noemie

hello, my car is dropping on the front left side, i tried raising it but nothing works

Racin_fool

the air bag on the strut has probably ripped or burst. Without actually inspecting it, I'd have to say that you are probably going to have to replace it. If this has been going on for a while, you could have possibly also caused excessive wear on the air pump for the suspension and that might need to be replaced also.

drakecoldwinter

It can be several causes:
- Air bag damaged
- air tubes connectors damaged/corroded
- air distribution valve

A common trouble is that the connector from the air tube to the front strut is damaged or corroded, it can happen on the strut end or the air distribution valve end. This trouble is the cheapest one to repair, so you should check it just to be safe. To check if the connector is leaking you can put a little soapy water directly on the connector and look for air bubbles leaking (you can open the hood and check directly on the top of the strut, you will see the air pipe arriving to the strut. (clean well and dry it after putting the soapy water, you don't wan't to corrode it).

The distribution valve is on top of the air compressor, located in the front right wheel (you need to take off the front right well and remove the plastic shield, the aircompressor and the distribution valve is located there). You can then put a little soapy water on the connector in the distribution valve end.

To check the distribution valve, swap both front connectors (left and right) if after the swap the right side looses air or doesn't inflate, then it's the valve. For the valve distribution to have a leak it's more rare, most of the time when the valve is damaged, it simply doesn't work (doesn't send any air to the air strut).

Last, you can check if the air bag on the strut itself is leaking the air, for that rub the complete air bag with soapy water and seek air bubbles. You have a lot of surface to cover and it's not easy to check the complete air bag, so you may miss the leak if it's a small one.

ChrisDee73

I had the same issue on my 2011, ended up replacing all the airbags and tank under the extended warranty. What i found is that MB will use the cheap bags when doing warranty work and not a quality air bag such as Arnott. Be inquisitive at the dealer or mechanic that replaces them for you and ask or request a quality replacement like Arnott.

amedeogoga

Hello, I own a 2012 GL 450…I’m experiencing problems with my Suspension…

Two weeks ago, the car was laying so Low in the Front, I thought it was a Lamborghini…then other days it would NOT drop at all…

I took it to my regular mechanic, ( NOT a Benz Dealer ), he checked front, and said there’s NO Leak, and that his computer is only indicating some communication problem, faulty wiring…

I was thinking to change the front AirBag suspension, but Mechanic said that they are still good, NO LEAKS

Has anyone else Experienced anything like this???

Let me know how to fix this Problem, ASAP !!!

Please help, thanks so very much in Advance !!!

eric_in_sd

This is great advice if you are seeking a career in stand-up comedy.

drakecoldwinter

Well, the airmatic system is composed of multiple parts, first you have air tubing itself, you can have a leak in the tubing, or the airmatic valve system (you can reach it from the front wheel right side, if you remove the shield) the reserve tanks (they are in your trunk, under the mat) or the air pump (also in the trunk area).

You may have leaks in any of those parts, but as you are stating it's only the front that gets low, then you need to check both front airbags and the tubing to them as well as the airmatic valve system. Now if it only drops on one side, then one of those is the most probable cultprint, if the whole front drops, then maybe you have a trouble with the height indicators as well. There is a height sensor on each wheel, it's located near the strut, if one of those doesn't work properly or it isn't calibrated properly you'll have problems.

Now if you look at my post, the problem can be the airbags, or the tubing, or the valve or the height sensors, or maybe the cabling to the height sensors. My advice, visit your dealer and ask for an estimate of the repair. They will answer "The xxx is broken and needs to be replaced. It will cost xxx$ to repair" you will then know what exactly it's broken. In my case I went to a regular mechanic who spend 4 hours to diagnose the trouble (and charged me 4 hours, 380$cad) and found the valve was bad. I went to a different mechanic who changed my valve(350$cad), but the height sensors calibration was not good, furthermore he cracked the valve while installing so it had a very very small leak, so I kept having multiple troubles in the following weeks, finally I went to the official Mercedes dealer, who installed a brand new valve and calibrated the sensors height properly (500$). It was 8 months ago, since then my airmatic works well.

When I have a trouble with my car I think very long and very deeply if I go to a general mechanic or official mercedes. For the airmatic, my advice is visit the official mercedes, ask for a repair estimation to know exactly what's wrong and then think very very carefully where you repair it.

drakecoldwinter

If when you start the car the air pumps works and raise the front back to normal levels, then that's a sign the height sensors work (as the car detects it's low and brings it back to normal levels).