Loud burst of air, now left side suspension bottomed out, diagnostic help

[BostonBurley]

The left side has looked noticeably lower than the right side for maybe 10 days now? Also, out of the ordinary compressor sound, like it’s spooling up a little, and then when it shuts off the blow off release was quiet, so air pressure was simply not building like normal.
After the burst sound I got out and saw my left side all the way down. I emptied the frunk to get a look at compressor and valve box. It does turn on a little bit but I cant see/hear where the air is leaking, if that makes sense. Compressor turns on and eventually turns off but my car isn’t raising on the left. I don’t hear any air leaking or blowing out anywhere.

Trying to make sense of
-loud burst
-both left struts bottomed out.
-cannot locate a leak visually or audibly

-compressor sounds like it’s under a light load compared to normal

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Well, the nice thing is that the 1st Gen air suspension system is very simple. No worries, we'll figure this out!

Each corner has its own independent air line (all different colors). Driver front is Blue, driver rear is Brown. The fact that your left side dropped but the right side didn't would make me think that the reserve tank and line to the compressor are still fine. You can confirm that by putting a tire pressure gauge on the schraeder valve on top of the reserve tank (which is back behind the 12v battery). Normal pressure is 110+ PSI.

Get a a bottle of soapy water. Have a friend sit in the car, close the door, and turn on the car so it tries to self-level. When the compressor turns on, feverishly spray soapy water on the compressor fittings and the air line inlet at the front strut. If you see a lot of bubbles, whatever's bubbling is your issue.

 

[BostonBurley]

Spent quite a bit of time spraying during compressor, never found a leak. Oddly, the left side of my car did raise when I put the car in “very high”, but it was about 1” lower than the right side of my car. That has been an issue for about two weeks, so I’m assuming it’s the valve block. Clearly the compressor is working, and both left air struts are having shared identical issues. I ordered a cheap valve block from eBay and will install and then recheck, then update the thread. Where the valve box is located will either make it a pain or not too bad, could go either way.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Did it stay raised when you put it in very high, or did it drop back down over a few hours?

 

[BostonBurley]

Did it stay raised when you put it in very high, or did it drop back down over a few hours?

It appears to be maintaining height.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

interesting.

I’d then say either the valve block or your ride height sensors/brackets.

 

[BostonBurley]

interesting.

I’d then say either the valve block or your ride height sensors/brackets.

But for both ride height sensors to simultaneously fail would be odd. I was thinking that I could swap Right f/r air lines with Left f/r air lines, and see if the same behavior switches sides or continues. Should’ve tried that actually.

 

[Gtech]

Spent quite a bit of time spraying during compressor, never found a leak. Oddly, the left side of my car did raise when I put the car in “very high”, but it was about 1” lower than the right side of my car. That has been an issue for about two weeks, so I’m assuming it’s the valve block. Clearly the compressor is working, and both left air struts are having shared identical issues. I ordered a cheap valve block from eBay and will install and then recheck, then update the thread. Where the valve box is located will either make it a pain or not too bad, could go either way.

Do you have any errors on the screen?

If not, did you called road service for SAS error log? Sometimes they are helpful.

If not nothing above can help you think I would try the valve block first as you stated already. Be sure to disconnect 12V and HV also when doing and keep us updated

 

[BostonBurley]

Do you have any errors on the screen?

If not, did you called road service for SAS error log? Sometimes they are helpful.

If not nothing above can help you think I would try the valve block first as you stated already. Be sure to disconnect 12V and HV also when doing and keep us updated

Call and ask for info on any recent errors? Never done that. I probably should.
The tricky part is how many issues I have elsewhere in the car that are yet unresolved. Even if the valve block works, I won’t be sure at first bc today I moved the car about a foot and the the car leveled out except for the front right, which is 1” lower than the rest. The front right is also where I tapped and threaded two new strut mount bolt holes. However, the left side of my car was sitting lower than the right side before I drilled the strut out. I have no reason to think it is leaking, until today at least. Keene an eye on it and gonna spray the new holes with soapy water.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Man, it sounds like your car has some demons.

I can't recall....why did you have to drill new mounts for the struts? Are you saying you drilled new holes in the strut tower?

 

[BostonBurley]

Man, it sounds like your car has some demons.

I can't recall....why did you have to drill new mounts for the struts? Are you saying you drilled new holes in the strut tower?

the rattle after installing new struts, the oem torque seemed really low, so I torqued more and it felt soft, turned out I was just digging into the aluminum. Must’ve stretched the studs bc next time I reinstalled two studs broke. I tried all the trick$ to drill out the studs and it was a mess. So those open spots were tapped and the local hardware store had 3/4” length bolts handy. Definitely embarrassing work I’ll keep hidden.

