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[Darkus Lordus]

I believe the self levelling suspension on my Elite is not working as the rear feels rock hard on speed bumps.

Everything appears to be connected okay as far as I can see & have tried the fuses & still no luck. But then again this is my first Omega.

Is there a way of testing & fault finding the system?

Many Thanks

Jamie

[tunnie]

is the compressor working? Leaving the at idle or driving then stopping and switching off, you should sometimes hear a compressor kick in.

[VX1]

May be a silly question, but do you have the right shocks on the rear or are they just standard shocks?

Paul  

[feeutfo]

you can turn the ignition on and 2 of you sit on the rear bumper with the boot open feet on the floor, you should feel the back of the car lift slowly . Or, if thats not obvious, reach under the car, rear drivers side wheel in your left arm pit, and you should be able to prize off the plastic rose joint to the rear suspension arm to the control box, its located between the dif and fuel filter. Lift the L shaped arm and the car should rise to a silly  hight. When refitting the arm you should hear the air release from the pump front drivers side as the car drops slowly to the normal hight.

I recently had a shock(damper) go on me, i heard a fizzing sound from the rear, and sore a puddle of oil forming under the shock. I drove it like that for a couple of days, mainly to see how a blown shock felt. Not nice, lane 3 to slip road from the motorway made me feel a bit sea sick, the back was swaying around as if i had a rear puncture.
 
Bumps on that side gave a banging feeling as if the tire was bouncing of the ground and could well give the rock hard feeling you describe.  Push down on the suspension on each corner of the car and compare each, you are looking for a the car to return and settle/stop,(so down, back up and stop.)  you dont want the car to carry on bouncing
(down up down up down up to a gradual stop and you need new dampers) mine where 158 from vx on trade club, very easy to change, you need to lift the car but only for access, the rear wheel can stay on the ground. Hth

[Varche]

In the Haynes manual there is a section on "testing" the self levelling. It involves measuring to a ref point on the bumper say. then repeating the process with a heavy load in the boot.

varche

[Darkus Lordus]

Okay, Cheers for your help guys. I'll have a look & report back the results. If not I'll have a look in the Haynes book of Lies.

[Darkus Lordus]

The initial problem was the air pipe from the T piece that's under the rear of the car. Where it was clipped in to a metal bracket on the passenger side, the bracket had simply cut into the pipe revealing a 3mm hole. It was only after I replaced the blown fuse for the compressor that I heard the hissing of the air escaping while it was still clipped in.

Have now replaced both of the air pipes from the T piece, each going to either side of the car & clipped them in. (I had to use a pair of pliers to get enough pressure on the unions to get the metal clips to clips into place!) Oh what a pain in the ar$e it was to pull the old pipe out & thread the new pipe through above the suspension mounts & my tow bar!

I can hear the compressor start up & switch back off again but no rise in the rear of the car & still the hard feel on rough surfaces & speed bumps. There is an audible change in the tone of the compressor as it builds up pressure I guess.

I've tried the old unclipping & lifting the sensor arm up & seeing if there is any lift in the car. Mind you, I've always done it on my own without anyone sitting on the boot.

I'm now starting to think that either the sensor is fubar'd or the shockers have had it!  

[Pete Elite]

May be a silly question, but do you have the right shocks on the rear or are they just standard shocks?

Paul  

           Hi Paul, Pink Floyd fan by any chance .

[Darkus Lordus]

All sorted now. I ended up changing the shockers over & the new ones were actually about 1 1/2 inches longer then the old ones.

Ride is soo much softer now.