C5 Suspension doesn't suspend

[Gregg1100]

Hi,
My son went through a big puddle on Friday. It turned out to be deeper than he thought ( he travels this road every working day ). The resulting wave tore off some of the silly plastic clips which hold the exhaust guard up, which then fell, digging into road.
His main trouble is that the suspension will not rise at all. We have checked for leaks- nothing. No pump noise either.
The car was working fine up to 35 hours after the puddle incident. We was wondering if there is any electrics hanging in that could have had a good dousing? He removed the battery lead to reset the ECU- nothing.
He did have a speed control issue a while back, which cleared. Perhaps something got wet, got fed up, shut down and went to pub.
Any ideas please.?? I know that I will have to now get it on a Lexia, to have it all checked out, but need the car at right level to get it there.
Car is C5, 05 plate VTX 135 bhp.
Thanks,
Greg ( for Chris )

[qprdude]

You'll have checked the fuses?

[Gregg1100]

AA bloke did that too.

[myglaren]

Not forgetting the Maxi Fuse under the fusebox in behind the battery.

Photo's and more info in this thread.

[Doully]

I called out the AA and he checked all the fuses, which were fine. The message I got from the central console was 'suspension failure - maximum speed 55mph' and the suspension controls was unavailable, again the central console displaying a message. After disconnecting the battery to reset the ECU the suspension controls were available again, but the car is stuck in the lowest suspension position and will not raise using the controls. Normally the car would alter it suspension position just by unlocking the doors where you can hear a electrical sound and the front of the car would raise, but I can't hear the electrical noise. That's the reason why I think it's an electrical issue.

[Stickyfinger]

Don't trust that the AA guy looked at ALL the fuzes, check yourself....as above.. http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... =3&t=40263" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You say after the battery disconnect (did you do this in the correct way? with the correct reconnect stages ?) did you have the movement back for a bit then it "locked" in low ?...or did it just settle and not come back up ?

[Doully]

Basically all I did was take the positive connector off the battery, left it a couple of minutes then reconnected the positive connector back on the battery. I done this before the AA arrived and the back suspension did raise, but then I lowered the suspension and now it won't raise. The central console displays the movements from low to normal to high, but it doesn't raise and defaults back to low(so the car knows its in the low suspension setting). Is there a specific way to reset the ECU or a battery disconnection routine?

[qprdude]

Oi, wheres my post! Just before stickyfingers reply I wrote....

You are hoping the AA man checked the correct fuses, and assuming he checked them all correctly.
Check the relevant fuses yourself before spending cash on further investigation.

I once called out the AA when my Rover 75 TDCI cut out
He arrived and opened the bonnet. He then opened the fuel filler, took a sniff, and informed me that I had filled the tank with petrol. I asked him if he knew what diesel and petrol smelled like and he puffed his chest out and told me he had been doing the job for over 5 years. I told him I had been driving for 40 years, since before he was born . He insisted that petrol in the diesel tank was the problem. Having just filled the tank that morning, I produced the Morrisons fuel till receipt for £60 worth of Diesel. Without so much as an apology, he went to the engine bay and said he would have a look at some bits and pieces if I liked. I said "No, I don't like, please just go away, (not the exact words). The Rover ECU is hidden in a plenum behind the bulkhead and the drains had choked with leaves, drowning the ECU. I got my brother to tow me to work, rodded the drain holes, took out the ECU and dried it in front of a space heater, refitted it and after a few stop starts and stuttering I was off like a rocket.

The moral? Just because someone has an AA van and uniform, don't confuse that with ability. Some are good, some are pathetic.

It might not be the fuses, but best to eliminate that for definite.

[Doully]

Thanks for the replays. The AA bloke didn't check the fuses indicated in the link in myglaren post that sits under the main fuses. Will check the fuse in the morning.

[qprdude]

Fingers crossed it'a fuse mate.

[Jabo]

We was wondering if there is any electrics hanging in that could have had a good dousing?

The suspension height potentiometers are underneath and exposed to the elements. There's one on the front torsion anti-roll bar and one on the rear bar too.

[Doully]

I've checked all the fuses by the ECU and in the car, none of them have blown. I've disconnected the battery again and I'm going to leave it an hour and then reconnect it.

[Stickyfinger]

I've checked all the fuses by the ECU and in the car, none of them have blown. I've disconnected the battery again and I'm going to leave it an hour and then reconnect it.

Battery reconnect procedure...this IS important...

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... 11&t=40407" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck....where are you based ?....many here know good specialist (indy) if you need a garage rather than Main-Stealer prices (and the REPLACE it no matter What the cost) way of thinking.

[Doully]

Done the battery reconnection procedure and the suspension still won't raise. StickyFinger I lived in Cwmbran South Wales.

[Gibbo2286]

Can you hear the suspension pump run up when you unlock the car? If not you need to check if the power is getting to the pump, if there's 12v at the pump then your pump is likely to have gone tits up, water ingress through the breather hole in the bottom of the motor will do that.