W211 air suspension problem

[Rainer]

Hi all,

i have problem with my 2004 E270CDI estate. It has air springs only rear, so no airmatic.
I have fault code:
5335-Y53/1 valve unit rear left strut. Short circuit/interterm short

Display shows also that i need to visit workshop.
But everythings works perfectly, no leak anywhere.
Already replaced left rear strut valve and air suspension control module and fault still appears when i start the car. Have no ideas anymore what to do next?

 

[Dodipops]

Troll through the wiring, common for brakes/corrosion in the wiring around the pump area

 

[andym2]

Troll through the wiring, common for brakes/corrosion in the wiring around the pump area

+1 on that. The compressor is in the n/s front wing. Take the wheel off and remove the wheel arch liner and check the wiring. The compressor is rubber mounted and it seems the wiring can't cope with the bouncing about. I've fixed mine twice (on 240,000 miles now). I ended up replacing the connector last time as the break was too close to the connector to join the wires.

 

[e220estate]

Apologies for butting in but I have a related problem.....
Over the last 18 months the rear suspension (non full AIRMATIC) of my 2006 S211 Estate T model very often (but not always) sags overnight on the near side but sometimes on both sides. But still the compressor kicks in and pumps it up on the next morning start. Even today.
So I spoke to my inde back then and he said it was very difficult for him to find suspension problems when sometimes it was ok and sometimes it wasn't. "Leave it 'till it is permanently down and bring it in". So I left it and, to date, it has never stayed permanently down - the compressor still pumps it up and and I have only had two occasions during this 18 months when the red message 'STOP -car too low' appeared on the dash.
Some days there is no sag and some days both rear suspension units are low. I use it every day for short 15 min return journey (dog walking) and every day the compressor kicks in for 20-30 seconds - no red dash message. The last 'too low' message came up after a 650 mile journey last October - and went quickly as usual when I re-started. Drove home last November from southern France with no issues reported on the dash - but after stopping on the autoroute for 10 mins the near-side had definitely dropped in relation to the off-side - no 'too low' message despite being holiday-loaded when I re-started.
This evening, after today's' dog walk, I measured the distance from the ground, thru' the wheel centre to the bottom of the wheel arch. Result: off-side 64 cms, near-side 61 cms, so the near-side is down in relation to the off-side after 4-5 hours. What should this measurement be on a healthy system?
So I am confused....Shouldn't the compressor have given up the ghost by now if it was being overloaded? If there is an air leak in the air spring surely the high pressure would cause it to deflate rapidly every time (it doesn't)? Are their any valves to go wrong that dump air from the suspension? You would have thought 'yes' because if the compressor pumps up the system under heavy load then take the load out and the system would need to compensate? Ride-height sensor or what? Could it be anything other than the air springs causing the problem? Would STAR be able to identify suspension issues? I am at the point that I will replace the air springs to avoid killing the compressor otherwise. It's been happening for 18 months after all! TIA

 

[BlackC55]

Apologies for butting in but I have a related problem.....
Over the last 18 months the rear suspension (non full AIRMATIC) of my 2006 S211 Estate T model very often (but not always) sags overnight on the near side but sometimes on both sides. But still the compressor kicks in and pumps it up on the next morning start. Even today.
So I spoke to my inde back then and he said it was very difficult for him to find suspension problems when sometimes it was ok and sometimes it wasn't. "Leave it 'till it is permanently down and bring it in". So I left it and, to date, it has never stayed permanently down - the compressor still pumps it up and and I have only had two occasions during this 18 months when the red message 'STOP -car too low' appeared on the dash.
Some days there is no sag and some days both rear suspension units are low. I use it every day for short 15 min return journey (dog walking) and every day the compressor kicks in for 20-30 seconds - no red dash message. The last 'too low' message came up after a 650 mile journey last October - and went quickly as usual when I re-started. Drove home last November from southern France with no issues reported on the dash - but after stopping on the autoroute for 10 mins the near-side had definitely dropped in relation to the off-side - no 'too low' message despite being holiday-loaded when I re-started.
This evening, after today's' dog walk, I measured the distance from the ground, thru' the wheel centre to the bottom of the wheel arch. Result: off-side 64 cms, near-side 61 cms, so the near-side is down in relation to the off-side after 4-5 hours. What should this measurement be on a healthy system?
So I am confused....Shouldn't the compressor have given up the ghost by now if it was being overloaded? If there is an air leak in the air spring surely the high pressure would cause it to deflate rapidly every time (it doesn't)? Are their any valves to go wrong that dump air from the suspension? You would have thought 'yes' because if the compressor pumps up the system under heavy load then take the load out and the system would need to compensate? Ride-height sensor or what? Could it be anything other than the air springs causing the problem? Would STAR be able to identify suspension issues? I am at the point that I will replace the air springs to avoid killing the compressor otherwise. It's been happening for 18 months after all! TIA

This sounds like you have a slightly leaking bellow or two. We replace so many of them for this exact issue.

 

[e220estate]

Well....I decided that there had to be something wrong with the struts and felt that waiting for the pump to go in order to prove it was not sensible - why pay to replace that as well? So I sourced a pair of new after-market air struts from Germany (Aerosus) at £330 delivered to the UK - even got a discount for buying L & R! - which were then fitted by my inde in March (I had thought about using Arnott replacement springs, but they worked out more expensive!)
When I picked the car up, he said that both struts were shot. For fitting the new ones he tried to deflate them using his vehicle analysis kit - one still retained 10Lbs pressure and the other would not deflate at all. His diagnosis was that the valves on the top of each strut were not operating correctly and as these were the original struts (from 2006) then you would expect something like this, or an air leak, after this sort of time.
Result: now I have no sag and wheel-arch-to-road distance is 66-67cms, so I guess that this is the measurement for correctly functioning air suspension units.
All-up it came to ~£630, so happy bunny now - as long as the pump doesn't decide to pack up.

 

[moulin82150]

Hi
I have a similar problem with my 04 w211 estate elegance , ie air springs on the rear only. Sometimes it sags on the near side after a day or so and sometimes not for a few days. I am told its not the compressor nor probably the n/r valve . Could it be the level sensor ? and should I replace both air springs as it seems to be only the near side?. There doesnt seem to be an air leak. very difficult to trace an intermittent problem , but it has done 130 k miles- is that past the life of the springs?