Hi, I've been getting an intermittent "air suspension fault message" come up in my display for about a month now. The car also had intermittent lowering of the suspension generating a "car too low" message as well, but the fault message did not necessarily match up to a "car too low" event.

My indie felt that it may be a leak from one of my front 3 year old Arnott's rebuilt shocks and so we swopped it out with a spare original that I have, while waiting for the warranty replacement to arrive. The car was ok for a few days but has now again developed an intermittent "air suspension fault" message (twice in about 5 days). So far there has been no lowering of the car after the swop and it drives fine, only that this message comes on every now and then.

Typically, the message goes off when the car is parked overnight or for several hours, but it may not reset if I just switch off the car and restart it.

Can anyone let me know what else I should check that could be triggering this intermittent message since there appears to be no leak presently?

Thanks

 

A lot of people have been having suspension fault messages and lowering of their cars related to the cold weather. I don't know if that is possible where you are in Singapore.


Could be a problem with the compressor. Those can be rebuilt DYI with parts that cost about $50. You might listen for the compressor cycling on and then off at startup. It's located behind the front driver's side bumper.


Could be a problem with the air holding tank located in the trunk. Can check that for leaks.

 

Thanks. We don't have the cold weather problem but I think our hot and humid weather also doesn't do too much good for the overall longevity of the air suspension. Most air suspended cars (Jags, Bentleys, high-end Benzes etc) have problems at the 3 year point.

I was thinking of the air compressor, but that's 3 years old too (from the last change). I can still hear it working on and off.

Would an air holding tank leak (or any other kind of leak in the various tubes) still leave the suspension in a normal position? Wouldn't such a leak result in a car low low situation? Currently the car appears to be still ok except for the error message.

 

Ideally you should get the trouble codes read as they will point to whether it is air spring related, compressor related etc.

 

Yeah, I will do that when the cars goes in again.

 

What I understand is that the air suspension fault can come on if the compressor is not adequately inflating the shocks in a certain prescribed time. So maybe the compressor is taking too long to fill, even though the compressor itself might be working properly. I agree that having the codes read seems like the next step in troubleshooting for you.

 

Yep--even in temperate zones they start to fail around 3-4 years from new.
Just in time for the factory warranty to run out.

Quite right, and often caused by a small leak in the system.

 

Thanks. Hope it's not the compressor as well as the shock.... That would be a pain.... Will get the codes read.