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[tonyyeb]

My self-levelling has gone awry 

Handling, never all that sparkling on this big heavy car, now absolutely horrible.
Think the pump was working before I pulled fuze 27, but it's made no difference - still sitting up at the back like its had a badly-repaired shunt 
Pump failure?
Can the car be somehow manually wound back down?
What's the worst case scenario financially at a decent independent?

Cheers for any and all advice, chaps and chapesses. 

[Entwood]

Pull one of the airline pipes off the rear shockers .. they are held on by a small clip .. pull it out at 90 degrees to the pipe, then the pipe will pull off, be carefull as the pipe comes off the air will be released and the car will drop !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  MIND YOUR FINGERS/HEAD.

Car will then sit "low" and have reduced shock-absorbing as the air is all gone.

[tunnie]

I'd be tempted to pop the rear of the car on some axel stands, just so when you do that, its not going anywhere.

[joff]

I would hope no one goes under a car without it being on axel stands even if it's on a jack, unless it's on a ramp 

[tunnie]

I would hope no one goes under a car without it being on axel stands even if it's on a jack, unless it's on a ramp 

Eh? You don't need to go under the car to do what Entwood suggests. You can do it from wheel arch outside the car 

[Omega32E]

I have the same problem with mine, what i did was as suggested pull the air pipe off and leave the fuse out. From what I understand the compressor only runs for a short time each time the car is started and not all the time. Therefore as a temp measure each morning I put the fuse back let a little air into the shocks than pull the fuse and leave out till the next day. I suspect on mine that the release valve on the compressor is at fault so the choices seem to be repair or replace (seen them on ebay £20) the compressor (located under the offside front wing held via 3 bolts) or leave the compressor disconnected tie off the air pipes and replace the back shocks with some decent "standard" ones (30 - 40 quid each)

[tonyyeb]

Thanks for all your useful advice, everybody.

So if I just pull it, replace it and leave it, what level of hydraulic assistance will i be losing, and will it start bottoming out over severe dips and speed bumps?

Don't get me wrong, I WILL get it properly sorted, just can't do it just yet....

[Entwood]

Thanks for all your useful advice, everybody.

So if I just pull it, replace it and leave it, what level of hydraulic assistance will i be losing, and will it start bottoming out over severe dips and speed bumps?

Don't get me wrong, I WILL get it properly sorted, just can't do it just yet....

It's not hydraulic assist, its "air" assist ... the basic shocker will still work, but the airbag that adjusts the "mid point" for want of a better word won't. Car wil be fine I guess under normal loads .. but if you load it up it will sag at the back and handle like a female dog ... been there got the t-shirt. Changing the compressor is not difficult, it lives under the front right wing behind the wheel arch cover ... awkward to get into but not difficult.

The pump provides both pressure to raise, and the relief to lower .. IMHO a second hand pump off one of the breakers here is the way to go. Sorted mine out very nicely thank you ... 

Took about an hour and a half to get the old one out and the new one in .. main difficulty was corroded bolts, I ended up taking the whole mounting bracket off then taking the pump off the bracket in the comfort of a work bench !!! (hacksaw job)

HTH

[Pete Elite]

Hi Tony,
          Have you checked to make sure that the adjuster mechanism is working OK and is not stuck in the full height position?

[tonyyeb]

Pete, you need to assume a high level of mechanical ignorance from me, I'm afraid!

Where is the adjuster mechanism, and how would I know if it was actually stuck?

Cheers mate!

[Andy H]

Have you read the guide http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=90617.0 ?

[Pete Elite]

Pete, you need to assume a high level of mechanical ignorance from me, I'm afraid!

Where is the adjuster mechanism, and how would I know if it was actually stuck?

Cheers mate!

As Andy says in his post, click on the link and it will show you where to look

  HTH,
        Pete .