Suspension - Replaced airbags and car sitting low on left hand side

[r7ehw]

Hi,

I had a faulty rear airbag on rear near side of my 2001 c5 Audi Allroad 2.7T a few months back and very pleased with myself replaced the defective bag for an Arnott Gen 1 bag. All good.

Recently developed a leak on the front drivers side bag and decided to get my local garage to replace both fronts and whilst at it the remaining rear bag which will give me the full set of new bags. I also replaced the compressor about 12 months ago.

Anyway the garage are having problems having changed the 3 bags as the near side of the car is sitting lower and will not sit up to same same ride height as drivers side. Can anyone with expertise in this area please advise of next step.

Thanks in advance.

Russell

ps. 1 thought of mine is that new airbags might not have sealed onto dampers properly, although trusting the garage that this is not the issue.
pps. They have run VAG software and all showing okay.
ppps. All ride height sensors were working okay before it went in

[skyegtb]

When I replaced all the bags on my car I noted that it was much lower at level 1 than before doing the work. I did the '402' mod to adjust the height of all 4 corners back to spec and it has remained perfect since doing this. I put the difference down to the fact that the new bags I fitted were non-genuine (Chinese up front and Arnott at the rear). Google '402 mod' for instructions on how to do this - your garage should be able to do the same easily.

[bagpipingandy]

Is the new airbags filling with air and the car is just not level? or is there no air going into the airbags?

if no air and car does not lift at that corner check o-rings are fitted correctly,

if the car does lift up on each corner it is just not level, and it can lift through all levels and it sits the same amount of lean at each level it can be calibrated as the 402 info above,

this can happen if they disturb/remove and refit the level sensors,

DO NOT CALIBRATE IT if the car cannot achieve level 2, ONLY use the calibration is there is no errors present,

best regards

Andy

[r7ehw]

Thanks Skyegtb and Andy. Just been to see the garage and my car and they are still struggling.

I've started the car and it is apparent that the car is not lifting on the nearside at all. Now the rear near side was fine before it went in, ( I replaced this 6 months ago) and so I am surprised that one isn't lifting but I have asked them to strip back and check the front and to confirm that it does not have a leak as that's one they have replaced. The mechanic said it was hard and so it was fine. From memory if the bag is hard is insufficient to test if it has a leak and so I hope that by going down that route it will resolve the issue. I've asked them to fully check the seal around the airbag to the damper.

Question 1, though is will that stop rear from rising as I would have expected that one to rise, and why is whole near side not lifting?

Question 2, If they have done the leveling job without the nearside lifting and being in position 2 what effect will that have and how can that be resolved?

Question 3, any other ideas suggestions? they are happy sensors are working, I've told them I'm happy with the compressor, I had mine off you (Andy) about a year ago and you can hear it running and it sounds sweet. They have suggested distribution block may need changing but then that was fine before it went in and I am loathed to throw money at parts without being sure it is the real issue.

[r7ehw]

OK Update. Now tested and no leaks but valve block not putting air out to near side of car at all.

I need a new valve block - anyone help me here?

Is it safe to go used?

Thanks

[bagpipingandy]

If no air is coming out hose to near side its either valve block or level sensor telling the car it doesn't need air.

make sure level sensors are fitted correctly on nearside, get your head in there and make sure they are clipped onto lower suspension arm and make sure front one the black arm points backwards and not forwards.

Valve blocks are not common to go so next check wiring to valve block, vcds will tell you more also,

Best regards

Andy

[r7ehw]

My allroad is still not happy and as the garage have not been able to fix I have got it back and invested in VCDS software to have a go myself.

So I have replaced all 4 airbags with arnott gen 1 bags, replaced the control box with new from Germany the compressor was replaced last year from Andy. I have not replaced any of the sensors. I am looking to go through and eliminate all issues to get the system back to full health as otherwise my 2.7T car is in great condition and I like it. It doesn't owe me anything hence being happy to throw some money at it however I now want it work properly. Its personal!

These are the errors thrown up to start with after getting car home and running it around a bit.

01437 - Control Position not Learned

35-00 - -

01780 - Sensor for Vehicle Leveling

04-10 - Mechanical Malfunction - Intermittent

01400 - Suspension Level Control

08-10 - Control Limit Surpassed - Intermittent

01577 - Turn-Off due to Over-Temp

35-10 - - - Intermittent I have then cleared the errors and sought to do a 402 procedure in light of 01437

So new scan shows

01437 - Control Position not Learned

35-00 - - I proceed with 402 procedure and some success in that I can enter in the values and go right through sequence albeit can't get the car level. Re scan and get the following:- No fault code found. But! car is still all over the place in terms of levels. I drive around the the drive a little and the dash warning light return solid as before with can in level 3 and no will not go down to 2 01400 - Suspension Level Control 08-10 - Control Limit Surpassed - Intermittent Ok. The car sits in level 2 but heights are as follows:- fn 360 fo 430 rn 390 ro 480 What should I do next please?

ps. No module 55 errors on any scans.

[bagpipingandy]

With the car at level 2, using vcds, go to module 34, measure blocks, group 4, all 4 values should be close to zero +-5-10mm Check this 1st to make sure no wild readings

If ok, run the adaption, make sure to enter in the correct order, Front left, front right, rear right, rear left, (clockwise around the car) your values look like you mixed up the rear 2.

Try this above.

If it doesn't allow you to enter a value, in some cases you can only adjust 5-10mm each time, so the 360 height you have would need to go to 370mm then rerun again to change to 380. But try typing the actual measured size 1st in the correct order.

Best regards

Andy

[r7ehw]

I have gone back to the car rerun the error scan and have the following error codes

01437 - Control Position not Learned

35-00 - - This has returned after eliminating yesterday and 01400 - Suspension Level Control 08-10 - Control Limit Surpassed - Intermittent I have tried to delete errors and re run 402 level set up although this continuously fails usually at corner 4. I have gone into measuring Blocks and this confirms Reg Position not learned and in group 5 get the following values 92.0 131.0 148.0 221.0 Where to next? Where to next.

[bagpipingandy]

Ok, your car is not calibrated yet, it must complete to store readings,what are readings on group 4, does it say not learned?

is car still sitting at approx heights.

fn 360
fo 430
rn 390
ro 480

If you start adaption does car try to adjust while it says wait?

Let me know above,

Next step if car does not adjust is use 4 jacks to set the car to 402mm at each corner (you may need to let air out any corner higher than this) start adaption, enter 402 for each corner, and see if it will complete and save.

The system will not work until we fix the control not learned error.

Best regards

Andy