Further questions re my 'lopsided A8'
 

Further to my previous post on my D3 3.0tdi’s droopy suspension, it has now come to a point that I need to get this sorted. The current symptoms are:

• The car sits lower on the offside.
• The front o/s corner sits lower than the other three. I suspect it is dragging the rear o/s down with it, as it is slightly lower.
• All four corners go up and down as normal, but the offside always remains lower. There are no warning lights.
• The link bars that control ride height are not broken.
• I measured the ride height in the evening and in the morning and the suspension does not lower itself overnight.

I had the car put on the VCDS and it came up with an 01400 “Suspension level control - upper limit exceeded”. It also generated a 01398 code, which is to do with the central locking.
I have spoken to a main dealer, and the tech said that they would have to do a leak test using soapy water:Confused: He had no estimates on how long it could take...it sounded a bit open ended, so I am reluctant to hand it over to them without exploring all of the other options.

Does anyone have any idea on the best/most economical way to proceed? Alternatively, any recommendations for trusted indi's, in the Heathrow area, would greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.+++

The nearest independent is probably Fontain in Iver. I use them.

Camspec in Crawley are good - close to Gatwick for trains if required too +++ have an R8 master tech who seems pretty handy on fault finding

Your A8 has 4 level sensors on all 4 corners of the car. Very easy to replace. My guess is that one. Check out the part first see if it's broken and look in VCDS to see what the read out is under Level Control.

Personally I would do this procedure:

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/levelcontrol.html

Let me know how you get on.

Guys,

I appreciate the feedback. I will try the level sensor before taking to a garage.

I will let you know what the outcome is.

All the best.+++

If you can try to log it I can help. Or even get Vcds plugged in and I can take control remotely to assist one evening. Need Internet

Success!
 

Guys,

I really appreciate your collective input on this.

I called a company called Auto Diagnose, who run a mobile diagnostic service. I spoke to the owner, and he was fairly confident, over the phone, that he knew what was wrong (A local mechanic had already checked and concluded that there were no leaks).

He came yesterday with his VCDS and VAS computers and quickly found, as he had suspected, that the ECU settings were out...they were miles out. Over several hours, he was slowly able to bring the suspension values back to within tolerances. In short, he has levelled the car! I am really pleased with the result. That said, I cannot understand why the other ‘specialist’ who put the VCDS on the car did not look into the values at all. I guess it shows that it is one thing to have the correct tools, and quite another to know how to use them properly...

If anyone needs the company's details (assuming I am not breaking any forum rules), please feel free to PM me.

Thanks again.

If theyve done a good job then post their details!
Glad youve got it sorted out! +++

Website: http://www.autodiagnose.co.uk/

Phone number: 07939 075 842

Excellent service and it cost me less than hour's labour charge at my local dealer, which is where the car was heading if this was not resolved.

Excellent news, sounds as if he basically did that exact procedure I described above. That relevels the car :)