chamonixvt

Hoping someone out there can point me in a right direction towards trouble shooting a suspension problem. Recently the air suspension started developing problems raising up with the yellow dash light coming on and the suspension not going up.

I opted to start seeking to repair by replacing the air compressor since I understand this often fails. Replaced with one from Arnott and followed the supplied instructions.

Now I have a new problem, the yellow warning light on the dash is on constantly, the lights on the dash for raising and lowering the suspension do are not on, and the new compressor does not work. I'm at a loss. Help

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

2001 Audi Allroad 6sp

ar-Rings

Your location? A vag-com cable? Does it have power to it?

chamonixvt

I'm assuming you mean what height location - any. The air compressor seems to have been running often lately. I think the overheat safety would then kick in and shut it off. The other day, the warning light on the instrument panel came on and stayed on so I assumed the air compressor failed as it had been making quite a bit of noise lately.

Taking it apart/out again tonight and checking all connections to see if something came loose in the process of putting the new one in or it I knocked something nearby in the process. Will also test for power with a tester.

One other item, and likely not connected, but in the process of getting it to a buddy's garage to work on the warning light on the dash for the headlight movement function came on - any connection?

Thanks for the reply.

ar-Rings

if you do not have a vag-com cable, someone in your local that has a Ross Tech cable may run a scan for you. If you were nearby I would. Yes on the h/lamp leveling sensor, I believe one can affwct the other, ALTHOUGH someone else would be better to confirm that. I (knocking very hard on wood (yet again) have not ran into this problem).

paulroad

The headlight warning like this (level sensor) can be related to the suspension issue. DON'T even look to solve the headlight issue until the compressor and suspension are all resolved.

Did you swap the thermal safty from your original compressor to the new one?

Did you splice the wires as indicated?

Likely a connection was done wrong or the plug is bad.

Did you put the car in JACK MODE prior to the work?

Do you have a VAG COM cable and laptop?

chamonixvt

_________________

yes to the above, except VAG COM cable - don't have one. After some time testing for power to the compressor we discovered a bad connector and repaired. Once this was connector was fixed the compressor kicked in and suspension started working. I guess it is on to the headlight error now.

Another question, I've read a little about the slime in the air spring fixing leaks - does this really work? what is the risk of the slime getting into the system and plugging up a line? Drivers side rear leak may be the cause of the compressor working overtime and was wondering what the potential risks are - anyone have any insight?

Thanks for the help, greatly appreciated.

Cheers

mihaiherlea

I did that with a flat tire repair foam, works perfectly with the front air spring because the air conection is in the upper part of the bladder and the foam finally turns into a liquid and settels down and there is no way that that liquid can go up into the air hose. I used the allroad this way for about 2 months or more until I recived 2 new airsprings from Arnott (it took this much time because I'm from Roamnia). Before removing the old repaired one I checked it and there were absolutely no leaks! If some of you are going to do this repair you must be carefull not to leave any foam in the airspring, you must squeeze the bladder with your hand several times so the excess foam comes out and you must wait for the remaining foam to settle for an hour or two before reconecting the air line.
Unfortunately you cannot use this method for the rear air spring because the air conection is in the lower part of the air spring and the foam will eventually plug the air line or the valve unit. Unless you can find a way to prolongue the air lines inside the bladder so they can sit in the middle or upper part of it, my advice is not to try it (I tried it in my left rear and managed to plug one valve and needed to replace the whole block).

unirok

My car is doing the same thing. Seems to go up and down okay and the pump does not stay on. Let me know if you figure out the problem. thx

Chris

chamonixvt

mihaiherlea - thanks for the information on the slime repair information. After taking a longer look I decided it was not the best approach for the rear for the reason you state on the air supply. I've ordered the replacement from Arnott and will swap it out, although given the problems with the compressor below I may just spend a few extra bucks and go for the conversion kit...


As for the air suspension problem, I wish I could figure this out. Put in the new Arnott compressor and then had the electrical problem to the unit. Got it up on a lift tonight trying to figure out the electrical issue - found a broken wire in the plug. Figured this was an easy fix and the culprit - it wasn't.

Decided to bench test the compressor since all wires appeared to be sound - using a tester we could get the compressor to run only to have it trip the breaker.

Could there be a short in the compressor itself? Since Arnott isn't open until morning I figured I'd try the group here. Could it be a bad unit?

Thanks