umoms

Ok I took it to a indy and here is what they told me


Suspension compressor 386
line 77
Valve Block 403
Relay 77
Bracket 85


$1028 in parts and 3 hours of labor.

Is there a guide on here to replace this stuff I can show my normal mechanic to see if he can do this stuff?

Can someone explain what the bracket and valve block are for and how do you test them?

Is it really necessary to replace the valve block?

Skylaw

The "guide" is in extensive training documents provided to MB technicians to certify them to work on your car. I suggest that you only allow certified MB techs - whether independent or dealer - to work on your Mercedes.

However, several contributors have written up instructions on how to replace the airmatic compressor, and provided information on the mounting of it. I don't have them bookmarked, but a search here and on the W220 forum at Benzworld will get you information.

I don't have anything, nor have I seen anything, on how to replace a valve block. I don't know how to test them, and would not put my knowledge of test procedures p against a trained technician. If you doubt his credibility, take it to another trained MB technician and get a second opinion.

If the valve block (which controls the distribution of air to the various struts) is bad, it must be replaced. If a bad valve block caused a leak, and ran your airmatic pump too long, it could have burned out the pump or damaged it so that it will fail soon. That could also damage the relay.

Since I cannot lay eyes on the line or the bracket to check their condition, I would have to go with the advice of the tech who diagnosed your problem.

One reason that Mercedes are expensive to maintain is that there is specialized equipment and knowledge necessary to test them. When new, your car was very expensive to buy, and expensive to repair (either for MB when in warranty, or the owner when not). While its book value may decrease over time, they will never be inexpensive to maintain.

Replacing the airmatic relay is a very simple Do-It-Yourself. See this for an inexpensive source of the part: http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...nation%20Relay (You need the 4-prong relay) - and see post #18 at https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ic-failed.html for a picture of it (the one you get may be a different color). You can check the fuse diagram at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...e-diagram.html for how to locate it.

swissconn

Has anyone ever hear of all struts front & rear go bad at the exact same time S500 2001

Shane Benz

Would somebody please answer a few questions and end a few myths. I have a s500 2001 my front driver side shock is very low to the ground I also have the warning car too low signal on the dash. Can you add air to a s500 air shock or air line to raise the car temporarily? When I jack the car up with the Benz Jack THE BACK shocks raise up to normal height then Stays for ahwile but dosent hold, because of the front driver shock that's low. So I changed the shock and it still dosent raise but now it's hissing like the old shock did before it stopped making any noise. When I jack it up I hear the air coming from the shock. It was a used shock so I don't know if it's the pump or whatever else but the shock was in good condition. The stabilizer is up a little high don't know if that could ruin the shock or stop it from raising. It's only one shock I had a problem with which also is having my right front side sit a little lower. All of the shocks sit low if it sits for more than a day. Compressor is working but is it possible it's not working good enough to raise the whole car? Can you add air to these shocks manually ?
I appreciate any help on this matter thanks.

tusabes

No you can't pump them up manually or use a tire inflator hose.

You probably bought another bad used shock . Trying to do this kind of halfway repair isn't the way to fix Your issues

Start with a new shock and if that's still not fixing the issue then it's probably a valve block issue

wallyp

I will make the standard suggestion - buy the Arnott lifetime rebuilt strut...

DrDoe

I didn't want to start a new thread so I'm going to stick a question in here and hope someone see it.
I was under the car to do coolant flush and caught a damaged hose on the 04 S430 airmatic. Here's the picture of the hose. The hose connects the airmatic pump output to the filter.
My question is this: why don't I see any issues with riding the car? I haven't lowered or raised the airmatic lately. Does it only showed up as problems if I run the car in sport modes or when I attempt to lower or raise the car?

wallyp

The leak in the hose doesn't directly affect the operation of the pump - all it does is to let dirt in to wear out the pump.

DrDoe

Oh. So that's the input line. My bad.

atxs500

Only Star Diagnostics can tell you if the valve block is bad. Ditto the compressor. I did a write up last year of replacing the compressor on my 2001 S500, should be easy to find. It's not overly difficult to do, but very fiddly if you don't have a hoist. It helps to have a friend to hold everything in place while you mount the unit. I really wouldn't start replacing things until I'd run SDS to find out exactly which component is at fault.

Hubus Calhoun

Sounds like a bad Valve block

wallyp

Perhaps sometime in the seven-plus years since he reported the problem, he found a solution...

Hubus Calhoun

He more than likely did I only answered for someone that has his problem now....

doni01

iTrader: (1)

Lol...you know it Wally. Threads are coming back from the dead with all the new noobs here.

Ed Wade

Horrible suggestion. A new valve block is under $100 and a 5th grader could swap it out. Start there before spending $1000+ on a new shock. I suspect you might have a line leak serving the bad shock, though. Make sure you can rule that out first. Speaking from experience on this issue.
.

wallyp

And the beat goes on...

Ethric Kadey

can you explain a little further, where do I get this?

wallyp

Up until last year, Arnott sold direct to the end user. Now, you have to go to Autozone or O'Reilley's - other stores may sell them in other areas. All exchanges are handled from the same folks.

This is what Autozone sells for my car. You are in the W220 forum, and I don't know what your car needs. My personal choice is the Arnott Reman strut. The new Arnott (not remanufactured) does not have the computer-controlled shock dampening control, which is important to me.

This will give you more information on the Airmatic suspension system, including the variable dampening.

https://w220.ee/Airmatic