5.30pm the day before the Christmas holiday, and my 5.0 s/c has thrown up a suspension fault (orange triangle) on the dash. I have to drive it 170 miles on Sunday.

I arrived home with the fault still active, turned off the engine, gave it a couple of minutes and then turned it back on again. No fault. I haven't driven it, but if it's like any other RR fault it'll probably report the fault again when I'm out.

I've had a read through the posts on here, and it seems it could be caused by several things. All I want to know at this stage is - should I just leave it at home??

Impossible to say with certainty but if the heights were fine and no other visual problems then I'd use it...

This is why you need a GAP IID, or similar, it will tell you the fault and help to sort it, without you are blind to the errors....
 Pete

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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

I’ve got it home now, when it’s parked on the sloping drive the offside is up, the n/s front is hissing and the n/s rear is on its bump stops, so it looks as though it’s popped its suspension airbag on the nearside.

I’ve got another car I can use, it just didn’t want to take the dogs in it! Ah well. Luckily my mechanic is working next week, he’s going to have a look at it for me.

There’s always something, isn’t there?!

I suppose sticking tape over it won’t work as a stopgap, will it?

Too thin and too much pressure to fix it in situ, possibly could if you take it off but you might as well change it then...!!

The dogs will have to walk.....  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

It's 170 miles there and back, a bit far for the dogs.

I checked it this morning, the nearside was right down and the offside was up as usual. Took it four miles down the road, the suspension levels out as soon as the engine is on. It kept going with no problems, I parked it for an hour or so and then came back to find the suspension on the nearside had dropped just a bit. No further warnings on the dash.

On parking up, I can hear air hissing out at the nearside front wheel, the other three wheels nothing. It stops hissing within a minute or so, it doesn't keep going at full hiss until it reaches empty so I'm guessing it's only a tiny leak - it does drain totally over several hours, but not instantly.

I've got the car booked in for Wednesday, but would the LR parts department be open during Christmas week? I may as well hold onto it if the garage can't get the spares until after the break.

The compressor will be running all the time to cope with the hole...

One of two things will happen if you keep using it...

The split will enlarge and the compressor will not be able to keep up

or

The compressor will overheat and it's output will reduce and the suspension will fall

You may have damaged the compressor already depending on how long and how hard it has had to work...  Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Yeah, that’s what I thought. I don’t need to use it, I’ve got another car I can use until it’s fixed.

The suspension fault warning hasn’t come back yet, so I’m guessing the leak is so small that the compressor is holding its own as I drive. The car is currently driving level and there are no unusual sounds from any bits. But there’s no point in driving it because the hole will just get bigger if I do!

My old RR had the same problem, but the airbag punctured while I was coming back from a long trip and my speed was limited until I got it sorted. At least I have a bit of warning this time!

Hi,

The problem is that anything you try to stick on the outside will inevitably just get blown off because the higher pressure is on the inside.

What you need to do is same as a temp repair process on a boat, you need to insert a plug into the hole if it's small enough such that the fatter end goes into the hole (think umbrella) and is held in place by the internal pressure of the airbag itself, it can be sealed by using a fair amount of bicycle rubber solution glue.

You can get tyre plug kits in any tyre place like Kwik Fit, just put a few quid cash in the tea fund, they'l give you a few.

However, some caveats. 1. The hole has to be small, a tyre plug isn't going to fix a tear or a weak bag, just a small hole, say 1 to 3 mm. 2. It's a get you home fix, it's not going to hold for long as your bag is dying anyway. 3. It's not going to take any abuse, so easy does it. 4. The pump can compensate for some leakage, but you need to be careful, if it's leaking badly you could overheat your compressor.

I did it once my P38 4.6 Vogue and it held out till I got to the stealers which was about 2 miles away.

Andy Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster

Sorry typo, it held out till I got to the stealers 20 miles away not 2.

No idea how long it would have held, maybe a while who knows, sorry for the confusion.

Andy Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster