P85+ front air spring module disassembly and repair attempt

[amiral_sub]

Since a few months my lovely 2013 P85+ lowers in 24h:

After finding this post P85 rear air spring module disassembly or exchange with newer version? I decided to try to repair my air strut

I was unable to remove the air strut from my car because the air strut was still pushing (still air inside). The local tesla approved bodybuilder agreed to remove the shock absorber for me for a few € (2 hours of labour).
Here is the strut with the references:
Continental air spring, dirty but in good condition:

bilstein shock absorber, lot of rust:

top of the air strut (in centimeters):

Opening the air strut using a KM6 KS TOOLS 450.5006 Douille 1/2 à ergots KM6

need a lot of torque, my small aluminium bar was not enough strong
Now we are cooking!

After removing the screws, I was unable to remove the bilstein shock absorber from the continenal air spring because of the rust
I passed a few hours trying to pull, finally I tried with a jack to lift cars!!!!

 

[amiral_sub]

it moves!!!!


and here is what we found:

Very bad news to find to much rust where the o-ring must block air with ~6 bars pressure!

after cleaning:

anti rust, black paint for cars, I took last pictures of references :

the o-ring is in very good condition:

I cleaned inside the air strut where the o-ring will be in place (there was galvanic corrosion)

the next problem is how to put in place this o-ring !!!
If I insert the o-ring in the air spring, when I push the bilstein shock absorber (hard to push), how to I know if the o-ring do not move inside the air spring along the shock?
I decided to glue a bit the o-ring inside the air spring
I put everything back in place, thread lock on the threads, get back the air strut to the body shop

 

[amiral_sub]

Everything was fine the 3 first days !!! The car did not went down anymore !! It worked!!!
But this morning bad news the car goes down in less than 15 minutes without working.
I can still drive: when I go inside the car with my key, the air compressor starts working and the car goes up in less than one minute (much longer than previously, the system is totally empty of pressure)
I tried to repair, I failed (like often )

First conclusion: I ordered in urgency 2 new front air struts (miessler automotive, half price compared to tesla, delivery in 2 days!)
Second conclusion : Bilstein does not use a good steel for their shock absorbers

 

[amiral_sub]

front air struts replaced by miessler automotive this day bhe local tesla approved bodybuilder who agreed to install these:

6006351 Amortisseur suspension pneumatique Tesla Model S - Pièces de suspension pneumatique Miessler Automotive GmbH & Co. KG. - Le meilleur choix

AIR-SUSPENSION-SHOP Cette jambe d'air avant 6006351 pour le modèle TESLA S passe par le processus de production certifié ISO (gestion de la qualité dans l'industrie automobile ISO / TS 16949: 2009).

www.miessler-automotive.com

2 hour of labour
I did not notice any change, exact same handling and comfort