The DiscoDavis Discovery 3 Build Thread

[DiscoDavis]

I don't have those slits.
Shall take pictures and email safari to see about getting one with the slits.
I'm not sure how old mine is. No identity markings on it to age it, the website shows heads with the slits so must be a few years old at least but was never opened.

Yeah, I think it will be the 1000 yard state into the distance that gives them away.
Seen things that others haven't. Lol.

Yup, I think I could have went smaller still with the holes, say 10mm but it's on and I can rock the car with it, so it's proper solid.
Mine is getting its under armour fitted on the 18th.

Best of luck to you there. I figure it's down to how long a vendor has had a batch in stock. Since you've noted one difference, let me ask you: did your threaded studs that screw the snorkel base to the body panel have allen key cutouts in one end? I saw an older safari video where the threaded studs were tightened into the snorkel body with an allen key, but when I got mine it had no hex/allen cutouts, they just hand-tightened in.

Yes agree with you there these things are surprisingly solid. Glad I did not go the chinese knockoff way.

 

[DiscoDavis]

EAS switch update

Ran the switches in the truck for a few weeks to make sure they worked and did not interfere with anything else, now it was time to adjust the location.

MAIN switch (F26E)

Opening both covers got old, fast. Used the step bits from the snorkel install to make a perfect-sized hole for the switch to fit through.

Just drilled each step, deburred and checked for fit. I forget what diameter was best but each step up was in 2mm increments

That way the wiring will be protected by both covers, and the switch can be actuated from the engine compartment (IE hood open).

As noted, a hole was drilled in an empty spot in the wall of the fuse box. I wanted simple, clean holes that I could blank off if I removed the switch assy. later.

Had to make a wiring extension so replaced the U-shaped ends with round ones that were exactly sized to the screw-down terminals of the toggle switch. Opposite ends were wire-crimps with shrink tubing.

Switch fitted. ON position denotes EAS-ON, or LIVE. OFF position denotes EAS-OFF, or SAFE/INACTIVE (photo shown of the EAS-OFF position)
The switch fit snugly in the hole, and the two threaded nuts were tightened down to clamp the switch to the plastic wall. Nice and solid.

Now just open the hood and flip the switch to disable the EAS (photo shown of the EAS-ON position)

AUX switch (F35P)

installed in glovebox

left enough wiring to reach through into the glovebox

temporary mounting point. Since moved into the glovebox and left to sit behind everything. In the position pictured it would keep triggering suspension faults but the wiring was fine. In a stationary position it does not bother anything. Harder to get to, looking for a permanent home.

 

[Colin Hughes]

So if EAS goes into fault mode, flicking the switch will keep the truck from dropping? Sounds simple and ingenious.

 

[DiscoDavis]

So if EAS goes into fault mode, flicking the switch will keep the truck from dropping? Sounds simple and ingenious.

In short, yes. However if you got a fault you would have to be pretty johnny-on-the-spot with hitting the switch (F35P is good enough to stop a fault from dropping the truck). I imagine most of the use will be limiting the fault, or getting the EAS system to run long enough to fill the airbags, but cutting power to it before it faults again. The problem is putting the cutoff switch for F35P in a place that is easy to reach but hard to accidentally press the switch.

I want to figure out a way to manually cycle the compressor to pressurize the valve blocks. Might be too complicated.

 

[PhyrraM]

.....I want to figure out a way to manually cycle the compressor to pressurize the valve blocks. Might be too complicated.

Things I have done in the past....

Open relay and jam contact together with paper, wood, etc...

Make a 'jumper' relay with permanently closed contacts that can be swapped for a working relay to energize a circuit. (or jumper wire)

Make a relay with an external switch that jumps the contacts when the switch is thrown. Keeps you from having to pull hard to reach relays when swapping to a jumper relay.

Drill a strategic access hole in relay case so that a small pen or paperclip can manually close the contacts when inserted.

 

[DiscoDavis]

Things I have done in the past....

Open relay and jam contact together with paper, wood, etc...

Make a 'jumper' relay with permanently closed contacts that can be swapped for a working relay to energize a circuit. (or jumper wire)

Make a relay with an external switch that jumps the contacts when the switch is thrown. Keeps you from having to pull hard to reach relays when swapping to a jumper relay.

Drill a strategic access hole in relay case so that a small pen or paperclip can manually close the contacts when inserted.

You must be my fairy godmother of wiring solutions :coffeedrink:, this is perfect timing.

School me on this:
>Is the jumper just a wire with to blade contacts in the place of the relay?
>Would it be practical to wire out a second switch for that relay?
>Does the relay get constant power and all that is needed is to close the connection between the two contacts?

I am guessing the switch's function would be the opposite of the other fuse loops, I would close the circuit when I needed to power the compressor.
>Would manually powering the compressor work if the rest of the system is shut off?

So many questions!

I am envisioning depowering the EAS to diagnose, then manually actuating the compressor and allowing power to the EAS for a period of time until I have enough air in the suspension (assuming it had dropped/faulted).

 

[DiscoDavis]

More F26E switch stuff

Since the toggle is somewhat exposed outside the box I thought this was more appropriate

Found little rubber caps for toggles that thread onto the switch, bought 10

Still need to find a labelmaker to make this switch more user-friendly

 

[PhyrraM]

...>Is the jumper just a wire with to blade contacts in the place of the relay?

It can be, yes. Pull the relay and place a wire (with the proper size spades) across the larger two terminals. This replicates the function of the relay.

>Would it be practical to wire out a second switch for that relay?

Maybe. If you wish to add a second wire (and switch) to the 'signal' side of the relay you need to be careful not to backfeed the original signal circuit (usually a computer output). That is why I prefer to bridge the contacts.

