supralance

Malfunction warning appeared on the display last night. When I slowed I could hear occasional scraping on the right side. When I stopped to check it out the right side was noticeably lower on the right side. When I hit the raise up button the car went up except for the front right. Rear left went way up. I crawled home & in the morning i could see that the front right was really low. I found the compressor & valve assembly under the trunk. When I turn the car on I can hear the compressor running & i don't hear any leaks from the valve assembly. The car raised up & I drove it around the block, while idling I measured the right side to be 1/2 inch lower than the left. When parked & turned off, I can hear air escaping near the front right. not by the wheel, but from the battery box. when I removed the box cover, the sound was stronger.
2010 E550 4matic 55k miles
Renntech lowering module
Thanks

supralance

I see the air line from the top of the strut going under the battery tray, is there a connection under there that might be leaking? I lifted the strut cover while the air was escaping, i cant hear or feel any air coming from that area. I'm trying to get the battery tray out today

homeofstone

I think it may mean you need to get at least one new front air strut. I always replace mine in pairs. A spray bottle of soapy water is a good way to find a leak. You may need to jack the car up some on the low corner. Don't drive the car, you can damage other components.

belarus27

here is what usualy wears off and air is leaking from there , im sure in your case its the same thing , as it looks like a common issue with these struts , i have a left one ebay for sale and i get a lot of inqueries about it from 10-11 550 owners.

u can send it to get it remanufactured (florida)
or buy a remanufactured one , buy used one , or new one...
if you can deal with cars you can even change it yourself , since its not that hard , just gotta have the right tools and common sense to save some $$$

supralance

I got the battery tray out & found that the air line is wrapped with a part of the wiring harness. I unwrapped the harness & pulled the air hose out little by little until I found a hole. I'm still confused as to how this worn spot came to be, but happy that i found it & easy to fix.

Looks like it was melted?



Wire Harness



Repair, silicone hose



Heavy duty thermal wrap from DEI

belarus27

Glad it was that easy

KEY08

Nicely done Sherlock! You just saved yourself a boat load of Christmas money.

MBSebas87

Wow I woulda never found that leak lol Good job!!

homeofstone

This is a new one on me. Good job finding the problem. I had a Mazda 1990 MX5 miata a few years back and it would not start. The indie shop had it a week trying to find out why. Turned out to be a small broken wire on a small circuit board connected to the MAF. The tech laughed about the fact that such a small thing kicked his *** for a week. Sometimes it is something small and a simple repair but hard to find.

thefisch

wow, did the hissing sound help you locate the spot or did you just decide to inspect every inch of that hose line?

supralance

The sound of air escaping in the engine bay led me away from the strut. The line goes into the firewall, the part that I would have been able to inspect was small. i'm not sure what I would have done if it wasn't there.