Rear Arnott 2724 replacement air struts -- installed, height constant
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2006 E 500 4MATIC Wagon
Rear Arnott 2724 replacement air struts -- installed, height constant
Using the car's jack and some blocking, I replaced the rear air struts on a 2006 E 500 4Matic Wagon with Arnott 2724s.
I lowered the jack with the system deflated and the battery disconnected. When the car started, it raised the car with no issues.
This car has the Comfort/Sport button and other buttons to raise the suspension. They now do not seem to do anything with the new air struts. Also the message center has the car-raising icon with the "visit workshop" line.
The car drives fine, and I'll see tomorrow morning if there is any droop (it used to go all the way down during cool nights) but I am wondering if I need to program the computer or otherwise change a setting to allow the car to fully use the new air struts. It's like it's permanently set at the sport/normal setting, lower than the comfort/high.
If computer work is necessary, and you have advice, would you please break it down a bit -- I don't know what scanner is recommended, whether you have to buy a specific dongle for W211, download a specific app or software. Greatly appreciated; I have never used one.
As far as the job went, if anyone is trying to do the same, I would recommend lifting the car from the rear differential with a floor jack and putting jack stands on both rear lift points so that the whole back is up with the front wheels blocked.
If you jack one side while the system has some air and then, after the system has lost its air, the other, the second side will be very compressed -- and the suspension geometry will be very hard to work with.
Thanks for any advice; I did search the forum; maybe there is a thread that can help me, but what I've found so far was tangential or conflicting.
I lowered the jack with the system deflated and the battery disconnected. When the car started, it raised the car with no issues.
This car has the Comfort/Sport button and other buttons to raise the suspension. They now do not seem to do anything with the new air struts. Also the message center has the car-raising icon with the "visit workshop" line.
The car drives fine, and I'll see tomorrow morning if there is any droop (it used to go all the way down during cool nights) but I am wondering if I need to program the computer or otherwise change a setting to allow the car to fully use the new air struts. It's like it's permanently set at the sport/normal setting, lower than the comfort/high.
If computer work is necessary, and you have advice, would you please break it down a bit -- I don't know what scanner is recommended, whether you have to buy a specific dongle for W211, download a specific app or software. Greatly appreciated; I have never used one.
As far as the job went, if anyone is trying to do the same, I would recommend lifting the car from the rear differential with a floor jack and putting jack stands on both rear lift points so that the whole back is up with the front wheels blocked.
If you jack one side while the system has some air and then, after the system has lost its air, the other, the second side will be very compressed -- and the suspension geometry will be very hard to work with.
Thanks for any advice; I did search the forum; maybe there is a thread that can help me, but what I've found so far was tangential or conflicting.
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2006 E 500 4MATIC Wagon
In addition to posting here for help, I emailed Arnott. A representative responded immediately and suggested, in the absence of a scanner, disconnecting the battery for 30 to 45 minutes to clear a stored code. Offering up that tip in case it's of use to anyone else. Will report how it works after I attempt it this afternoon.
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From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
By any chance did you disconnect/bend/rotate the level sensor attached to the rear sway bar? That's usually the issue. The air valves opened to inflate the springs so that reduces the chance they are bad. One maybe, but both? Unlikely so I would check the level sensor. Be advised, however, you may need to recalibrate the suspension; I had to do so when I converted from OEM to Arnott springs.
If you have access to Star you can literally activate the air springs individually so that would give you another way to check that the solenoids in the air springs are functioning properly.
If you have access to Star you can literally activate the air springs individually so that would give you another way to check that the solenoids in the air springs are functioning properly.
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2006 E 500 4MATIC Wagon
By any chance did you disconnect/bend/rotate the level sensor attached to the rear sway bar? That's usually the issue. The air valves opened to inflate the springs so that reduces the chance they are bad. One maybe, but both? Unlikely so I would check the level sensor. Be advised, however, you may need to recalibrate the suspension; I had to do so when I converted from OEM to Arnott springs.
If you have access to Star you can literally activate the air springs individually so that would give you another way to check that the solenoids in the air springs are functioning properly.
If you have access to Star you can literally activate the air springs individually so that would give you another way to check that the solenoids in the air springs are functioning properly.
I saw a curved black-painted bar (please correct me if this is not the sway bar) that on the car side disappears into a thick rubber bushing and on the wheel side connects to suspension links.
Disconnecting the main battery for an hour did not change anything. The car still holds its level, relatively low in the back, like the sport setting, but it does not sag or droop. The ride feels good.
I am going to try disconnecting both batteries sometime soon to see if that clears a code, but would also like to investigate the level sensors, since the sway bar was definitely an effort, and asking whether something was put out of whack here seems like a great question. Thank you.
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From: North Scottsdale, AZ
'71 Pinto
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2006 E 500 4MATIC Wagon
How does this sensor work -- is it measuring how the sway bar rotates, liquid level, something else? Is it connected to the small cylinder on the shock in some way?
It seems unlikely to me that the sensor's electrical connection itself was affected during the job -- I didn't touch or see anything behind the bushing.
One side of the sway bar was levered down (with my hands) while the other remained fixed as I reconnected the sway bar linkage. Could that have twisted it out of position?
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2006 E 500 4MATIC Wagon
To follow up (sorry for the massive time gap) I gave up and sought professional help through our local independent shop in Madison, Wisconsin -- Dunn's Imports. They saw that I hadn't tightened the airline bolts sufficiently, so the air leaked out instead of inflating the bags properly. They charged me an hour labor and everything has been working perfectly since. It's been over a year now.
The air lines fit into little ports in the Arnotts and there is a olive shaped washer and a nut over it that requires a special tool to tighten. The port is plastic and the video I watched stressed not over tightening, or you'd basically ruin the whole Arnott gas bag unit. But you have to tighten it more than I did.
The air lines fit into little ports in the Arnotts and there is a olive shaped washer and a nut over it that requires a special tool to tighten. The port is plastic and the video I watched stressed not over tightening, or you'd basically ruin the whole Arnott gas bag unit. But you have to tighten it more than I did.
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