Airmatic Pump?

[E55BOF]

Particularly if the car has not been used for a couple of days, about two minutes after starting up I'm getting the airmatic grey 'Visit workshop' warning, and the fault code message is 'Reservoir taking too long to fill'. Terry Gates did tell me that when he did some work on the Airmatic earlier, the pump passed the test, but not by much, so unless there's a separate pressure reservoir that has sprung a leak, I suspect the pump is failing.

I'm inclined to think that the pump is very unlikely to give up the ghost suddenly, but rather, just slowly get worse, so I could leave it until the car needs to go in for a service in March next year with about 3000 more miles on it. Does anybody advise against this?

 

[Will]

Is the suspension sinking when parked up?

I’d suspect a leak if so, and quite possibly the pump is tired now as a result of working hard to correct the ride height.

 

[E55BOF]

No sinking when parked, but it was before it was worked on, and the pump is obviously tired now. Question is, is it likely to fail suddenly; I'd think not.

 

[Will]

I think there’s a piston in the compressor, which can be rebuilt with new rings to improve performance if you’re keen?

 

[E55BOF]

Indeed there is, but I'm not sure I'm that keen in winter... If there's no separate reservoir which could be leaking, I think it should be OK until the Spring.

Stop Press: There is a reservoir, and it's in the 'boot' area according to this: The Definitive Guide To The Mercedes-Benz Airmatic Suspension System I can check that myself.

 

[E55BOF]

Checked the system pressure with the iCarsoft; it's all over the place, but consistently low, and the car is pretty slow to raise on the button as well. Terry Gates can fit it in this week, so I might as well have the compressor changed and have done with it; they're cheap enough - about £230 exchange from MB. Chinese versions are even cheaper - £85 or so - but I'd rather pay the extra for a genuine one, because if a cheapo Chinese one were to fail completely, I'd be stranded.

 

[zipdip]

Well this is the first sign that the pump is on its way out,on Star there is a test for the pump where I think it gets 5 sec to fill the small tank from which the air is drawn for the airmatic,the test does it a few times and you will only get that message when it fails to fill the tank in the time allowed,the pump is one of the few things to come way down in price over the years and there are repair kits which are very cheap for those who want to DIY,the pump may well last until next year,but you will have to put up with the message coming up,the airmatic suspension will not go down unless there is a leak and as you have said the suspension is up,replacing the pump with a new one is not that expensive as repairs to mercedes go it is up to you.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I had same on the E55, only just got to the required pressure within the time limit.

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All of them i reckon Pat, Throw away society, old school mechanics are a dying breed most are just fitters Exactly, computer says change this part. I asked for a price on Monday from a well respected main dealer, still waiting, what is happening to folks now, how hard can it be to look a part...

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Pump I think was £260 inc. VAT.