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s430 airmatic strut removal

23K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  mrsmithbenz 
#1 ·
Hi Guys Can you tell me how to remove the air hose from the strut as I am hoping to install my new arnott, do you have to remove the plug that is in the wheel well The video does not show how this is done.
My strut has 0n air hose going into the side and then it runs upto a connection of 3 hose with 2 that go to the brakes
thanks
 
#5 ·
strut removal

[The new strut was a easy install but I damaged the boot on the ball joint spliting it to give me room to fit the new strut in I needed a power bar to pull the lower wheel asy down far enogh to install the arnott strut Car has no codes and drives great Benz was charging $3600 for both and I did the left side for less then $500 thanks Arnott suspension
QUOTE=yoeman;3684150]It came out with tons of room so Im GUESSING ITS BECAUSE THE STRUT IS FLAT and I was able to shorten it.
I will post after the new strut is in.[/QUOTE]
 
#8 ·
It would have been awesome if you posted pics of the installation process, along with a brief write up to go with the pics. Morons like me who drive a 2000 S430 and know nothing about replacing a strut would have found your write up very useful!!

Did you replace just the one strut or a pair (front or back?). What were the symptons you were having that made you conclude your strut need replacing?

An independent shop told me I need to replace my struts but I instead opted to replace the airmatic compressor and relay only (DIY) and haven't had the "visit workshop" message since. However, I have almost 100K miles on my car, and I am wondering if it is time to consider replacing my struts.
 
#9 ·
Jack up the front of the car, put it on jack stands.
You'll need a 2 ton jack(has a three foot handle and four wheels) which you can find at any auto parts store.
place jack under lower control arm, assuming you have already taken off the wheel.
jack up strut to compress it.
under the fenderwell there is a wire that comes from the side of the strut to the side of the fenderwell, take a flathead screwdriver and pull up that pin to release the strut connection to the ecu. then grab and pull it out of the fender carefully.
get a 5" allen key to pull the two allen nuts at the bottom of the strut.
once they have been screwed out.

GET AN 8MM WRENCH AND SLOWLY! I MEAN SLOWLY! TURN THE NUT ON TOP OF THE STRUT TO RELEASE THE COMPRESSED AIR IN THE STRUT!

go to the top of the car underhood and pull the three nuts. I forgot what size socket you'll need but take those off.
slowly release the jack to drop the strut out.
 
#10 ·
Much appreciated!! I just purchased the rebuilt airmatics from Arnott. What a great price with a lifetime warranty. What do you think MB engineers are thinking by not addressing this issue? This is obviously a problem. My '03 S has only 52k miles with a sagging front end. I thought about replacing with coil overs from Strutmasters. Does anyone know who has converted and what the ride is like. I run 20" rims but wonder how they'd perform with the struts instead of airmatic. Also, if your compressor dies, Arnott has rebuilt ones with a 12 month warranty for around $300.
 
#11 ·
ALRIGHT, strutmasters.com does not know what they are doing when it comes to parts for MB. I know b/c I personally ordered and installed a set on my 2000 s430. I had to rig it to make them fit. Long story short, they make regular struts w/o electrical connectors. These electrical connectors come on the factory airmatic strut and should've been put onto these regular struts. These connectors that talk back and forth to the ECU regarding ESP, ABS, BAS, and power steering.

In other words, I had no ESP, ABS, BAS, and power steering!

Don't buy those struts unless they've updated these issues!
 
#13 ·
You will find a spring lock on the plug that goes into the female side on the wheel well.
The black hose comes off the lower part of the strut and runs up to a plug that is hard to get at and if you look very hard you will see the silver locking spring I believe you can just pull the plug out but mine was stuck so I removed the clip with another small wire
The strut comes out easy after you remove the lower Allen bolt plus 3 nuts on the upper and then pull the lower arm down with a long bar and it will drop out
 
#14 ·
Thank you Yoeman, I did get the plug out(it was easy after I found the metal clip). The hard part was getting the new strut in. It was about 4 inches longer then the original,took a 250 pound guy to sit on a 5ft leverage bar to install it.
Now after installing all the struts I still have a leak some were (overnight car goes all the way down).
 
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