Allroad Air Suspension Ride Stiffness

[MrZin]

Hello, I've recently picked up my 2001 A6 Allroad from a garage where they replaced the Air Compressor and one of the Air Bags on the suspension.

Not one km away from the garage the warning light for Air Suspension lights up, Naturally I drive right back and have it diagnosed, And based on the results the sensors are a bit off, they said the car was a little crooked or skewed. We tested the suspensions one by one and everything was ok. After driving home I notice that the ride is very hard, not very pleasant to drive over speed humps and pot holes anymore. It used to be a delight.

Question: Has anyone had any experience with Air Suspensions being too damn hard or stiff, And could there be a connection between faulty sensor and ride stiffness?

[Alan02]

My only experience has been on Truck air suspension but its the same principle. If the ride is too hard, there is excess pressure in the bellows. This could be on one corner or axle related. The readings on any level sensors should be more or less equal front and rear. If one or more are out of spec that bellow could be over or under inflated. As I said, I`m refering to a heavier application but thats the way I`m guessing it works, or near enough. I`m sure someone with an Allroad will show up and help.
I would be reading the counts on all the level sensors and checking for system faults or pressure regulation issues.

[MrZin]

Yes, I'm planning to buy a OBD reader to monitor it.

[mike ryan]

The pressure in each airbag determines the height it sits at. A calibration is always a good idea after removing or replacing any suspension parts. If there is to much error between the sensor readings a fault will put the light on the dash. As for it being hard this could be caused by a different spring being fitted. Also when normally operating each airbag is isolated with a valve. If there is a leak then the valve opens and the compressor / reservoir tryst to fill the airbag. As there is now a larger volume of air it seems softer. So if the car was trying to fill it up before due to leads it will seem softer than it should have been. Hence why it is now harder or how it should be.


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