air suspension
 

2005 A8 sitting with the left front strut deflated. The pump manages to bring it to proper ride height, but deflates with the engine shut down. That takes about a minute.
Inside, the yellow ride height light is flashing and when the strut is up the green light is showing a down arrow......? The other three corners seem taller at the same time...!
ideas welcome,
thank you for your help

Most likely a leak in that strut unfortunately. The green light with the down arrow just indicates that the vehicle is riding in the lowered position. What setting do you have it on? For it to be in this position when parked it would need to be in the "dynamic" setting.

in the automatic mode... thank you for the quick response
what should I expect to pay for the repair?

If you're lucky it'll be the control valve unit or a leak in the air line going to the strut. If you need to replace the strut, it'll cost a bundle through your dealer - I'm guessing about $2K total. A new strut itself is about $1600.

l8r)

Not sure if the suspension units are the same but the Allroad guys who have air suspension have found some kind of fix. I have no idea whether it would cross over to ours but it's worth a look.

There's a couple low mileage rear airsprings on ebay right now. I was thinking of grabbing them and sticking them in the garage for when the inevitable happens...

What ever you do, address it now or Pull the Fuse and leave it in Dynamic Mode. This way when the it Deflates it wont be to much Lower than the other corners. You will lose your Air Ride Compressor Very Soon from Over Heating as it will Constantly Run to compensate For Loss of Air Preasure! Follow the Thread that was Posted or head for the Dealership, or look at eBay for one and head to an Indy or Dealership for Install. Also, look on audiusaparts.com for New Oem Struts. Good luck and laters,

Certinly the best thing to do is to replace the spring, but if you'd prefer to put that expense off see the recent posing "Sliming Your A8", the link posted above. The spring is shot anyway, you'd have very little to loose.

Don

slime'd it... did not work. replacing the strut.

thanks for the tips and post's