[Aladoro]

I have a 2000 V220 and have only had it about 3 months and have been working through a few of the niggly problems.

Upto now the air suspension seems to have been working well enough, but the week before Christmas although the compressor could be heard running the rear was not rising. Having looked at all of the previous posts on the forum it seems that this time of year is particularly bad on the suspension.

I have finally had good enough weather to get underneath and strip everything down and checked, surprisingly most things look in good condition.

The most obvious thing though (apart from the anti-vibration mounts that have seen better days) was the fact that the black plastic drier unit on the compressor appeared to be attached by a multitude of cable ties.

I stripped everything down and the connection between the drier and the drain valve block does not have any form of bayonet fitting, so I am wondering if the drier has been changed for a non-standard part. The other thing that is not quite right is that the centre of the drier appears to be concentric whereas when you look into the drain valve the hole is actually eccentric.

Although the drier body has a mounting flange for the screw to fix it to the compressor motor the hole is not quite in the right position. When everything is assembled the drier sits at a slight angle.

I have tried using PTFE tape and silicon sealant to seal the joint between drier and drain valve block. However, as soon as the solenoid valve is connected, the back pressure of the system causes the joint to leak and hence the back won't pump up.

Is the bayonet fitting drier available as a replacement part from MB (or anybody else)? Or from other posts regarding the fact that earlier models didn't have a drier is there a bayonet fitting available that will allow a pipe to be mounted directly from the drain valve to the solenoid valves?


Thanks and Happy New Year

 

[Aladoro]

Further to my post above, it is possible to get a replacement drier for fitting to the compressor, Mercedes charge nearly £60 + VAT.

The drier was the same part number as the one fitted to my compressor but had 2 tangs on to allow it to locate in the bayonet fitting, it also has an O ring to help it seal in the outlet.

The fitting hole looks to have been elongated and even this is still approx 1-2 mm off so had to be modified.

Having built everything back up, the rear doesn’t lift despite the compressor running. To try to eliminate parts for the system, I disconnected the output from the drier and connected the yellow hose directly – the left raised correctly until at the right height when SCU turned the compressor off. When the hose was disconnected (with difficulty) all of the stored air blew out at a good pressure.

Unfortunately when the same operation was repeated with the blue hose, the right hand rear stayed down, and when the hose was disconnected much less air escaped and at a much lower pressure. Therefore, I presume that I have a leak in the hose or bellows or the connection between the 2, but due to the weather I haven’t yet had a chance to trace which is the case

 

[walsi]

Thats my sort of fix, can't beat a bit of ingenuity.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Cheers Martin