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have a problem that i need advice on. we live in LA, CA, and rarely drive our 2008 GL550. in fact, in june we had 41K miles. we took a large roadtrip around the country and put on 9K miles. now at 50K and some change.
so during our roadtrip, i took car to a mechanic i trust in houston and he said my rear hydraulic shocks were leaking and we had both replaced in houston by a trusted mechanic. (my family is in houston and been using him for a long time). he mentioned how the hydraulic and air shocks are separated in the rear, while combined in the front).
while driving back to LA, i noticed that the right side rear part of the car was lowering to the point where the car looked like it was lower on the left side when looking from the rear. when i put my ear to that tire, i could hear a hissing sound. it only does this when car is parked, not when driving. when driving, the car rises back up. i called my houston mechanic and he said it should be ok if the car doesnt do this when driving.
so i continued on to LA. when i got to LA, i took to the MB dealer and they told me that "left rear bellow leaking. performed an airmatic inspection, applied soapy water to rear bellows, found left leaking". they wanted $1500 for repairs. i took car back and took to a recommended mechanic in my area from a neighbor who says they are very honest. they have checked car for a few days and said they really cant find a problem with it. they cant really find anything wrong with it. they seem really honest, as most mechanics would just replace the part and charge you and say its fixed. at this time, not sure what to do. what would you do?
online i found this, and it seems to describe my problem exactly.
if fixing this is imperative, can anyone recommend a trusted MB mechanic in the los angeles area? i live in west LA. thanks hard to see, but car is lower on drivers side, so appears sinking down on left side this is where the problem is. all other tires i can put 5 fingers between wheel and fender. when this one lowers, i can only put in 2 fingers this is the normal passenger side.
Airbag is leaking to replace the bag. There is a small chance it is the hose that feeds the bag. But almost 90% of the time it's a bad bag. It will get progressively worst. And your air compressor can die constantly trying to keep up with the leaking bag..
If you hear a hissing, and your trusted mechanic cannot find a problem with the airbag, then it is most definitely the air line.
The rear air line runs from your airbag and into the spare tire well (under the carpet) where it joins with the other side and feeds from the air tank which externally under the spare tire.
Once again, if you can HEAR the hissing from outside the vehicle, I suggest you inspect the air line from the rear air bag to just before it enters the cabin - - this is likely to be your source of air loss. Move it around a little bit, bending it ever so slightly, to see if you can pinpoint the leak. If the line is damaged, then you can choose to replace the air line, or get one of these bad boys and repair it at the fracture point:
On a 1 to 10 DIY scale, this is a 1 (super easy) -- you cut the hose where it is leaking, then connect both ends to the coupler..... done.
Your local MB dealer will try to sell you a brass coupler for about US$100...
Mine had a fracture that grew wider (circumference wise) with time and the hissing became more pronounced. I had replaced the airbag twice (Arnott lifetime warranty), but the problem had persisted.. then I found the leak in the line so I bought the coupler. Problem solved.
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