Open the relay and look for the contacts. They are the large round "dot" near the top front and a hidden one directly facing it in the picture below. Solder a piece of wire to the metal that touches each 'dot'. Solder near the base so the movement of the relay is not effected. Route the wires in a safe way out of the relay, again making sure that the movement is not impeded. Once your happy with the with your wires, install a switch to the wires and route/mount to your desires. I would look for a high temp wire and keep in mind the compressor can pull 30 amps.

relay by phyrram, on Flickr

>Does the relay get constant power and all that is needed is to close the connection between the two contacts?

According to the wiring diagram, yup. The circuit is straight from the battery with only a 60 amp fuse and the relay between.

I am guessing the switch's function would be the opposite of the other fuse loops, I would close the circuit when I needed to power the compressor.

Exactly. Just find a way that is acceptable to you that either bypasses (jumps) the relay or activates it manually. The contacts themselves are a purely mechanical device that can be manipulated with some effort and creativity.

>Would manually powering the compressor work if the rest of the system is shut off?

Yes, but there will be no control. No watching the pressure, temperature or battery voltage for safety.

I am envisioning depowering the EAS to diagnose, then manually actuating the compressor and allowing power to the EAS for a period of time until I have enough air in the suspension (assuming it had dropped/faulted).

Sounds reasonable.

 

[zelatore]

One fly in the ointment - just running the compressor won't lift the truck. You still need to control the valves front/rear.

I found this out a couple years ago when a friend's LR4 failed at White Rock Lake. I pulled the relay and manually ran the compressor with a jumper wire but it didn't allow for opening the valves to the struts to actually inflate them.

Green Oval Experience of AU has a manual inflation kit - I have it but never installed it. I've used it on that same LR4 (he installed it after this) but without success. I believe it was incorrectly installed and I haven't checked up with him to see if it's been sorted since. That kit lets you use an outside compressor to inflate each corner separately but his ARB compressor couldn't lift the truck. Again, I believe there was something amiss in the plumbing of the kit though.

The easy solution (if not cheap)? GAP iiD tool. It will let you raise/lower each corner and lock it at a given height so the computers can't drop it down.

Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of the GAP tool? :sombrero:

 

[A.J.M]

There was no cut outs or such on the threaded studs for mine.

I did them up finger tight. I don't see there being a problem with them.
Never seen a guide or such with the Allen key stuff.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Sold on the Gap iiD tool completely now!

One fly in the ointment - just running the compressor won't lift the truck. You still need to control the valves front/rear.

I found this out a couple years ago when a friend's LR4 failed at White Rock Lake. I pulled the relay and manually ran the compressor with a jumper wire but it didn't allow for opening the valves to the struts to actually inflate them.

Green Oval Experience of AU has a manual inflation kit - I have it but never installed it. I've used it on that same LR4 (he installed it after this) but without success. I believe it was incorrectly installed and I haven't checked up with him to see if it's been sorted since. That kit lets you use an outside compressor to inflate each corner separately but his ARB compressor couldn't lift the truck. Again, I believe there was something amiss in the plumbing of the kit though.

The easy solution (if not cheap)? GAP iiD tool. It will let you raise/lower each corner and lock it at a given height so the computers can't drop it down.

Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of the GAP tool? :sombrero:

 

[Victory_Overland]

Sold on the Gap iiD tool completely now!

Yep, mines on the way. Ordered it a few days ago.

 

[Bama4door]

The easy solution (if not cheap)? GAP iiD tool. It will let you raise/lower each corner and lock it at a given height so the computers can't drop it down.

Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of the GAP tool? :sombrero:

So even if the truck throws a fault code, the EAS will not lower the truck if you have the iiD tool set to lock each corner/valve blocks?

 

[zelatore]

Not quite. You would have to catch it soon enough, which would be very difficult to do.

The more likely scenario is that you have an error which throws everything out of whack, but the compressor still functions. The car will throw up a fault and then may lower itself to its bump stops. Then, it won't raise or respond to the height selector lever because of the fault. In this situation, you would normally be stuck on your bump stops and have to call a tow truck or drive very slowly. If you have an IID tool however, you can plug it in, then tell it to put the suspension into "build mode". This effectively isolates the mechanics from the computer or perhaps just turns the computer/ECU off. At this point, you can then tell the IID tool what height you'd like each corner to be at and (assuming your compressor isn't mechanically broken) it will raise the car up to that height. As long as you don't take the IID tool out of build mode, you can drive it like this. You will still have your red warning on the dash, but the car will no longer drop to its bump stops.

That pretty much sums it up.

As long as the mechanical bits are still functional the GAP tool can take manual control and get it back up. Of course if you've actually broken a line/bag/compressor nothing short of the Green Oval kit is going to help (and even that won't sort a bad bag or line broken at the wrong point) but luckily most suspension faults on the LR3 seem to be sensor/computer errors and not actual hard part failures. The basic mechanics of the system seem fairly robust, it's just the monitoring/control systems that give you grief more often than not.

 

[DiscoDavis]

PhyrraM, thanks for the insight! This may have to go on the to-do list

One fly in the ointment - just running the compressor won't lift the truck. You still need to control the valves front/rear.

You are correct, I cannot imagine getting air past the valve blocks. I would have to power the whole system looks like, GAP tool aside. Hopefully I won't have to use the mechanical shutoff beyond fording and jacking

Have I mentioned that I'm a fan of the GAP tool? :sombrero:

Don, your GAP fandom is closely followed by my own :rally_guys: We should really get some kickbacks from Patrick for all the evangelizing *er* advertising we do on the forums, not counting all the folks who in turn converted *cough* convinced me to get one