sides. The cross-link valve doesn't look to be well designed but good enough for its intended application except if one air-spring leaks over time.

Replacing 2 of the 3 cross-link valve O-rings did not fix mine but perhaps if the 3rd O-ring was changed then it may have. I didn't change any O-rings for the 2 corner valves so I may have another attempt once I've contacted the supplier to question the cross-link valve's smallest O-ring's suitability.

Here is the kit ex UK that I purchased. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Discovery-Air-S...2749.l2649

Many thanks Graeme, I will order the o-rings as a precautionary measure, worth a shot at that price, and shelve the project until I get everything together as one lot.

From the little info out there on this specific problem, it seems that unlike the Discoveries or RR Sports, if one splits the various components of the entire front stut assembly, the Fattie front suspension airbag rotates with the steering, so if I understand this correctly the upper strut seals (o-rings) can be prone to wear given the rotational movement between themselves, the physical strut which obviously rotates with steering input, and the upper strut assembly which is fixed, thereby leaking, slowly at first then progressivly worse as further wear sits in..

Anyway, I might be totally wrong, but either way am looking forward to getting my hands dirty in this regard..

Cheers - Marco

Yes, I understand that the o-rings as the top of the strut are problematic due to the swivelling shaft especially on older vehicles but I would expect dropping on 1 side initially and perhaps a year or 2 later the 2nd side too.

The O-ring kit supplier is sure that all o-rings are the correct size as he has sold hundreds of the kits over the last couple of years, so I will revisit mine.

No, seems I was wrong in my analogy, the o-rings simply seal, they do not rotate against the strut, the entire bag rotates with the strut on an upper bearing plate of sorts..

So I went to my local LR dealer to collect the new original bags which include all the varios o-rings and seals, paid the equivalent of approx US$300.00 per side which is not bad..

As preventative measure I am going to order the o-ring set for the valve block but as our postal service is pathetic at best and goods coming in to the country through them can take anything from 2-6 months to get to me, I will ship to Italy and collect from there on my christmas trip to my folks, so the repair itself, potentially including all the control arm bushes and transfercase sideshaft seal etc etc will be sometime early January.

Lets hope this works.. Thanks for the feedback!!

I thought that I had found the cause of mine's front dropping overnight when I found bubbles escaping from one of the pins in the electrical connector on the front valve block. However a new, confirmed not leaking valve block didn't cure the problem but soapy water with the suspension fully extended revealed the cause - one air-spring is porous all the way around near the base.