Air suspension compressor

MatthewH · #1 22nd January 2017, 11:00 AM

I would recommend the DIY repair option. When I bought the car, the suspension wouldn't raise at all. I removed the compressor and replaced the piston ring and it's been fine since.

The job only takes 1-2 hours overall and total cost was around £15. The hardest part was removing the bolts on the compressor cylinder as one in particular was in tight (snapped a hex key in half trying to remove it!)

tersono · #2 22nd January 2017, 08:43 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, MatthewH, but whichever way I go, it's going to have to be done by my local garage as I have MS and no longer have the strength to work on my own cars, sadly.

ulfilias · #3 30th January 2017, 08:28 AM

Bagpipe andy kit here....Really quite simple. Had loads of faults on the suspension side which knocked the lights leveling system out and lots of stuff. Really easy to do if you have any mechanical knowledge and if you can get the compressor out, you have enough to try the repair kit.
Been over a year and it's great. Handy if you have Vagcom to test too, but it's pretty obvious that it works....If you can hear the pump running, go for the kit!

tersono · #4 15th February 2017, 09:20 AM

Just to finalise this thread - I decided to go for a new compressor rather than the bagpipeandy kit. Bought the new compressor from aerosus as per the link in my original post - £289 + shipping. Was fitted by my local indy yesterday with just 3 hours labour. They tell me that the new compressor was identical to the original unit and just bolted straight on -with all necessary fittings and a new relay included.

The old pump had obviously been tired for a long while - the car has never adjusted levels this quickly in my ownership (a little over 3 years). With that plus other work I've had done recently (cambelt, control arms + a few other bits) she's driving like a new car again. Not too shabby for a 14 year-old car. Well pleased.

Johnmed · #5 15th February 2017, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tersono

Just to finalise this thread - I decided to go for a new compressor rather than the bagpipeandy kit. Bought the new compressor from aerosus as per the link in my original post - £289 + shipping. Was fitted by my local indy yesterday with just 3 hours labour. They tell me that the new compressor was identical to the original unit and just bolted straight on -with all necessary fittings and a new relay included.

The old pump had obviously been tired for a long while - the car has never adjusted levels this quickly in my ownership (a little over 3 years). With that plus other work I've had done recently (cambelt, control arms + a few other bits) she's driving like a new car again. Not too shabby for a 14 year-old car. Well pleased.

Glad to hear it.

Can't really grumble with the price of that compressor, can you. I too have heard good things about BagpipingAndy, but for convenience and peace of mind the Aerosus seems a bargain.

Takemetothepub · #6 17th February 2017, 10:11 AM

I'm gonna need to go down the new compressor route soon.

When I bought my W12 the compressor was making a racket but working fine.
Did the Bagpipeandy kit and a new set of shock mounts for the cradle and was fine for three weeks then back to clattering away.

Glad this place has pointed out some great places to get replacements at a great price!

onetwentie · #7 19th April 2017, 10:28 PM

I did mine around 3 years back, and it turned out that the brushes within the motor had dislodged.. a bit of twisted wire and they were soon back in position.

Fixed the problem, with the air suspension working again!

I also came across the bagpipeandy solution and have to say it seems to have worked for loads of people.

Good to hear your A8 is back up and running.