An Arnage rear shock, note the grey lump half way up on the left, this is the solenoid block with the socket at the bottom. This gets dirty, if the connection here is bad you get intermittent auto ride control errors. It seems to be a fairly common problem.
Ever since I have owned Betty the Bentley I have had intermittent auto ride control errors come up on the information screen, usually accompanied by the suspension going really stiff. A bit of research suggested that the stiffness was because any time the controller detects a problem it selects the stiffest mode - the shocks are electronically controlled by 2 solenoids on each unit. I had read that the controller takes inputs from various devices but I couldn't find a definitive list of what inputs were used to decide the shock settings. Obviously the sport switch is involved, I assume the ride height sensor is and the speed detections system, I would imagine there is some sort of feedback from the shocks too.
My first port of call these days tends to be a facebook group called Bentley Arnage Efups and Fixes, there are quite a few long term owners and mechanics on there who are as helpful as they are knowledgeable. I asked the question and several people all came back with the same answer - remove the plugs from the shocks, clean the pins and put them back. There is a single plug with 3 or 4 wires that plugs in to the bottom of the solenoid block, it is covered by a rubber protective tube that keeps dirt and moisture away, it is a bit of a fiddle to get it over the plug, especially when you are lying on your back trying to reach it. The plug has a single locking lever that needs to be pressed in, it then pulls off quite easily - only pull the plug and not the very thin wires.
Use a good quality electrical contact cleaner and spray both the plug and socket, let it dry and then reassemble, remembering to put the rubber cover back in place. On my car the plug on the driver's side came out when I withdrew the cover, which suggests it was not reconnected correctly by somebody at some time. The cover also had a cable tie over it so I suspect somebody has been in there before me.
As it's an intermittent fault that can go several days without occurring it's impossible to say at this stage that it is definitely fixed but many other people report that the same fault on there car has not returned for months or years after doing the same thing. One contributor suggested that the problem often happens after the car is jacked up or put on a lift for an MoT as the wires are quite short and they can get displaced when stretched. That kind of makes sense as it started happening more often after I did the drop links, which required jacking the car up.
The big problem with these cars is you can't talk to the controllers that sit behind the main ECU, my example is now 28 years old and the tech needed to read it was never common place and only available to Bentley dealers. The proper reader would be several thousand pounds if you could find one and nobody in their right mind is going to take the time to develop a reader that would only sell a handful of units. The number of people that know what protocol would be required probably number less than 5 and I don't know who they are. I would love to know because I am daft enough to give it a go.
In conclusion, if you have intermittent auto ride control errors this is where to start, thanks to the guys on Bentley Arnage Efups and Fixes, that's another problem that appears to be fixed, the only thing that remains now is the seat memory modules, I think the batteries need replacing.
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