Major suspension problem

[mannyo]

Well, mine is still not repaired.

However, I did move and wash it a couple of weeks ago. Rear of the car sits at a good height and front is on the deck.

I now have a replacement strut, I opted for a refurbed one rather than going second hand. It was shipped from Germany, it looks good however I have not yet had it fitted so cannot vouch for quality.

Not sure I am going to attempt to fit it myself yet, I did look at the bolts and I am not sure the control arm bolt will come out easily, along the lower one. The big problem is that if the bolts shear off or will not undo then I do not have the facilities to deal with that and I could be left with an even more stranded car.

I need to try and save some money again, I only have a temp low paid job until mid July, so may have to sell the car as is with the replacement part.

MOT is due at the end of July and its hardly been used since the last one, she needs a cambelt and oil change, I simply have no spare money at all to spend on the old girl and the lack of use I am sure is doing it no good at all.

[snapdragon]

My new valve block didn't help, so I will be getting an airspring assembly and remove the strut and take apart and fit this. It will be a struggle I know. Sadly I missed a used strut off a 2009 for a reasonable price. The rest of the used ones are tired, old and very expensive for such old and battered parts. I fear the Chinese new ones may be inferior, I read a couple of reviews that said the adjustable damping is bogus/inoperable on them. That leaves refurbs but these seem quite above my price range at the moment.

[mannyo]

I've moved the cars around today. This is how the Audi sits today with the front low down, there is no suspension movement on the front.

Compare this picture with the one in my signature where the car is in dynamic (taken many years ago now). Look at how the alloys have corroded for example.

I may remove the wheel tomorrow (weather permitting) and check out the bolts.

[mannyo]

Took the wheel off today to have a look at how it would be to change. After cleaning things up they do not look too bad, but I do not have sockets or spanners big enough.

Pictures below are of what I am dealing with. Not sure if the strut is original or not based on part number.

[mannyo]

Here is the latest update on my suspension problem.

Finally managed have the strut replaced today, had a friend come round with decent tools and after lots of cursing we got the new one in.

However

The front would still not rise, so we struggled on, he tried some output tests in VCDS and the car would not level.

We observed one odd thing that got us thinking, the rear right wheel was at the correct height, but the rear left went all the way up to the top of its travel. The sensor readings confirmed this, it was way higher than the other side.

After friend had left, talking to neighbour we kind of put 2 and 2 together and got the right answer it seems. Sticking valve in valve block, all the air was being sent to the left rear corner. Despite VCDS saying valve was closed, it cleary was not.

So got access to valve block and tapped it a few times with a hammer, and restarted engine. Observed that rear left corner now dropped down to correct height, and then the front raised up as normal.

So looks like it needs a valve block replacement, and the compressor is also borked as it keeps cycling on and off every few minutes as it cannot build pressure beyond 7 bar and has gone quiet noisy.

At some point with my friends messing around we have lost the basic settings, so the suspension needs re-calibrating.

So the current status is that the carr is sitting level now, needs a compressor and valve block and may not have needed a strut after all.

Alarm bells should have sounded when we went to disconnect the air line to the old strut and air came out under pressure.

[mannyo]

attached current log file.

when using the modified label file, the accumulator only pressurises to 8 bar.

[snapdragon]

Worwsers.
I worked on mine yesterday and today, if I knew it was such a PITA I would have probably held out for a decent used strut. Mine seems OK now but I did then have a leak where the air-pipe connects. I had tried to get away with using the old fitting and onion on the plastic pipe but it was probably not compatible with the new valve so leaked so much it wouldn't lift at all. Had to cut 1cm of the pipe off and use the new fitting and onion supplied with the airspring. Then lifted OK and so calibrated with VCDS in SAINSBURYS car park.
Having stripped down and replaced the seals and other parts, it is a bit heath robinson, I'm surprised there aren't more problems. With no air in it, it literally falls apart!

[steamship]

Originally Posted by snapdragon

Worwsers.
I worked on mine yesterday and today, if I knew it was such a PITA I would have probably held out for a decent used strut. Mine seems OK now but I did then have a leak where the air-pipe connects. I had tried to get away with using the old fitting and onion on the plastic pipe but it was probably not compatible with the new valve so leaked so much it wouldn't lift at all. Had to cut 1cm of the pipe off and use the new fitting and onion supplied with the airspring. Then lifted OK and so calibrated with VCDS in SAINSBURYS car park.
Having stripped down and replaced the seals and other parts, it is a bit heath robinson, I'm surprised there aren't more problems. With no air in it, it literally falls apart!

Can you elaborate on what you mean by the last sentence? Reason for asking is that I'm hoping to swap the aftermarket air suspension on mine back to OEM before the annual meet. As such, the original compressor, valve block and associated piping haven't seen any action in two years. Just wondering if I'm likely to run into any issues.