suggashane410

Ok so at the inspection station the guy lifted the front of the car all the way off the ground to see under it to check for leaks, well when he let the car back down, the front bottomed out and was laying on the ground, Now i get the dreaded AIRMATIC VISIT WORKSHOP message with an arrow pointing up. But as soon as he turned the car on it came right back to normal height. I was doing a search on here and learned that your not sopposed to bottom a car out like that. That it will fail a sensor. Now when i turn the key both the lights on the button to raise the car and the one next to it to i guess make the shocks firmer are both on untill i turn the car all the way on. Is there a reset procedure i can perform or anything i can do??? HELP ME lolany advice is appreciated

Skylaw

Suggashane, it would help if you posted the model years of your cars.

The lights on the switches you mentioned do not come on (bulb/LED test) on my '05 when I first switch on.

Does your car remain at the proper height when you park it overnight? Or does it raise significantly after you start?

If it remains at proper height, you likely have no real problem. I'd recycle the switches (use them several times) and see if the lights don't reset. If they do, and the car stays up, no problem.

It is possible to damage the ride height sensors by bottoming out the suspension they way you described, but it doesn't always happen. The reason your car bottomed out when lowered was likely because you have leaks at the top of your airmatic struts in front - they may be small. Keep watch on it for a while - the car usually shouldn't "settle" more than about 1/2 inch or so overnight.

In the future if the car is raised, have the mechanic partially lower the car - not putting full weight on the wheels. Then start it, let it run maybe 30 seconds - and then lower it the rest of the way. That lets the struts refill, and they won't bottom out.

There are seal kits available (around $550 parts & labor for both struts) IF you have a leak.

s5benzo

yup skylaws right on it , strut tops are leaking causing all the air to bleed out when the car is lifted. time for new strut tops!! or just get two new struts from arnott and call it good.

tusabes

roughly how much should a strut top repair cost, parts and labor at an indy shop?

suggashane410

No No! my car doesnt leak at all...its just throwing this damn airmatic warning,today i did the reset procedure by taking the battery terminal off and everything worked when i hooked it back up..the airmatic signs went away but i have no sound to my radio. IS there some sort of steps i have to do after i take the battery terminals off? The navigation n everything work radio works just no sound!!!

Skylaw

Disconnect the battery again - leave it disconnected for about 2 minutes, then reconnect.

And refer to post #14 at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...st2216730.html if you have more odd problems.

suggashane410

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF NO SOUND FROM THE RADIO?????

Skylaw

Yes; so why are you "shouting?" There are many posts about it, and a search would get them for you.

They would also get you the same solution I suggested (in addition to the obvious solution of checking fuses).

But when you disconnect the battery, you may also have need of the resets I sent you. UNDERSTAND?

Quadcammer

and you know this how?

suggashane410

because it is in the same position in the morning as it was the night before.

The resets said nothing about the radio, i disconnected the battery for 2 mins then hooked up and still nothing, everything else works good..no need to reset that stuff right?

I did do a search for radio no sound and nothing came up lol

s5benzo

my cars always in the same position in the morning too... doesnt mean that you dont have leaky strut tops. believe me..if the tech lifts your car and on the way down the front slams to the ground , you have a problem. my 02 s500 does the same thing because my front upper strut mounts have cracks in them causing the air to bleed out when i lift the car.

tusabes

are you supposed to press the strut raise button on the dash before the car comes off a lift, to repressurize the struts? ive seen that in other threads

s5benzo

you dont have too but in my case lifting the car up causes my front shocks to lose air.... so what i do is lower it down on the tires a little bit , start the car and press the raise button , let the system run for a couple minutes and then slowly lower it down , if it looks like your fender is getting close to the tire then the system is still working to get air in the shocks. finally ill see the front go up a bit indicating to me its ok to drop the lift now. ... safe to do this way , better then slamming front on ground...thats very bad for the air shocks, could cause premature wear and failure ..hope this helped

suggashane410

well guys i figures it out, i disconnected the battery and waited 30 mins and everything reset and it works perfect now...thanks for your help!!

Skylaw

Of course the resets said nothing about the radio. They MAY be necessary after disconnecting the battery to reset your audio system. They may not. I could have left you hanging with a bunch of odd glitches after disconnecting the battery.

Anyway, glad it worked out.