2016 Model X Air Suspension "fun"

[beyerch]

Hi - Looking for some help with diagnosing an air suspension problem. Some time ago, I parked the car @ Target and put suspension to the max height to ensure I wouldn't scrape the bottom on those parking blocks.

When I got back in the car, I started driving off and set the suspension to "normal" height. Ever since this, the car has not been behaving correctly and I will get errors if I try to adjust the suspension. As my typical trip to Tesla service turns into a game of replace a bunch of parts, and get a large bill, I wanted to do some diagnosing on my end first.

I got ahold of Toolbox 3 recently and took a look around. Running the solenoid check seemed to indicate all was well. (Though I'm not really sure if it actually tested anything....) The pressure readings seemed to be in alignment with the height of each corner. (e.g. front is sitting higher and had higher pressure which seems to correlate)

With the help of a local mobile tech, we used the Tesla tool to try and recalibrate the ride height calibrations. When entering the measured values, the processed FAILED with a statement that the Measured Height (TAS) vs. Measured Height (Technician) were not within tolerance. Of course nowhere is a tolerance specified... *sigh*

TAS readings were:
- FL : 260
- FR: 268
- RL : 193
- LR : 196

(NOTE: These make sense as the car *IS* sitting higher in the front than the rear right now and our measurements were similar)

Oddly, when going to the Read Ride Height Calibration Action in Toolbox 3 we get an error:
Exception "KeyError" args : "TAS_HEIGHT_SENSOR_OFFSET_FL"

This *feels like* it is having trouble reading a value from this sensor.

There is also an active alert stating: "TAS_a210_outOfRangeCalibration" - Received ride height sensor calibration values are outside of allowable range.

Two questions:
- Anyone have this situation before? If so, what was root cause / how was this resolved.
- Is there any tool that I can use to attempt to manually control the solenoids to individual lower corners *AND/OR* view ride height sensor data in real-time? Toolbox 3 doesn't seem to have a live data viewer. It does have a "deflate" option; however, it looks like it will just dump all the air and I really just want to try and incrementally lower the corner. If someone has CAN commands for this, that would be super helpful as well. Perhaps there is something to specify a target solenoid pressure?

 

[brainhouston]

Didn't have this but caught my attention since I'm currently fixing 16 MX...
Just throwing ideas, have you checked all level sensors to see if they all physically connected and nothing looks abnormal?
If you can change height with tool/manually or dump all air and maybe check if values change (even if not live) to see if maybe one sensor is "stuck"?
Hope someone else got more ideas/info...

 

[beyerch]

Didn't have this but caught my attention since I'm currently fixing 16 MX...
Just throwing ideas, have you checked all level sensors to see if they all physically connected and nothing looks abnormal?
If you can change height with tool/manually or dump all air and maybe check if values change (even if not live) to see if maybe one sensor is "stuck"?
Hope someone else got more ideas/info...

Yeah, I'm going to start looking at sensors this week. The toolbox software is annoying since I would LOVE to be able to tell it to set a corner to a given pressure and/or height. Only option is "deflate" which appears to drop it all the way. Not sure if I want to do that since the car doesn't seem to adjust automatically and then I'd be stuck. The "inflate" option appears to require a nitrogen tank to be connect as well.

Seems odd that there isn't some type of manual control to slightly raise / lower as this would help me to verify that ride height sensor(s) is working or not. I'm hoping it is a sensor, but no straight forward way to test them. Since rears seem to be adjusting and fronts stuck high, guessing something upfront so I'll start there.

 

[EbS-P]

Yeah, I'm going to start looking at sensors this week. The toolbox software is annoying since I would LOVE to be able to tell it to set a corner to a given pressure and/or height. Only option is "deflate" which appears to drop it all the way. Not sure if I want to do that since the car doesn't seem to adjust automatically and then I'd be stuck. The "inflate" option appears to require a nitrogen tank to be connect as well.

Seems odd that there isn't some type of manual control to slightly raise / lower as this would help me to verify that ride height sensor(s) is working or not. I'm hoping it is a sensor, but no straight forward way to test them. Since rears seem to be adjusting and fronts stuck high, guessing something upfront so I'll start there.

Adjustable ride height links would give you some ability to manually test the sensors. There are cheap ones available and it’s a 10 minute swap. The sensor bracket is not very robust.

