EAS Button question.

[OkieRover]

I use one of my EAS buttons to trip the relay on my Hella fog lights.

[c93werdna]

So, the springs used to be airbags that would fill with air to Pump up and Lower the car. The shocks are there no matter if you have EAAS or not
The replacement for that(EAS) would be Springs then.. Right? and the shocks would just be "upgraded" if you wanted..
Im kind of understanding now..
I posted some more pics...one is of the EAS line capped off on the driver side.
I also had new motor mounts put in, the old ones were nasty..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/andrew...bum?.dir=/8400

[Paul Grant]

Trust me, Andrew, you do not want to go through the bother and expense of returning to the EAS system. It was extremely unreliable and VERY expensive system to repair. Given the age and questionable working condition of the remaining EAS components on your truck I would thank my lucky stars and leave well enough alone.

Your Bilsteins will last a very long time so I wouldn't worry much about them. They are a fine product. Unless you detect some sagging, I wouldn't be concerned about your springs either. However, it might no be a bad idea to inspect things like the bushings (including the upper A arms in the rear) and ball joints (especially the oft forgotten ball joint on top of your rear axle). All of this parts, in any combination of wear can have a detrimental impact on the way your truck steers and handles. Another issue to be looked at down the road is the swivel ball bearing preload. But, first things first.

If you are able, buy a Land Rover Repair Manual for your model year. That, along with a parts manual, will go a long way towards enabling you to understand how your truck works. If you haven't already checked out www.rangerovers.net you probably should. For parts, we are an extremely fortunate bunch what with the likes of Rovers North, Atlantic British, British Pacific ect available to provide us with all our parts needs. You will get to know these people well.

[RageRover]

Well I made an honest mistake, I did not wanna mislead anyone, I was browsing earlier this morning and discovered that pretty much any EAS system on the RR from early 90s til today use traditional airbags. Oops. Well, yeah I guess I will have to talk to the previous owners of my RRC to see who removed the compressor and did not remove the wiring properly. I would like to see it done right, so I might as well do it myself.

c93werdna, I didn't wanna mislead you, I was gonna correct this error I made earlier today, but looks like Paul has set things straight. The EAS systems I had been acustomed to were on much lighter cars and sedans so that is where I made the assumption that the EAS on the RRs were made with, but I guess not.

Now that I got that off my chest, how do I properly remove the rest of the wiring components from my RRC? And make the light on the dash not illuminatea ny longer?

Plus I might as well find out any other Gremlins that are in my rover too, don't wanna have to find them out the hard way; on the side of the interstate.

[drg]

Originally Posted by Paul Grant

Yeah, and I had a BRAND new '94 that was in the shop so many times because of EAS failure that I tried to initiate Lemon Law proceedings against Land Rover. .... The EAS in early Range Rovers sucked, end of story. Give me coils any day of the week.

Clearly you had a lemon. My sister and her husband had a '99 D2 that had to have BOTH engine and transmission replaced before 40k miles. Lemons exist. Land Rover has probably made more than their share of them.

Even if a particular Rover isn't a lemon, there are design problems. The valvetrain in all of our Rovers are poorly-designed and lead to early cam failure. Rover couldn't make a leak-free gasket to save their collective lives. The hoses are unnecessarily complex and poorly made, and often oil lines fail resulting in instant engine death. The EAS computer was not designed to be robust and so small problems can cause it to go into 'limp' mode, which necessitates a trip to the dealer. And LR dealers are frequently the worst embodiment of the stereotype of 'stealership' (mine is, and their techs are clueless to boot). If you can get past this, you can enjoy owning a Rover. If you can't, you'd probably be happier with a Toyota.

That said, the EAS is a good idea and many of them work very well. Further evidence of that is that the currnent Toureg, Cayenne, Land Cruiser, and Navigator, and X5 are all available with air suspension systems basically inspired from the EAS that first appeared on the RRC (and all are more reliable but less capable).

