[CheekySurfer]

Hi Folks,

A conundrum for you. Having problems with the near side rear air suspension; symptoms:

• only effects the nearside; offside is fine.
• drops periodically (becoming more often) when car is parked up and engine is switched off
• will normally drop within a minute or two and you can hear a release of air from the back of the car
• seems to be susceptible when the temperature drops a little (but TBH that could just be coincidence)
• when I start the car up, it levels out and all looks fine
• recently when driving, I've gone through a few bumps and smaller pot holes and it feels like its dropped (feels like its on its bump stops - again, only on the one side); after 20s or so it sets itself level again and I can continue.

Originally when it started happening, I took it to the dealers. They ran through their standard tests and couldn't find any problems (not sure the suspension dropped whilst there); they checked the air bags - no leaks.

Getting worse (again, only on the one side) so dropped it down to my local garage - it didn't drop whilst there; they lifted it, checked for leaks... nothing. No error/fault codes reported either.

Their thinking:
can't find any leaks - not the air "bags"
likely the compressor, but there's no fault codes indicating there's any real problem there.

Again, it only happens on the one side. If it was a compressor side problem I'd have expected it to effect both sides...?

Any ideas?

[philipm785]

Seems that if the compressor was bad it wouldn't level out again. The fact that sometimes it happens very quickly suggests it's not necessarily a slow leak, so maybe a valve of some kind that isn't always closing properly when the compressor shuts off?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by philipm785

Seems that if the compressor was bad it wouldn't level out again. The fact that sometimes it happens very quickly suggests it's not necessarily a slow leak, so maybe a valve of some kind that isn't always closing properly when the compressor shuts off?

That's my thinking as well.

A slow leak can be the air spring, had that myself, the fault/abrasion is not always visible, or even show bubbles when tested. The faster leak/drop indicates it is either a valve, or the level sensor is misreading, intermittently.