cervelo

I purchased a 2001 Allroad last summer and have just made it through my first winter with the vehicle. Living in Minneapolis, I was not surprised to see the suspension low on many mornings, especially as temps dropped to 10 or 20F below – and I park outside. Now that the weather is warmer and temps are generally in the 30’s overnight, I’m still finding the front suspension low about half the time. Sometimes the front is on the stops.
On two occasions in the past week, I have opened the rear hatch with the vehicle turned off and the front suspension low. Within less than a minute of lifting the hatch and with the car still off, the front suspension begins lifting and once it has reached a height which appears to be around level two, the rear suspension drops and the whole vehicle appears to level off around a level one. When I turned the car on in both incidents, the car was indeed on level one (despite being on level two prior to parking the day before) and I had to use the button to raise the suspension back to level two. I assume the system is designed to auto-level even if the car is off? I also assume that the minor shift in weight of the rear hatch going from a closed position to a high open position is what caused the auto leveling to kick in?
I’ve had the car into an indy mechanic who could not find any leaks other than on a valve which he tightened. This did not help the issue. Does the story above provide any clues into whether or not my air shocks are shot or if maybe it’s a less costly repair like a valve? Would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has had a similar situation.

finiki

Sounds like you have a leak, as to where...it is anyone's guess. You could try spraying a solution of water & dish soap onto the air springs & related components, watch for bubbles. I too live in the Twin Cities. My ar height sits where I leave it indefinitely in any temperature. When my front springs went at around 70K I would find it on the front stops in the AM. Two new front springs, 20K & a year later, no problems. You could post on Minnesota Audi for advice on a shop too. http://www.mnaudi.com

cervelo

Thanks for the heads up on shop advice on the MN site. I had the ar back to my local mechanic who checked all lines, valves and the air springs for leaks and he couldn't find it losing air anywhere.

Has anyone found a a problem with the suspension dropping that is unrelated to a leak. My mechanic thought maybe it could be an electronic issue with the controller that causes the valves to open or close. I don't know if this is reasonable since I only lose air after the car is turned off. I also wonder if the intermittence of the issue indicates something else other than a leak. If there's a leak, it seems strange that given generally the same parking and weather, some mornings it's down on the stops and some mornings it's up and level. I'm finding that the suspension is now down probably 75% of the time after parking overnight but it seems that with a leak, it would be down every night.

Thanks for help on any other possible causes beyond a leak in the system. (Of course, it's possible that my mechanic has misdiagnosed the problem but he has used a soapy solution on two different occasions and has found nothing.)

gragravar

it is normal for the auto leveling to kick on when you open a door (or hatch) with the car off.

victuals

I'm having the same problem, and have gotten the same short term diagnosis (no leaks), but I've found a workaround for now. I know I'm probably asking for more trouble later.

I usually drive my 2004 allroad on level 1, and if I leave it on level 1 after I pull in the driveway and turn it off at night - same symptoms - 75% of the time it'll be down on the stops (just the front shocks) in the morning. Opening any door usually opens a valve somewhere that levels the front, which is nice, but I don't want my shocks down on the stops in the morning, so I don't care if the relevel is normal.

Here's the workaround - if I hit the button to push the car up to level 2 as I'm pulling in, and let it finish the rise, it seems to stay level overnight.

So, I'm wondering if its a sensor issue in the shock - when it's down on level one, it still thinks its too high and tries to lower itself? I haven't figured out if it happens all at once at some point during the night or if its a slow change.

Not much help here, can anyone else shed light for us...?

pcasa

... level 2 is the normal driving position - I read in the manual that driving on level 1 is for high speeds only (car automatically lowers itself at high speeds) - so have you tried keeping it on level 2 all the time?

incrementalg

I had a similar issue whenever I parked in level 1, but not a problem when in level 2.
I don't have any leaks that I know of, so I attribute the minor adjustment to change in load and change in temp. (when it's 75 during the day, but drops to 45 overnight, it adjusts)

pezap

Hi everyone,
My first post :-)
This was something I experienced last year; a faulty air suspension bag which was fortunately replaced under garage warranty.
Prior to the replacement I would find that most mornings the front left corner would have dropped with the wheel well inside the arch and this occurred when leaving it overnight on both level 1 or level 2. Leaving the level at 3 or 4 meant the fault didn't happen and it would sit nicely on all four corners even over a weekend.
Since the replacement air bag the front left suspension sensor failed but this didn't cause the car to drop at all it instead caused the system to constantly run the pump trying to fill the bag with air.
Do you have a vag-com and would it give a error code?
Good luck with fixing the issue.

all123

http://allroadfaq.com/downloads/tech...ne_english.pdf

read the lowest part with speed/level party.
Tha car will adjust when parked to lvl2