 

[ngng]

Are the sensors side specific? If not, swap them and see if the issue manifests itselfmon the other corner.

 

[beyerch]

@ngng / @EbS-P

The problem is that the tool (Toolbox 3) really isn't giving me any way to read the values from the sensors. Additionally, the error messages have NOT been specific to a sensor/corner. The *one* piece of TB3 functionality which returned an error on a specific corner is apparently buggy/defective and doesn't work right.

Visually inspecting the car, doesn't really help much either as it looks like sensors are in place. The ride heights are off in varying corners so it isn't obvious that it is failing in just one spot either. Very frustrating all around.

Going to start tearing it down later today and looks for anything obvious and go from there.

Going to try and get toolbox 2 to work on this thing as that at least appears to show some CAN messages that might be able to read individual sensor heights.

The lack of good diagnostic software is making this task far more difficult than it needs to be.

 

[MobileClimate]

the spec is 258 front 189 rear you have to be within 5 mm try entering that that after doing a reset calibration on the normal level cycle thru height levels ..dont reset calibration do another set calibration and put in the actual the ride height again at normal level .... the fr and lr reading is causing the error

 

[ngng]

@ngng / @EbS-P

The problem is that the tool (Toolbox 3) really isn't giving me any way to read the values from the sensors. Additionally, the error messages have NOT been specific to a sensor/corner. The *one* piece of TB3 functionality which returned an error on a specific corner is apparently buggy/defective and doesn't work right.

Visually inspecting the car, doesn't really help much either as it looks like sensors are in place. The ride heights are off in varying corners so it isn't obvious that it is failing in just one spot either. Very frustrating all around.

Going to start tearing it down later today and looks for anything obvious and go from there.

Going to try and get toolbox 2 to work on this thing as that at least appears to show some CAN messages that might be able to read individual sensor heights.

The lack of good diagnostic software is making this task far more difficult than it needs to be.

The toolbox side is outta my wheelhouse, sorry! But, please report back with your findings.

 

[beyerch]

the spec is 258 front 189 rear you have to be within 5 mm try entering that that after doing a reset calibration on the normal level cycle thru height levels ..dont reset calibration do another set calibration and put in the actual the ride height again at normal level .... the fr and lr reading is causing the error

Ok, so let me repeat this back to see if I"m understanding:

1 - Reset Calibration
2 - Cycle through ride heights and end up on "Normal". (NOTE: Currently the car *fails* to adjust due to whatever issue is going on)
3 - Try setting to 258 / 189
? - Cycle again
? - Check actual settings and enter (assuming they are within 5mm)

 

[MobileClimate]

reset calibration Put the 258 and 189 use the set calibration operation in at std height cycle thru heights get back too std height ..then reset the calibration again cycle thru heights then put in actual readings at the std height use the set calibration operation cycle thru the levels again and then check at std agin ..it should be within 5 mm ...use the check level operation

 

[Big Diesel]

Hi - Looking for some help with diagnosing an air suspension problem. Some time ago, I parked the car @ Target and put suspension to the max height to ensure I wouldn't scrape the bottom on those parking blocks.

When I got back in the car, I started driving off and set the suspension to "normal" height. Ever since this, the car has not been behaving correctly and I will get errors if I try to adjust the suspension. As my typical trip to Tesla service turns into a game of replace a bunch of parts, and get a large bill, I wanted to do some diagnosing on my end first.

I got ahold of Toolbox 3 recently and took a look around. Running the solenoid check seemed to indicate all was well. (Though I'm not really sure if it actually tested anything....) The pressure readings seemed to be in alignment with the height of each corner. (e.g. front is sitting higher and had higher pressure which seems to correlate)

With the help of a local mobile tech, we used the Tesla tool to try and recalibrate the ride height calibrations. When entering the measured values, the processed FAILED with a statement that the Measured Height (TAS) vs. Measured Height (Technician) were not within tolerance. Of course nowhere is a tolerance specified... *sigh*

TAS readings were:
- FL : 260
- FR: 268
- RL : 193
- LR : 196

(NOTE: These make sense as the car *IS* sitting higher in the front than the rear right now and our measurements were similar)

Oddly, when going to the Read Ride Height Calibration Action in Toolbox 3 we get an error:
Exception "KeyError" args : "TAS_HEIGHT_SENSOR_OFFSET_FL"

This *feels like* it is having trouble reading a value from this sensor.

