Problem w/ lifting system

Hi all, looks like the problem for lifting system is back.   I first had problem w/ the lifting system about 5yrs ago.   When I pressed the button, the lifting system 'light' would just blink continuously whereas NORMALLY it would flash for a while then stays on once the lifting is completed.   We fixed it by getting a new set of min max sensors back then.

Last weekend, the lifting system light flashed continuously upon pressing the button when i was entering the carpark.   After I parked, switched off and on again, I noticed the lifting system light is OFF.   Pressing the button seems to make no difference at all.   BUT I believe the car is in lifted mode.     I drove the car slowly back home.    Returned to the car the next day, same situation.   light is off, pressing the button seem to do nothing AND I believe the car is still lifted.     I took the measurement this time, the distance between the highest point of the wheel and highest point of the front wheel arch is abt 10cm, between the bottom most point of the wheel and the highest point of the front wheel arch is abt. 60.5cm.     The car is fitted w/ factory 17" wheel/tire setup.  

Any one of you experienced stuck lifting system like this?   More importantly, if I drive it to the dealer, would it cause any further damage or am I better off flat bedding the car to dealer? 

The car is a 2003 Murcielago w/ 6 speed.  Sorry 4 leaving that out.     Factory stock mechanically.  

How far are you from your local dealer? Might be worth a call to it’s service department to make sure it’s fine to drive in lifted mode to them. 

I don’t recall ever hearing of someone having it stuck in the lifted position. 

 

I'll offer a consumer opinion based on my understanding.

The lift system is activated/ increased by the amount of oil in the shock.

That oil is now be held in place by a check valve.

The shock in lift mode has no fluid movement....could say it is just a closed cylinder filled with oil.

IMO any suspension travel/  movement will bring excess pressure of the oil against the shock body seals.

Yes, best, ask local dealer for advice.

Conservatively  I would flat bed.

And good luck!

 

 

The car is a 2003 Murcielago w/ 6 speed.  Sorry 4 leaving that out.     Factory stock mechanically.  

Actually can anyone confirm w/ my measurement above whether my car is indeed in lifted mode or not?  

Only because I made this mistake once, make sure you're pressing the right button to lower the lift system. All the buttons around the shifter kida look the same, and I was not thinking clearly that day so I was worried my car was stuck in the up position. It wasn't.

Aside from that, if you're handy, you could use the bleed nipple behind the trunk wall to release the pressure and then see if it stays down. It would be much better to have the lift down to drive it to the dealer so you don't do anything to hurt the shocks.

Here's how you do that courtesy of whiteout:

https://lambodiy.blogspot.com/p/nose-lift-power-steering-fluid-flush.html

Sorry just realized typo above, I'm using stock 18" wheel/tires setup.  

If you release the bleed-nipple to lower the mechanism, be vary careful as this will be at much higher pressure than normally intended (1500 vs 250 psi from what I remember, might be wrong...).  Anyway, I'd recommend using one hand to push and keep the drain hose on the nipple, while you slowly crack the nipple open with the other. 

I seemed to have the exact same problem today.

 

The car lifted/went down ok, I tried to drain the air bleed, strange stuff happened.. as fluid kinda went low and stopped FROM THE OPENED AIR BLEED on a running car.

What I noticed as well was that with from lifted, the steering was heavy as fk, but as it went down, it was great again.

 

I did a test drive, lift doesn’t work anymore just flashing. The way it sits seems a bit high, but like 1/2 of what I expected.

Sounds like power steering fluid is low. When lift up, fluid is in front shocks. When lift down, power steering fluid returned to reservoir. Would explain steering symptoms.

On 8/6/2019 at 10:51 AM, chucklehead said:

Sounds like power steering fluid is low. When lift up, fluid is in front shocks. When lift down, power steering fluid returned to reservoir. Would explain steering symptoms.

So the lift system uses the power steering fluid as well on a shared system? Learn something new everyday.