I've seen Mr. Glasscock's post about the Ford compressor, but did he actually put one in? It wasn't clear if he was just speculating about it or if he actually did install the Ford compressor. What sort of faults accumulate without the temperature sensor? I know that the LR3 monitors the temperature sensor and perhaps that harness also sends other key information.
I've done the schrader valve conversion on the air tank. I got the idea from bbyer, a member on this forum. He has
pics and a detailed description in his disco3 gallery. I put the schrader valve on last year when my compressor died; the LR3 was on the bumpstops and I was hoping that filling the air tank would cause the LR3 to rise. It wasn't really successful for a number of reasons. The air tank has a nominal pressure of something like 215 psi. Other than the factory suspension compressor, I don't have access to anything that could fill the air tank to that psi. I was able to fill the air tank to about 145 psi using my standalone compressor. I then tried raising the vehicle. In some cases that back would rise but not the front. In most cases neither the back or the front would raise. After refilling the air tank a million times and trying to raise the vehicle, I finally was able to get both the front and back to rise. I then pulled the suspension fuses to ensure that the vehicle didn't lower. This kept the vehicle up for a few days, while I waited for my replacement compressor to come in the mail, but then the vehicle started sagging. I think I tried getting the vehicle to rise again by refilling the air tank, but at that point it was too much of a hassle to go through the whole procedure again, and I think I just resigned to waiting for the new compressor to arrive. I wonder if the vehicle would have consistently raised if I was able to get more pressure into the air tank.
There is a company called Faskit that makes a different type of air tank bypass (I also saw this in bbyer's gallery). Their product basically interfaces directly with the four air bags. You can connect your outboard air compressor directly to their unit, and by flipping the appropriate switch, you choose which air bag you want to fill. It looked like a good idea.