Air suspension

[Zed]

Hi. I have an audi q7 2010 that was parked for 2 weeks. After getting the car started cause it had a flat battery the driver side and drivers rear did not lift up whereas the passenger side and passenger rear has lifted. I did have the yellow light on the dash which has been on for a couple of months now the code i got from that was the 01772 code but the air system worked fine. Now going over bumps is very uncomfortable as there is no air on one side of the vehicle 

[Steve Q]

I'd suspect that the bag isn't inflating and changing it is the only option. 

[56Doc]

I agree with Steve, one of the bags has probably gone.

best to get it sorted asap as the pump will keep trying to push air into that side and it’s simply not designed or able to run for long periods, it will fail in fairly short order (been there, done that!😔), it takes the 40A Relay with it too.

‘oem’ parts are made by non Audi specialist manufacturers/suppliers, eg, air pump is same as used by Mercedes, RR, Range Rover, Bentley, etc. so I bought a pump from the US manufacturer for £300 instead of £1300 from Audi.

single Audi airbags arent too bad, but if it’s more than one, I’d look for the US made upgraded versions that used to come with a lifetime gaurantee and replace all 4.

 

depends how long you plan to keep it tbh.

[56Doc]

PS; it’s not really safe to drive at all TBH with collapsed suspension on 1 side, and defo not at any speed over 30. My Allroad had the tyre rubbing on the wheel arch when it blew a bag. 
 

sorry!

[Zed]

Thank you for the replies! Is there something i should be aware of once i have replaced the airbag? Or will it be good to go once replaced?

Edited April 29 by Zed

[56Doc]

I had a garage do it as it’s not easy on a drive!
 

But forum discussions at the time (if you do the job yourself) suggested blanking off the air pipe and running the pump to check for leaks (dont run it for more than 1 minute in ten) it’s just not designed for it and will likely burn the motor or compressor seals.

if you can pressurise it another way to test, I’d do so.

[Bigdave1230]

If one of the bags has a slight leak then the pump has probably been working overtime for as long as the yellow light has been on but I would of expected there to be a code for the pump overheating. You should be able to jack the car up on the side that’s down when turning the car on to take some of the strain off the pump and get the bags filled. Then spray soapy water on the suspension bags and see if you see bubbles indicating a leak. I probably wouldn’t just start replacing parts without doing some checks. Have you had the car code checked since this has happened. Check none of the level control units haven’t popped out of the suspension arms as that can cause weird and wonderful things to happen as the car try’s to change other corners of the car to compensate.

[56Doc]

There were no codes on my 04 Allroad, 2010 Q7, there might be but, the systems electrical rather than electronic on the old Allroad, so nothing digital involved.

[Bigdave1230]

Yeah the Q7 has loads of codes for everything. 01577 turn off due to over temp is a common one for the pump as well as the level control system going on about lower/ upper limit exceeded etc and even a 01583 code for leak detected in system. There should be some codes stored that will be an indication of what it’s unhappy with.

[Zed]

After 3 weeks of being sat on one side, the q7 magically rises itself and now all 4 airbags are filled with air. I have no idea how this happened as i have done nothing other than try to figure out what the problem was. I did keep an eye on it to see if overnight it starts to sag or drop but, all good. I have tried to spray soapy water on the airbags but no leak. I did have the green light on and the yellow light on for the air suspension but now the green light has gone and just the yellow one is on. The code i am getting for that is 01772 which is for the level control pressure sensor which apparently is in the valve block so im considering replacing that and seeing how it goes from there

[56Doc]

Try cleaning the electrical connector 1st. If it’s now working, it sounds like either a mechanical or electrical poor/ loose/stiff connection (mechanical connector could be stiff, so not moving with car to axle movement, or damaged?)

has to be cheaper than a new level unit. 
 

I had to replace one in a Lexus RX450. £500!

[Magnet]

Level sensors are prone to sticking.

[Bigdave1230]

Is the level control on the mmi greyed out for the other ride heights?

[56Doc]

On my A6 Allroad, the current ride height is highlighted in orange, while the other height settings are just blank boxes.

so I would assume yr assumption is correct, but greyed out rather than blank.

when the old Allroad had suspension issues, all height segments were blank if I recall correctly.