My concern is that one of those holes I drilled somehow ruptured the air bag? However, it has stayed the exact same height for 24+ hours. I really don’t know anymore. Hope the valve box solves world hunger.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Let me see if I understand this. You drilled a hole downwards through your strut tower directly above an air strut which I'm sure you'll agree is an unusually odd thing to do. Now your air strut(s) has failed in a very unusually odd way and you're not sure they're related?

 

[BostonBurley]

Let me see if I understand this. You drilled a hole downwards through your strut tower directly above an air strut which I'm sure you'll agree is an unusually odd thing to do. Now your air strut(s) has failed in a very unusually odd way and you're not sure they're related?

I’m sure it sounds silly to the untrained ear.
The top ~2” of the air strut is hollow in the center with a slightly spongy rubber bump stop free and clear of the air bladder. When I drilled and threaded, I went approximately 1/4” into the area.

It’s actually not leaking whatsoever and in previous days different sides of the car have been lower. The fact that the latest one was the repaired corner did leave concern but all is well. The scientific approach is to present data, whatever it might be, and until I have the new valve box installed I’ve been trying to discover different data points to better understand the many issues.

 

[BostonBurley]

You can hear my compressor sort of sounding out of the ordinary, perhaps that’s because the load is different? Sprayed everything and didn’t find any leaks. I’m just confused about where the air is going? I don’t hear the compressor filling up and the car is not leveling. And no leaks.

The video will make you wicked sick. Just listen to it. Listen don’t watch

 

[Aggmeister2010]

you didnt turn on sound for the video.

 

[BostonBurley]

Listen to compressor

 

[Aggmeister2010]

yikes. are you maintaining pressure in the air tank overnight?

 

[BostonBurley]

yikes. are you maintaining pressure in the air tank overnight?

No idea. I haven’t pressure tested anything, just going off of height measurements for each strut, and they aren’t leaking whatsoever.
Weird thing is when I take the car out of jack mode after working on it, it purges a lot of air, like a blow off valve. Then it instantly kicks on and builds pressure for a long while, leveling the car, except ultimately leaving it quite unlevel.
Gotta be the valve box or a fuse thing or ?
I get the replacement valve box today, but it has 7 air lines and my oem only has 6. Seller showed fitment to be 2013-2021, which should’ve triggered my attention. A lot of the aftermarket ones for sale for 2012- have 7 holes. I believe only 2016-2017 Any ideas? Can I plug the hole on the end of the rail? Lol. Sending this back and ordering a new one puts me into next week. Ugh.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

On the 2016+, it looks like that 7th hole goes back into the compressor - not sure what it's for though. It doesn't look like the mount in the same way, but if you find that they do and the pin out is the same, might as well try plugging it.

 

[Doanster1]

No idea. I haven’t pressure tested anything, just going off of height measurements for each strut, and they aren’t leaking whatsoever.
Weird thing is when I take the car out of jack mode after working on it, it purges a lot of air, like a blow off valve. Then it instantly kicks on and builds pressure for a long while, leveling the car, except ultimately leaving it quite unlevel.
Gotta be the valve box or a fuse thing or ?
I get the replacement valve box today, but it has 7 air lines and my oem only has 6. Seller showed fitment to be 2013-2021, which should’ve triggered my attention. A lot of the aftermarket ones for sale for 2012- have 7 holes. I believe only 2016-2017 Any ideas? Can I plug the hole on the end of the rail? Lol. Sending this back and ordering a new one puts me into next

Another pre-facelift car with SAS issues. I’m sure you saw my thread about the red icon/EAS_w007 error. Now I’m wondering if there’s some outlandish software issue with the last few releases. In my case, I’ve replaced the compressor twice. I never hear it running and I rarely even adjust the suspension. But something is causing it to run when I’m not “there” because after a couple weeks, the fuse will blow and compressor seizes again. This last time, I kept driving with the error and the car raised the back end to very high while slamming the front end. Anyway, don’t want to hijack your thread, but wanted to say that SAS errors may require Toolbox to clear in order for the system to work even after part replacement. With my last replacement, after powering the car on, the system kept emptying the reserve tank while having the compressor run and venting to the atmosphere. SC had to clear the errors and perform a suspension calibration for $35.

As for the solenoid block, I doubt that’s your issue since it’s a left vs right thing vs one corner now always dropping.