I've been told by the shop that my compressor is not distributing air correctly(something like that) and thats why my back is really high, they said I need to change air compressor 400$, one of the hoses is leaking 50$, change relay 50$, and change valve block assembly 300$ plus labor, so total 1200$, they said valve block assembly 99% its needed to be changed, but still its better to raplalce it right now, cuase it will cost more later, but Im not planning on keeping this car for more then few weeks. I also had top struts repaired with repair kit. Do I really need to repalce valve block assembly? will changing relay fix the problem or new pump is the only option? The car sinks down(front) a little bit after few days and when I start it it comes back up, but the back still at the same spot, so pump is working.

 

The pump only pumps air to the valve block. The valve block is what distributes the air. If you can hear the pump running and it will raise the rear, the pump is fine. Sounds like either the valve block is faulty or there is a leak in the front.

 

leak in the top struts? they've been fixed with a repair kit, when I was picking it up dealership told me that they didnt do the calibration process and then he told me later few week that they did it, so I dont believe him.

 

You probably want to seek second opinion. The pump does not distribute air, it's the valve assembly and the height sensor that control how front/rear will stay. Pump either work or not. If it's not broken, don't change it.

Unlikely it's the relay either. Most likely it's the height sensor

 

do you know how much that height sensor cost with labor?

 

This guy is the best!

He will help us save $

 

Thanks ^^^ I dont mind helping out when I have free time.

Since you said the front sinks after a few days, it sounds like you still have a leak up front. There are pneumatic tests that we can do in the shop using the star diagnosis computers. This will help pin point the leak. I wouldnt change the pump cause its working fine. Also we always recommend a relay when changing the pump cause a stuck relay will burn the pump up so its just preventative maintenance if ur gonna spend all the money on a new pump. However since your pump is fine, you wont need the relay either. Id fix the leak first and go from there. It could just be a line or the valve block can leak internally as well. Start with the obvious and see rather than spending all that money up front.

 

Thanks alot MBtech1, I actually got a copy from that shop and compared to MB dealer's, at the dealership, tech said that my pump is working fine, but my air control valves not functionin properly, or could be my height sensors. and this is what that shop said " the technician tested the airmatic suspension system and found the airmatic pressure release valve does not function properly. also found line between compressor and valve leaks. need to replace compressor and line. Also will need to install updated relay. Also recommend raplacing valve block due to high failure rate."
My car is at the dealership right now, first I told them to do the calibration, and then call me if that will not with the problem(back is too high), then we could try replacing valve block and height sensors.

 

got a call today from the dealership and he said that they did the calibration on my car, front got fixed, but back is still high, he said that the pressure is there so its not the pump, and the sensors looked good when tech checked it out, but he wasnt sure about it. so its probably a valve block, he wants to do more diagnoses on it but im just tired paying all the time to just diagnose. he said to change the valve block will be around 700$, is it hard to change? is it possible to do by myself?

 

Glad to hear you are at least getting somewhere with it. As far as changing it urself, its not that bad. Its under the passenger headlight area. You take the panel off under the car. (the front one) and if you look up on the passenger side you will see the pump. The valve block is mounted above the pump. Its only one electrical connector, 2 nuts that hold it in place and then a bunch of lines. The lines are a little bit of a pain cause theres not a lot of slack but its not bad really. Just do one at a time so you dont mix them up.

 

Thanks, does the car need to be reprogrammed after the new valve block? and where can I get a good deal on the valve block?

 

There is no programming to do for replacing the valve block. Its just plug and play. Im not sure about finding a cheap price cause I work at a dealer so I only deal with parts from there.

 

I called the dealer to find out abut the price but he tried to convice me to let them do it, he told me that they charge 4 hours of labor because of some fittings to valve block, I assume its hose fittings, he said they are alot of hassle, do you know anything about it?

 

Yea the hoses can be a pain cause of there not being much slack. It can make them hard to get the threads started. It just takes some work. Its much easier on a lift than the ground though.

 

so theres no special tips or tricks to fit those hoses? just playing around will do it?

 

metric line wrenches to break them loose and to tighten the lines after you replace the valve block.if you use these wrenches you wont scar the hardware and leave that telltale sign that a inexperienced mech has done a less than acceptable job.trust me MB techs are allways on the lookout for anything that does not conform to MB standards of maintanance.

 

Dear MBtech,
With my MB S500 Y2000 frequant failures in airmatic sys , I decided to conver it to non air matic type . Can any of you recommend how to do it, any clue on that. As I know there is a conversion kit for Range rover.
Appreciate your assistance in advance.

 

Im not sure of any kits for the S class since they dont come in steel spring suspension at all. If it were an E class then Id say you can just replace the struts cause they are airmatic optional. As long as you have the front strut updates, you shouldnt have too many problems. Most S class cars leak at the front strut tops and then it burns the pump up. If you have a good pump and good front struts, you shouldnt have many problems with it. There might be an aftermarket kit for it but nothing factory. At least not on US spec cars.

 

Thanx MBtech1 for your valuable input waiting for more .
Yea even in my country there is no option for non-airmatic sys. But I recall when I bought my car before 7.5 years from Hamburge/Germany there was non-airmatic S series.

The spare part #s for the strut repaire kit and the complete shock absorber are as follow respectively: 220 320 2538 and 220 320 2438 , are those updated ones?

The problems of airmatic sys come also from valve assembly (about $700) , air leake from hoses ,...,etc. additionally to strut and pump. Along the 7.5 years , I had failures for three time in front shock absorber , one time in rear ones and two times in pump (ofcourse replaced with relay) so failure of the detriorated hoses , valve assembly , rear shock absorbers and pump with relay are expected soon. Thats why I am considering more reliable sys , spring type or even hydrolic type which is used for the S600.