# Suspension problems...



## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

Pump is not coming on & the car is on the ground. Bags are less then a year old (Arnott's). The pump is a month or 2 older. 

My wife went out to do errands she came back early due to the car not going up. It worked fine before she left as i used the car to pick up parts from the dealer.

VAG'd it & came up with codes..
01437 & 01400 along with temp sens circuit open/broke. i know why the temp sens. code is coming up. It's because the plug broke but it hasn't kept it from functioning. Every now & then i always check the temp of it via VAG to make sure it's ok. The other 2 shouldn't keep the pump from coming on. I checked the pump to make sure nothings burnt. It still ran as quiet as the day i bought it. I'm familiar with failing pumps. Valve block looks good. Even if that fails, the pump should still come on. The car is always kept on Lvl 2.

Does anybody know where the fuse/relay for either the pump or the sus. ECU? Any suggestions? Only car atm so it's important that i fix this. I tried recalibrating the suspension hoping it would kick the pump on. I even tried going through the 402 mod & when i reach value 01, it tells me to wait while it tries to move it to lvl 2 then gives me an error when the pump doesn't come on

I've been searching all over the Audi forum with no luck. Everything is "Replace this..replace that". I wanna be 100% sure what i'm replacing is broke.

TIA,
Dreadz


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

I have no clue whats going on there, sorry dreadz?

Fourtitude is a pretty slow moving Audi forum though, and doubly so with the Allroad section. I would try one of the other ones.



http://www.audizine.com/forum/forumdisplay.php/5-C4-C5-A6-S6-RS6-allroad

http://forums.audiworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

Thanks Joe.

Managed to clear the codes. Found out that when you're going through the 402 mod while the bags are deflated because it will go into suspension limp mode. I had to measure the height & put those values in (which is 304mm instead of 402mm)

Pump still not coming on. I jumped it to see if it work and it does but only pumped up the rears. When i look at the Vag-Com, the reg. valves are "OFF" & the rears are "ON". I'm seriously stumped. Been working on this thing all day  I'm leaning towards a bad ICM. Wouldn't it throw a code if it was a bad ICM?


I searched every Audi/Allroad forum on the planet with no luck.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

I know you can't do the 402/Calibration if the air bags aren't pumped up. For awhile my rear bags were leaking if you left in in level 2, but held in 3. So I 402'd it up high enough to make it hold air until my Arnott stuff arrived.


Funny enough I bumped into a guy here with a twin to mine. (there isn't very many where I live at all, I've seen one other beside this guys, and it's a terrific beige/brown colour)

"hey what year...blaah blaah stuff"
"Any problem with your air suspension?"
"Oh god yess!"
"have you heard of Arnott, better then Audi OEM stuff and exactly 1/2 the price"
"WHaaaa!? let me write this down"


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

Ok, i kinda fixed it. it ended up being the pump's fuse. I was looking at the wrong one. FYI, the comp. pump fuse is under the DS of the dash way in the back left corner. It's a standard size 40amp. There is a big 40amp to te far right of it which is next to a big 50amp. I had to go to Radio Shack for a replacement. I see alotta people ask where the fuse is with no real reply.

Now my problem is it keeps blowing. The pump is not staying on for no extraordinary length of time for it to trip the fuse. When i change the pump awhile ago, i never wired in the temp sens. While trying to fix it this time around, i wired it in. I might've wired it wrong (even though i'm not getting any code for it. I'm gonna unplug it and see if it still blows the fuse.


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

*FV-QR*

FTW, i'm tired of this friggin' air suspension so i just ordered a coil conv. from Arnott. One problem after another. I'm ready to burn the AR!  3 yrs having the AR and it's been trouble from the start. 95% of my troubles have been the air ride the whole time. I'm removing everything the day they come in.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

LOL, I know I wish I would have done that right from day 1, before changing anything. But now all my airbags are new, and *knock on wood* it's been a good car for us. I think the pump will fail sooner than later, though. 

I really hope the car is not with us anymore once it starts need more airbags replaced.:thumbdown: 

Honestly I'm getting a Toyota/Lexus, or Honda/Acura for the next family car, I just need it to work! Probably try to find a nice used MDX


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## allroad (Jun 27, 2010)

Best thing I ever did to my AR was to put ST coilovers on it. It now rides and handles like any modern Audi. :thumbup:


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

G60 Carat said:


> Honestly I'm getting a Toyota/Lexus, or Honda/Acura for the next family car, I just need it to work! Probably try to find a nice used MDX


 I hear ya. I need a family car that works & the Audi is not. I've never owned anything outside of a VW/Audi so i gotta work with what i got. The main problems with these cars is the air suspension. Every problem i've had was because of the air suspension. I'm kinda sad that i won't be able to go level 4 during the winter but at least it will be reliable. 

I'm gonna sell my bags to recoup some of the $1200 i spent on the coil conv. As of now i'm car-less


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

*FV-QR*

FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU Airbags!!!!

















Throwing them in tomorrow...w00t~!


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

Man, the coil's feel great! I should've done this a long time ago.  

