Air leak Airmatic

[sweeper]

I have had a small leak on the left front, noticeable after a few days standing and noted in previous service history, checked the airbag and couldn't see any leaks, when checking the top of the strut i did manage to knock the air pipe out very easily and this needs cutting off and refitting (pushed it back in for now as i intend fitting new pipe and didn't have any.) I cut the pipe and fitted a tap at near the strut and switched this off overnight and no leak, even after a day or two, so it's either the line or the valve block, I checked the valve block (which is easy to see just behind the l/h headlamp) no leak found so I bought a new brass fitting and some pipe and strung a temporary line to the strut and the suspension has been up all week, I am very please as I expected this to cost me few hundred in airbags/struts or valve block which is £286 from Merc. at the weekend I'll replace the entire line and at the same time replace my exhaust back pressure sensor which is playing up and causing a lack of power (no boost) from time to time.
It was definitely worth having the ball valve to isolate the air bag first, they are about £5 and i got one with 4mm push type fittings, one thing to be careful of, some pneumatic pipe is only rated at 10bar which i used but it is a bit soft and the 10bar isn't really enoug, it just happens I had some kicking around at work, so for the proper repair i'll use nylon which is rated at around 20bar and can be bought for around 1.80 a meter, even cheaper if you buy a roll, so the repair will only cost me about a tenner, I'll be interested to see why the line is leaking as it's pretty abrasion proof and only runs across the front and up to the strut top.

 

[bolidemichael]

I'm surprised that you didn't run out of air writing all that!

 

[sweeper]

damaged pipe was found, now replaced and the suspension stays up as it should

 

[sweeper]

So, since fixing the leaking line to l/h front all appears well with the suspension staying up overnight or several nights, but I have noticed the compressor to be running more often than I would expect it to, noticeable by the blow off sound as the pressure limit is reached and the compressor turns off, I suspect maybe another leak. this time on the line to the reservoir. So this morning I started it up and as expected the car didn't have to level and the compressor didn't run so it's not lost reservoir pressure overnight, I activated the rise function and the compressor started a second or two after the car started to raise and as expected it soon reached pressure and the distinctive blow off sound was heard, as it lowered there was a slight hiss as it started to lower and then quite quiet as it dropped to correct level.
It may be just that the vehicle is adjusting a lot due to temperature etc. and of course rising after high speed lowering, it's just odd as I didn't notice it previously. does anyone else notice this on the cars with Airmatic?