airbags changed suspension being weird.

Busterthebulldog · May 1, 2015

I had all 4 airbags changed yesterday as they all looked perished. Went for a good run after getting them changed , 1st impressions were good but after a little while the suspension started feeling hard and crashy .When car pulls up to a stop the front goes up and down a few times before settling. It didnt do this on the original bags...whats gone wrong here? The suspension has not dropped overnight.

wammers · May 1, 2015

Who changed the bags a garage, was it hung on a two post ramp?

Datatek · May 1, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
I had all 4 airbags changed yesterday as they all looked perished. Went for a good run after getting them changed , 1st impressions were good but after a little while the suspension started feeling hard and crashy .When car pulls up to a stop the front goes up and down a few times before settling. It didnt do this on the original bags...whats gone wrong here? The suspension has not dropped overnight.

A little dance at the front is not unusual when the car stops.
If it's been hung as Wammers said, maybe a sensor has been damaged. Check the height calibration.

Busterthebulldog · May 1, 2015

The mechanic did it with 2 trolley jacks.Its never done the dance before

Datatek · May 1, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
The mechanic did it with 2 trolley jacks.Its never done the dance before

Maybe the bags were so shot that they didn't respond to small pressure changes. Even with 2 jacks it's possible to over extend the sensors if the shocks or mountings are worn.
Drive it for a while and see if it settles down, sensors may just have picked up dirt from a normally unused part of the tracks.

Busterthebulldog · May 1, 2015

The bags were very tired looking but never leaked at all. Innitially the car felt much better.Would it be a good idea to replace the height sensors too ? I dont know how to check height calibration nor make any adjustments.

Datatek · May 1, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
The bags were very tired looking but never leaked at all. Innitially the car felt much better.Would it be a good idea to replace the height sensors too ? I dont know how to check height calibration nor make any adjustments.

You need the EAS software and cable (not expensive) plus a laptop to run it on to do the heights. If the sensors are faulty, it will soon go into fault mode. If the bags were perished they would have been leaking and also hard and inflexible.

Busterthebulldog · May 1, 2015

I have the software and cable. I could leave the car for any amount of time with the old bags and it wouldnt drop in the slightest even when left for a week.Is thete a guide somewhere on how to check /adjust using the software? Thanks

wammers · May 1, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
The bags were very tired looking but never leaked at all. Innitially the car felt much better.Would it be a good idea to replace the height sensors too ? I dont know how to check height calibration nor make any adjustments.

There should be no need to do any calibrations. The bags don't change the height settings. When car speed falls to 1 MPH front valves open to equalise pressure across front axle. If a sensor has picked a bit of **** up, one sensor reading maybe different to the other, putting more pressure in that side. So as the valves open the front will drop. When the brake is released front will rise. This action gives the dancing impression. You can get under it and disconnect the sensors and move them along their full travel a few times to try and clean the track or live with it for a while and see what you get. It should clear itself over time. It's pointless doing a calibrate if you have a dirty track, because when it clears it will have to be done again.

wammers · May 1, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
I have the software and cable. I could leave the car for any amount of time with the old bags and it wouldnt drop in the slightest even when left for a week.Is thete a guide somewhere on how to check /adjust using the software? Thanks

If you have the software disc on it there should be a PDF instruction sheet.

Busterthebulldog · May 1, 2015

Cheers guys that all makes sense. I shall take do as advised . Thank you very much.

PPP38vouge · May 2, 2015

I had the same problem when I changed my bags, front end was dipping and rising as I was driving along , I was advised by Datatek to remove front sensors and gently move them through there range of travel to try and remove any crap on the tracks, it worked for me.

Busterthebulldog · May 2, 2015

If it doesn't resolve itself I will try that.

Busterthebulldog · Jul 5, 2015

After waiting a while things didnt really improve. The car would go lopsided whilst driving or parking . It dumps itself down on front left.I decided to replace the sensor on front left it made some difference but didnt cure the issue. I then made up 4 sets of height adjustment blocks and took readings from these and rewrote the heights. It seems to drive level but I am sure I am getting more transmission noise. If I park up in the garage it sits
Level but as soon as key is removed it adjusts itself back on a tilt.
I then tried using the software to manually set the heights and levels using wheel arch to wheel centre rewrite settings but it then sits out of level the other way ..so rewrote to my block measured settings again. Where an I going wrong? The calibration and get heights seems to throw up differing figures on checking. No faults have happened since I replaced sensor.

tnseal · Jul 5, 2015

I had the same when I bought mine, it had four new bags and shocks all round. I kept using the height adjustment and put it fully up (stationary) and lowered it to the bottom overnight for a few days. This must have settled the settings and as stated cleaned the tracks. Worth a try.

Busterthebulldog · Jul 6, 2015

I have tried everything I can think of. I can get it level with software but once driven the left front and back drop lower than the right again

Datatek · Jul 6, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
I have tried everything I can think of. I can get it level with software but once driven the left front and back drop lower than the right again

Sounds to me like crossed pipes or solenoids in the valve block.

Busterthebulldog · Jul 6, 2015

I dont think the pipes are crossed as they have not been altered during my ownership.The individual bags lift and drop using the software on heights. When the car is put into high mode a solonoid clicks away for a minute or 2 stopping if I open a different function. Now I do have another valve block complete with solonoids ....whats my next move ? Can I just replace a solonoid or is it not that straightforward?

Datatek · Jul 6, 2015

Busterthebulldog said:
I dont think the pipes are crossed as they have not been altered during my ownership.The individual bags lift and drop using the software on heights. When the car is put into high mode a solonoid clicks away for a minute or 2 stopping if I open a different function. Now I do have another valve block complete with solonoids ....whats my next move ? Can I just replace a solonoid or is it not that straightforward?

You could try swapping the valve block. The valves clicking until it settle is normal. No point in replacing a single solenoid or valve. It still sounds like a crossed line somewhere.

Busterthebulldog · Jul 6, 2015

The more I think about this the more I have come to realise that the car has had this issue since I bought it and hadnt really noticed until changing the airbags exasperated the issue. How do I assertain the pipes are connected corrrectly ? The lean appears to be on both front and rear and pulls the steering wheel off centre to the left. Is there a way to test the solonoid...does one do the side to side levels. The spare block I was given is unknown quantity it came with a load of other spares in the boot of a part ex to a mechanic friend of mine who gave them to me when he sold the car on. Is the block change much of a job to do as I dont know if the spare is good or not ? Thanks

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