There is also an active alert stating: "TAS_a210_outOfRangeCalibration" - Received ride height sensor calibration values are outside of allowable range.

Two questions:
- Anyone have this situation before? If so, what was root cause / how was this resolved.
- Is there any tool that I can use to attempt to manually control the solenoids to individual lower corners *AND/OR* view ride height sensor data in real-time? Toolbox 3 doesn't seem to have a live data viewer. It does have a "deflate" option; however, it looks like it will just dump all the air and I really just want to try and incrementally lower the corner. If someone has CAN commands for this, that would be super helpful as well. Perhaps there is something to specify a target solenoid pressure?

I’m currently dealing with the “let’s keep replacing stuff till we find the problem approach” for our 2019 Model S air suspension. First it was a leak in the air hose because it was rubbing on a metal line. Apparently that led to moisture dripping on the solenoid and it failed. Then they replaced the compressor because it was overworked due to the leak. Still not resolved… who knows! What I do believe is that the hose routing is a design flaw that led to all of this. All I hear is $$$$$. If it gets resolved I’ll update you.

 

[MobileClimate]

I’m currently dealing with the “let’s keep replacing stuff till we find the problem approach” for our 2019 Model S air suspension. First it was a leak in the air hose because it was rubbing on a metal line. Apparently that led to moisture dripping on the solenoid and it failed. Then they replaced the compressor because it was overworked due to the leak. Still not resolved… who knows! What I do believe is that the hose routing is a design flaw that led to all of this. All I hear is $$$$$. If it gets resolved I’ll update you.

I have over 25 years experience with mobile hvac leak checking so leak checking these springs with nitrogen is super easy they just need to use there ac gauges to watch for pressure drop and use soap and water for leak checking it's not rocket science

 

[Big Diesel]

I have over 25 years experience with mobile hvac leak checking so leak checking these springs with nitrogen is super easy they just need to use there ac gauges to watch for pressure drop and use soap and water for leak checking it's not rocket science

Well apparently for them it is. I agree, a pressure check isn’t hard!

 

[MobileClimate]

Well apparently for them it is. I agree, a pressure check isn’t hard!

They dont want to replace a spring but the raven suspension has a buelltin on the fitting that goes into spring is stripped and needs the spring replaced

 

[BenG9193]

Yeah, I'm going to start looking at sensors this week. The toolbox software is annoying since I would LOVE to be able to tell it to set a corner to a given pressure and/or height. Only option is "deflate" which appears to drop it all the way. Not sure if I want to do that since the car doesn't seem to adjust automatically and then I'd be stuck. The "inflate" option appears to require a nitrogen tank to be connect as well.

Seems odd that there isn't some type of manual control to slightly raise / lower as this would help me to verify that ride height sensor(s) is working or not. I'm hoping it is a sensor, but no straight forward way to test them. Since rears seem to be adjusting and fronts stuck high, guessing something upfront so I'll start there.

I hear you about being afraid to hit “deflate”. I’m trying to get a salvage 2016 mod X going, and the suspension system is “not available” - it is completely slammed, speed limited, and very bouncy/rough - until I can get the system to inflate, the car is useless. So if yours is drivable as is, I’d be super hesitant to deflate, for fear it might not re-inflate, then you’re stuck where I am. If anyone reads this thread and can help me at all, I’d appreciate it.

 

[brainhouston]

I hear you about being afraid to hit “deflate”. I’m trying to get a salvage 2016 mod X going, and the suspension system is “not available” - it is completely slammed, speed limited, and very bouncy/rough - until I can get the system to inflate, the car is useless. So if yours is drivable as is, I’d be super hesitant to deflate, for fear it might not re-inflate, then you’re stuck where I am. If anyone reads this thread and can help me at all, I’d appreciate it.

Where is it say "not available"? in ToolBox?
I know TASS stores codes so if there's a code there it won't turn on Air compressor till u clear it
Mine didn't have codes so it worked fine after fixing suspension.
I read on here that u can clear it with Tcan Pro or Toolbox2, not sure about ToolBox3...