My '95 Classic has 101k miles on it and the EAS works perfectly (and I take it off-road every chance I get). Never had a single problem. My '98 4.6 had 102k miles on it and had very few issues. When working properly, they give unique benefits. When broken, they give headaches, just like everything else. If your dealer wants huge dollars to fix your EAS, they're trying to steal from you.

It's fair to say that if you want a truck that you just feed gas, oil, and tires, then EAS is not for you, but then, neither is any Rover.

This "I had a bad experience with mine, so they're all crap, end of story" attitude that's so common with car people is narrow-minded.

RageRover, you were probably confusing EAS 'leveliing' with the Boge self-leveling strut that was fitted to non-EAS Range Rovers. This was a pneumatic strut that was self-adjusting... if you loaded up the rear and caused it to squat, it would gradually pump itself back up to normal. When you take the load out and drive away, it gradually lowers back to normal. It used no compressor... the up/down motion of the suspension itself did the pumping of air. It was mounted to the rear A-link and was used in addition to conventional shocks and springs.

[RageRover]

Drg, I don't think mine had the self leveling struts, cause the shocks that are on there now, don't appear to have any self pumping mechanisms on the rear A-link or anywhere, but closer examination of the under carriage under the passenger side, shows a whole bunch of wires sticking out and mounts on the frame where te compressor assembly used to go. I have to research more on these RRC's to see what exactly is going on with my suspension.

Right now I think my system used to run an EAS system, with compressor, of which the tank is still mounted under the driver's side chassis, buttons still in the dash for "Up, Down, and Locked" positions. Plus the kill switch is still located under the passenger side front seat. So this would prove that the shocks on my rover, are probably the originals (that need replacing ASAP), and that the coils are replacements from the stock airbags that were, in there.

Well, I still gotta remove the rest of the EAS components, and wiring, and replace the shocks, and maybe it is a good time to also add new lift springs as well.

[drg]

If you've got an LWB, your truck originally had EAS. I was just speculating that you may have gotten the idea that the air system was in the shocks based on the Boge unit.

Still, the Boge unit was self-contained, and still used conventional shocks. It looked like one single very fat (6" around) shock absorber mounted inside the A-link, going from the point of the A back to a mount on the frame. It didn't pump up the shocks or have any external plumbing... it pumped up itself, and lifted the rear axle from the center. The shocks and coil springs were just conventional shocks and coils.

And your LWB wouldn't have had it, nor did my '95 SWB with EAS. EAS trucks never had them even when converted to coils, nor do Discoveries. I don't think any Defenders had them either... it was a Range Rover thing. Most of the Boges have worn out by now, and many owners simply remove them. They were supposed to give self-leveling and good rear axle articulation, but they wore out very quickly and tended to make the Rangie tippy when loaded heavily when they did work. You can't easily (and possibly not at all) buy them new, and most dealers don't know how to rebuild them, and would charge around $1000 to do it anyway. If they fail and cause the rear of an originally-coil-equipped Rangie to sag, most owners just put stronger rear springs on.

[RageRover]

I see, now. Well, hopefully, I will be able to remove the rest of the EAS components with no problem and get some new hardware on the rover, as far as new shocks and springs are concerned.

[Paul Grant]

DRG,
Give me a break!

"It's fair to say that if you want a truck that you just feed gas, oil, and tires, then EAS is not for you, but then, neither is any Rover.

This "I had a bad experience with mine, so they're all crap, end of story" attitude that's so common with car people is narrow-minded"

"If you can get past this, you can enjoy owning a Rover. If you can't, you'd probably be happier with a Toyota."

Who are you and what made you the definitive Land Rover enthusiast determining who is and who is not worthy of Rover ownership? I've owned Rovers for almost fifteen years. I've owned Series Rovers, Range Rovers and Discovery's. About ten in all

I'm narrow minded and shouldn't own a Rover? Get off you high horse pal.