If anybody's interested. I got a pair of front Arnott bags f/s. PM me if interested. You can check my thread in the FS section.


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## RallowP 52 (Sep 29, 2011)

*arnott font air bags*

QHey what are you asking for the airbags I just bought a allroad and I'm look for some air bags for my 03 are how old are they


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## jingallstheclown (Sep 17, 2009)

Capt.Dreadz said:


> FTW, i'm tired of this friggin' air suspension so i just ordered a coil conv. from Arnott. One problem after another. I'm ready to burn the AR!  3 yrs having the AR and it's been trouble from the start. 95% of my troubles have been the air ride the whole time. I'm removing everything the day they come in.


Are the Arnott coils adjustable? The site says they sit at level 2, I was just wondering. I have replaced 3 of my 4 bags.....It is getting old.
Thanks


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## Capt.Dreadz (Jun 4, 2003)

The front are sold, sorry. 


The Coil conv. sets the ride height where level 2 would be. They are not adjustable.

I've had them in for a few weeks now and i love the ride. I have a small clunk in the back DS but it's something i can live with. The feel is much different then the bags. Especially when it goes over bumps. It glides over the bumps with ease now where before it had a mushy feel. Even with fresh shocks, bags & pump. To be honest, i think it sits between level 2 & 3. I'll take a pic. The level light comes on every now & then but i haven't taken out the ECM per the instruction. One day i'm gonna remove the rest of the stuff & source an A6 dash panel to replace the level buttons.

The bag thing got really old. I always worried when my wife went out. We could never get the whole family (Me, wife & 4 sons) inside without the system going bonkers and dropped to the ground. We had our AR 4 yrs this month and the whole time i've had it the only major problem was the suspension. I replaced everything 3x, last time around i ended up going with fresh Arnott bags only for the pump, thats a yr old i might add, go on you which caused the valve block to f*ck up. :facepalm: No more of that any more eace:


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## jingallstheclown (Sep 17, 2009)

Capt.Dreadz said:


> The Coil conv. sets the ride height where level 2 would be. They are not adjustable.
> 
> I've had them in for a few weeks now and i love the ride. I have a small clunk in the back DS but it's something i can live with. The feel is much different then the bags. Especially when it goes over bumps. It glides over the bumps with ease now where before it had a mushy feel. Even with fresh shocks, bags & pump. To be honest, i think it sits between level 2 & 3. I'll take a pic. The level light comes on every now & then but i haven't taken out the ECM per the instruction. One day i'm gonna remove the rest of the stuff & source an A6 dash panel to replace the level buttons.
> 
> The bag thing got really old. I always worried when my wife went out. We could never get the whole family (Me, wife & 4 sons) inside without the system going bonkers and dropped to the ground. We had our AR 4 yrs this month and the whole time i've had it the only major problem was the suspension. I replaced everything 3x, last time around i ended up going with fresh Arnott bags only for the pump, thats a yr old i might add, go on you which caused the valve block to f*ck up. :facepalm: No more of that any more eace:


Thanks for all the info. I hate to hear all that trouble you had when loading the family up, I feel the same way whenever I get ready for a trip in it. I have had my ar for 3 years, and suspension has been the major player in all my issues...I have been thinking about going static for a while, I just feel wrong doing it, since I bought the ar mainly for the bags. I never use them, so I guess I should just get over it. haha. I do wish the Arnotts were adjustable (winter/summer modes), but they seem reasonably priced and a very straight forward install is also a plus. 
Thanks again.


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## AndyTR32 (Jun 4, 2003)

How hard was the conversion? It looks really easy. 

I'm trying to convince my father in law to let me do it for him in my garage but he's going to either pay someone to do it or just get rid of the car.


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## allroad (Jun 27, 2010)

If you use the Arnott coil spring kit (the non-adjustable option) then it's a bolt-in affair. Very possible in a garage.

If, however, you want adjustable coilovers then you'll need a bunch of A6 Wagon suspension components, and while most of these bolt up there are a couple of modifications needed... it's a lot more involved. If you're handy and have a complete set of A6 Wagon uprights and mounts then it's do-able for sure.


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## AndyTR32 (Jun 4, 2003)

I would go with the Arnott kit for sure. I've done a few A4 coil over installs in my garage. I think I could get it done in a few hours but my father in law refuses. Oh well, his loss I guess.


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## G60 Carat (May 14, 2004)

Capt.Dreadz said:


> We had our AR 4 yrs this month and the whole time i've had it the only major problem was the suspension.





jingallstheclown said:


> I have had my ar for 3 years, and suspension has been the major player in all my issues...


x3

I bought mine in 2008, and every thing that has been expensive on it and repeatedly troublesome has been with the suspension. It's really only needed basic maintenance/service otherwise; 
-A timing belt/waterpump kit, but I got that from ECS and it was cheap and easy for me to do myself. 
-A coolant temp sensor, again very cheap and easy, 
-and a set of brake pads and tires all around. 
- 1 ball joint/control arm assembly 

So basically if it wasn't for the crap air suspension, I would say the allroad is an extremely reliable vehicle.


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