Leaking Front Struts

[daisound]

finntexan,
I need your help, Parkplace , dallas told me my airmatic is not engaged when they test the system, and the pump runs noisy. I never have the warning message of any kind for the life of 74K. They did the test because I went there to replace the trany fluid after 74K. I have seimens relay put in at 10/1999 from factory. I do not see any crack on the top black plate near filler as shown above. I always drive with one red light on shock setting firmness. Can any one tell me how to test the system ?

[finntexan]

Compressor should not be noisy, e.g. in my car one can barely hear it when engine is running (and even then it is a low purrrrr). If it is noisy (and/or running often), you may also need a new compressor (and fix that leak before that).

To test the leak, spray soapy water on strut tops. If you see any bubbles after pushing the fender down and up, then there is a leak in the top.

My car did not have any visible leak but when jacking a tire up, the air started coming out with a loud hiss from the top side. Both struts behaved similarly, and I really did not at that stage notice that during normal use the struts would be leaking. Try that.

In worst case, if the leak is somewhere else than at the top, youmay need new front shocks, and they cost $$$.

The top plate replacement is the usual fix, and at least in my DIY case the fix works. Still.

[daisound]

^Thanks. I already purchased the Tool from Dbenz2. He will send it to me tomorrow. I can see the cracks on top of the epoxy. The dealer give me a deal to replace 2 new struts for $1850 but it will be cheaper to replace DIY for $300. The air pump needs to rebuild after I replace the struts. The relay is still good. Do you have any idea how to rebuild the air pump ? I read the thread it will be $500 if I need a new one.

[finntexan]

I suspect the compressor can not be rebuild because I have not heard of a rebuild kit (parts for the compressor). $500 sound like a lot of money for a small compressor like this. There must be sources where you can find this for less?

The relay, common understanding is Siemens relay should be changed to a Hella one because of reliability reasons, the relay will stick to ON position and when it does so, the compressor will run until it binds and gets damaged. Relay change is considered as cheap insurance against the expensive compressor failure.

[daisound]

^OEM direct.com sell pump at $356.95 but I read airmatic poll 08-09-2008 by Gammaess he posted the pump link: Êàòàëîã

but I can not located the other thread which I read in the past, one of the BW member said he had rebuild the pump by replacing some of the buffers. Can anyone help to recall that thread ??

[daisound]

finntexan
I finally get the both upper struts seals replaced. I test drove with my family to 60 miles round trip and it is fine. When I jack up the driver wheel no more air leak from the top. I am going to leave the car outside for the 1st freeze in our area tonight.
When I took out my driver side wheel, I saw the plastic bellow lower end was loose from the lower plastic holder. Do you think I can glue it back together ? The bellow was not broken but just unable to slap on to the holder. I think the bellow is to protect the strut from water and dirt. When I push up the bellow, the strut is very clean like new on the outside of the cylinder. I think the bellow is sitting on top of the lower bracket when the car 's suspension is lowered to the normal operation position.
I talk to the mechanic in the mid-city Park Place, they told me there is no repair to the pump and the replacement of the pump filter will not help to quiet down the pump if it runs loud. Actually they told me they will reuse the buffers even they replace a new pump. At this point, I need more research before I will start anymore pump repair project.
As the root cause of the leak is fixed, the pump will operate in rare situations. I did not change my Hella relay either, because I never run into relay problem in the past.

[joeburmeister]

So did you end up replacing the seals yourself or did you wind up taking it to a shop?

If you DIY - care to provide us a brief overview about how you tackled it? How long did it take you to do the job? The WIS documentation states to "discharge the suspension struts using STAR DIAGNOSIS" before doing the seal work. How did you perform the discharge of the strut?

Would you be willing to sell the tool you used for the job?

Originally Posted by daisound

finntexan
I finally get the both upper struts seals replaced. I test drove with my family to 60 miles round trip and it is fine. When I jack up the driver wheel no more air leak from the top. I am going to leave the car outside for the 1st freeze in our area tonight.
When I took out my driver side wheel, I saw the plastic bellow lower end was loose from the lower plastic holder. Do you think I can glue it back together ? The bellow was not broken but just unable to slap on to the holder. I think the bellow is to protect the strut from water and dirt. When I push up the bellow, the strut is very clean like new on the outside of the cylinder. I think the bellow is sitting on top of the lower bracket when the car 's suspension is lowered to the normal operation position.
I talk to the mechanic in the mid-city Park Place, they told me there is no repair to the pump and the replacement of the pump filter will not help to quiet down the pump if it runs loud. Actually they told me they will reuse the buffers even they replace a new pump. At this point, I need more research before I will start anymore pump repair project.
As the root cause of the leak is fixed, the pump will operate in rare situations. I did not change my Hella relay either, because I never run into relay problem in the past.

[daisound]

Joe,
I replaced both seals myself and passed the test of 32F outside from the evening. This morning , when I start the car, the compressor not even run at all. That means no air has been let out. The car has been at prefect height. The dealer gave me a deal to replace two struts for $1850 plus tax down from $3200 because I bought more than 10 new cars from them in last 2 years for export, but I turn it down because I think I can fix it myself after reading this forum.
This afternoon, I took out the driver wheel to inspect the plastic bellow, remember from my post above, the mechanic told me the bellow should be attached to its lower holder if the airmatic system is working fine, he is right, the plastic bellow was attached to lower holder and tight due to the vacuum created by raising the car and dropping the driver side suspension. If you ever see the plastic bellow is off its lower holder when you rotate your tires, that means your struts are bad. This should apply to the rear struts too. Actually, the seals and the plastic bellow is working in connection with each other. Exactly, how they interact with each other, I am not able to tell you.
To answer you question:
You do not need the Star Diagnosis to discharge the pressure. When you follow the procedures in this forum, the air will be let out slowly once you loose the plastic pipe nipple from the brass stem that goes into the struts cap. Wait until all the air is gone before you completely remove the nipple.
It takes about 30 minutes to take out the epoxy from each cap. It takes another 30-40 minutes to replace the seals. But I was screwed for 2-3 hours just to figure out how to remove the brass stem from the cap. I tried to buy a socket to remove the brass stem but it was not for sales anywhere.
I will sell you the tool for $65 plus the freight $15, totaled $80. I will help you remove the seals just like Dbenz02 help me.

[finntexan]

There is an easy trick for removing the brass valve. Take a 2 1/2 inch regular nail, bend it into a U shape so that it fits snugly over the two indents on both side of the valve. Now a 14 mm socket will fit tightly on top of the valve, and you can easily turn it to open. Same for mounting a new one, and you do not scratch the brass.

[daisound]

finn,
I took my car back to Park Place Mid city and ask the shop mgt. Ray to check out the noise level of the pump. He told me the pump is fine because he can barely heard the noise when the engine is running.