It is common knowledge, as I stated in my earlier comment, had you bothered to read it, that the early EAS system was problematic. I owned a 1994 Range Rover that was made in the summer of 1993. The first two years of EAS were dreadful. Ask anyone who worked for Land Rover at the time. Hell, the initial release of the LWB labeled the LSE in the UK had to be delayed because of EAS problems.

By 1995 the EAS had become somewhat more reliable but was still no model of perfection. A P38a is an entirely different can of worms as is your sister's DII. I'll say t again. Early EAS systems were problematic and given that this discussion was about Andrew and his interest in returning his 1993 LWB to it's original state, I'll stand by everything I have said in this tread regardless of you holier than thou attitude.

[drg]

Originally Posted by Paul Grant

DRG,
Give me a break!

...

I'm narrow minded and shouldn't own a Rover? Get off you high horse pal.

Easy dude.

"The EAS in early Range Rovers sucked, end of story. "

I'm tired of hearing that old line. It's thrown out by everyone who's ditched EAS for coils. It's also just not true. They didn't simply suck and it's not the end of the story. There's much more story and I gave part of it.

It baffles me why anti-EAS folks are so vehement. It seems to be a religious issue like winches. The folks who've ditched EAS seem very intent on making sure everyone else does. Regret? I'm saying I've kept mine on two Rangies and been glad I did. I'm also saying it's not for everyone, the same way Rovers aren't for everyone, and the same way a series Rover isn't necessarily for the same kind of person that a Rangie is for.

You're taking the "you"s in those statements too personally. The only one that literally meant you, Paul Grant, is that your statement was narrow-minded. And I'll stand by that. It was. I think you're being a little touchy, but then, you can be however you want.

[Paul Grant]

DRG,
First of all, I never ditched the EAS system in my Range Rover. There were no alternatives back in 1994 for converting air bags to coils. I lived with a poorly engineered ("The EAS computer was not designed to be robust" your words) and even more poorly serviced EAS system for almost four years.

I am anti EAS when it comes to reinstalling a system as complex as it is in a thirteen year old truck This was the crux of the question posed by Andrew at the opening of this thread. He was interested in returning the truck to its original state. Can you honestly tell me that that would be a wise proposition for someone to undertake?

I'll stand by my statement regarding coils. Yes, I'll take them any day and not just over EAS but also over leaf springs. So what does that make me? An anti leafer? Please.

I guess I'm also an anti-EFI guy too, since I really enjoy having carburettors in my Range Rover and given the choice between all the Range Rovers I've owned I'd take my '85 with a 4 barrel over any of the EFI Rovers I've had.

I could go on but I've had enough of this nonsense. I don't worship at the alter of coils any more than you partake in the communion of EAS. The bottom line is that it would make absolutely no sense at all for someone like Andrew to revert back to EAS at this point.

Oh, and early 110's had the Boge self leveller as an option.

[RageRover]

Hey Paul, I know how much you dislike re-installing EAS, but I bet you know how to remove the whole thing, and make that damn light go off on my dash? Like some advice on this one. Thanks Paul.

[Paul Grant]

I've never installed, removed or reinstalled any part of an EAS system on a Land Rover. I guess my problem is I'm old school. Ask me about parabolics sometime.

[RageRover]

LOL, I don't even know what parabolics is, although I heard the name somewhere, but don't know what it is. I will ask around who might've removed the EAS system from their RRC.

[c93werdna]

Originally Posted by RageRover

c93werdna, I didn't wanna mislead you, I was gonna correct this error I made earlier today, but looks like Paul has set things straight. The EAS systems I had been acustomed to were on much lighter cars and sedans so that is where I made the assumption that the EAS on the RRs were made with, but I guess not.
:

I know, its cool.. i hope you get those lights to shut off..

Paul,Im wanting to buy a manual for it but couldnt find the HAynes manual I read somewhere about one that would work, minus the EAS section and another section. Which one is it?
I know there is anohter book to get too but where can i get it from?

Thanks for the help everyone! lots of good info.