I have owned my Allroad 2003 for 4 years. I started noticing the car was sitting lower in the front. It started slowly with the driver's side then progressed to the passenger side. Eventually getting to the point that if the car was left parked, the bags would totally deflate and I would hear the compressor running most of the time when driving the car.

I did some research and saw that many people were having the same issue. I found some basic directions for pulling the (Air Spring) bladder out and decided to give it a try. I had visions of inflating the bladder in a bucket of water to find the leak(s). However I was stopped dead in my tracks by a stuck pinch bolt. I then read horror stories about this bolt...breaking, getting stuck, etc. I also didn’t want to spend $1,500.00 - $3,500.00 to have the dealer repair the bladders.

Then a moment of pure genius struck... I thought, well, the bladder probably has a hole in it. The bladder is made of flexible rubber just like an inner tube - I wondered if I could inject some "fix-a-flat" or Slime into the air bladder?

Well I'm happy to report it worked!!! While it might not be a solution for everyone's situation, it seems to be doing the trick for my car.

Here’s how I did it...it was a 20 minute operation and cost 10 bucks!!!!

I jacked the car up, disconnected the 10mm air fitting at the top of the shock, used a small plunger type syringe to squirt 4 ounces of fix-a-flat into each bladder, reconnected the air fitting. I then drove the car around on various settings to help the fix-a-flat liquid coat the inside of the bladder. Fix-a-flat is a thick liquid with microscopic fibers in it. It works by getting into the hole(s) and the fibers then bind to "patch" the hole. I don't know how large the holes in my bladder were, but, I have been driving the car for 2 months now after this fix without issue with the bladders. I believe this fix will continue working for quite some time and will keep you posted.

I was so excited to see it work, I had to share this fix! Good Luck and let me know if it works.



Nathan

 

Hi Everyone,

I have given up, seems the air suspension is an issue on all Allroads (at least that I have come across). My '01 Allroad is always dumping the front down, usually in cold weather. Over the years I have replaced bags, compressor, sensors, suspension..nothing. It may fix it for a season, but it will always come back. Dealer will always want to replace the bags or compressor $$$$$.

Poor design in cold weather...just have to deal with it is my conclusion. I just let it try to raise, it fails with the "error" light on dash...try again, maybe again..usually one of two things occur:

1> Car warms up, it raises.

2> after the 3 or 4th try it will raise enough to be "level". Then when it warms up, seems fine.

Again, really only in the cold...during warmer months, it works fine.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I tried the Fix-A-Flat and Slime methods last spring. Got me through the summer months, but would only "last" a few weeks at best.

I ended up ordering the Arnott Gen II replacements. Got the Driver's side on today, will do the passenger's side tomorrow. I spent about 4 hours on it today, but was diverted by a stuborn pinch bolt. But, as I found out:

YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMOVE THE PINCH BOLT TO REPLACE THE AIR SPRINGS...

I figure it'll take a couple of hours to do the other side, now that I know my way around a bit more.

The cost for both sides was like $800.00 but I found an online coupon for 10% off. Still slightly over 7 bills, but it will be worth it not to have this problem hanging over my head all the time. Looking foward to a little piece of mind now, at least as far as the suspension is concerned. lol.

P.S. I will try to take photos and put together a decent writeup when I do the other side tomorrow (no promises though).