zam2000

On the way to work this morning, the air-matic of my car failed. Rear is okey/normal, but front wheels hit the fender. Can hardly turn steering. Both of the air-matic lights and the suspension height light turn on, but I couldn't adjust nor raise the car. The ride was so stiff, it felt as if there's no air in tires.

Once I stopped the car for a while, then I could turn off the light and raise the car back to normal again. Close examination show that there're cracks on top of both strut towers.

Thanks to the crappy US dollars, part is much more expensive now. A kit cost $70 last year, it's $120-150 now, for each. And yes, I did check around.

Lucky that my Indy MB shop will charge me wholesale price. $440 total for part+ labor, not too bad. I am changing the pump relay as well, as preventive approach.

S5LorinserF1

all you gotta do is go the dealer and get the upgrade for the airmatic and everthing will be 100% perfect


same happend to me a couple years back. they did the upgrade and no problems

benz_addict

what year and model is your car?? You're getting me scared about mine also did you see little cracks form on top of the rubber strut mount?

zam2000

Mine is 03 S430. From what the mechanic told me, it doesn't matter what year it is, most W220 air-matic eventually fail. The 00-02 fail both the strut and pump/valve-block/relay. The 03-later address the pump/valve-block problem, so most of the time it's the strut top that crack. From what I'm told, the kit really fix the problem.

Yes, I did see the hair-line crack couple weeks ago, but didn't pay much attention to it. So lesson learned: if you see the crack, get an MB shop to put a new kit in, it would be the cheapest air-matic job you have, and replace the relay while you're at it.

If the front strut fail, and you keep driving, eventually you will have to replace the entire front strut, $3000+ job.

Good new is that the rear hardly fail.

AH1W-COBRA

is it the engine heat that cooks the epoxy and it creates the hairline cracks?in other words simply drying or curing the epoxy to the point of failing.or is it expansion and contraction from temp changes?should we consider a insulator type cover for the top of the strut?there has got to be a way to extend the service life of this seal.

Skylaw

You are right on the button with that assessment, Zam.

Magnified

Sorry to hear of your bad luck Zam. On the way to work a few weeks ago I saw a S-something on the other side of the tollway here in Houston with the rear totally collapsed. Guy was creeping along with the hazards on and so low I couldn't believe he wasn't making sparks.

Anyway, it would be a great help if you could post some photos of the strut towers/cracks.

Best regards,

LR

benz_addict

**** I see cracks on my passenger side strut... how long would it take to fix this? I don't like leaving my car at the dealership over night. I also have extended warranty will they cover this?

srknutson

Why hasn't airmatic been put on a 10 year recall. This is a clear case for a safety recall! How can this collection of owners get the ball rolling?

Skylaw

Repair of mine a few years back was done in an afternoon. Depends on when your dealer can schedule the work.

Whether your extended warranty covers depends on what extended warranty you bought. Read the warranty terms. If it was an MB CPO (StarMark) warranty, it should cover. 3rd party warranties will require closer reading. Look for generic terms rather than specific ones (i.e., it may not say "airmatic" but may say "struts." Be sure exclusions for "pneumaticss" are not included.

Both seals should be replaced, not just one. $600 or so, parts & labor, for both - assuming that continuing to drive caused no further damage.

benz_addict

thanks skylaw I appreciate your answers

benz_addict

My car is finally going in for the crack repairs tomorrow morning. I read somewhere it's best to replace the relay as well... is this really necessary?

Skylaw

"Really necessary"? No. Advisable? Yes. It is fairly inexpensive ($85 or so through dealer, $45 or so through ordinary car parts places). Earlier Mercedes used a Siemens relay that wasn't the most reliable; the relay manufactured by Hella is now OE on newer models, and is less prone to failure.

Relay failure can cause burnout of your Airmatic pump ($900) or failure of your car to properly maintain design pressure even though the pump is working.

You might check your '04's relay yourself - if it is a Hella, you're probably OK not to replace it. I don't know exactly when MB made the change.

S500 Man

where exactly would i find these relays to see if its hella?

MBS430

Skylaw

Check the fuse diagram for your car. It is usually in the spare tire tool kit, often wrapped around one of the tools. If not, the '01 fuse diagrams already posted in the forum might help. https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...59#post2723059 and http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...e-diagram.html

benz_addict

Hey guys I got the work done today… got the relay replaced as well. They installed the repair kit BUT only on the driver’s side. After getting the car back, an hour after driving I noticed there is this really loud 'knocking', violent tension, stress noise coming from the drivers side strut (the one they worked on).
Airmatic still works fine raises and lowers fine, but this violent noise is coming from the strut now. I don't know what to do. The SA is always an *** to me.

benz_addict

New Relay (HELLA)


Old Seal (passenger side)


New Seal (Drivers side) Does this look right?

Skylaw

Take the car back and complain loudly about the knocking. It should not be happening. If the SA is an ***, go directly to the dealership's General Manager and complain about both the work and the SA's attitude. Make it his problem, not yours.

Thanks for the pics - it will help folks identify the relay, as well as the old and new seals (they are different between older and newer models).

You have properly identified the drivers side and passenger side in your photos - but the seals on my '00 resembled the one shown on your driver side (older seals); the ones on my '05 are identical to the one on your passenger side. They were replaced under warranty in '06. Makes me wonder if they used a current seal kit.

gulfairs

Hi my MB dealer just tried tosell me a new strut $2880.00, and reading this forum all I need is a seal kit.
Can anyone advise me of the seal kit MB part number

Gulfairs

E43 S

+ 1?

newton22

Have you had the repair kit installed already?

I had the repair kit installed on my S430 around 2004/2005. A few weeks ago, my struts started failing again. Now I am replacing both struts.

My bill is roughly $4000. Yes, a living nightmare.

Skylaw

gulfairs, newton

It is impossible to diagnose your suspension over the web; and there is more than one way for the struts to fail. There are, for example, upper and lower seals; but the replacement kit is only for the upper seals; I know of no kit for the lower seals.

Further, if the struts went all the way down hard, they may have suffered internal damage that no seal replacement can address. This has occurred sometimes when the upper seals had a leak, and the car was raised on a lift, then lowered without repressurizing the struts. It has happened when folks continued to drive after the system went "down."

Upper seal failure is perhaps the most common problem with the Airmatic struts, but it is not the only one.

my06clk

The new seal is the same as the old seal except it looks to be an older version. Then center if the newer seals ave rubber compound poured in the center to keep the Brass fitting from breaking off. As you can see, the port is very small and without the compound it will vibrate and break over time this will be a disaster if you happen to be on the freeway when it happens..

I would DEMAND to have the seal replaced exactly like the one that was removed which looks like the passenger side for this reason..
It's your car and your money not your stupid SA's so he doesn't get the last say on what you accept you do.

They can use any rubber based compound that they have in stock to do this.. They actually use it on a lot of cars in different places so they should have some in stock.. IT is used on the fuel tank door on the ML's for example to seal the cabin floor cover after a fuel pump change.. Just pour it in and let it cure it will look just like the other side.

BTW. The knocking is something else not the seal.

chibial

this may sound like a silly question but.

if i pick up the new hella relay at the dealership... is it as easy as just pulling the old relay out and plugging the new one in? 5 second job?


anyone have the part number for the new hella relay handy?