Nathan wrote - Hi AustinGuy.

That is great news! I'm glad it worked. Your post made my day. I love to see a new idea workout.

Thanks, Nathan

 

Thanks Nathan for this simple resolve solution, It will be a live saver for me if it works, I am experiencing this problem for almost every 2-3 years, I have replaced 3 times the front bladders from the dealer since I bought my allroad in early 2003, its a nightmare issue, now my allroad stopped because of the same problem in less than 2 years when I replaced new ones.
I was happy to read your suucess story, I went today to the dealer and I insisted to do the same trial with Fix-a-flat similar material to be injected in the front bladders, but the technician informed me if you inject this material inside the bladder, it may work if inflated to raise the car up, but when it deflates to lower the car height, the air breathes from the bladder through pipes system and the fix a flat material can also get into those pipes system and damage them , isn't it?
I woul appreciate your comment on this issue from yoiur experience, thanks.

 

I was concerned with this myself when I did it. However, the pipe or fitting is at the very top of the bladder, 6-12 inches up. You would need to fill the entire bladder with the Fix-a-Flat liquid for it to get into the pipe. I only used 6 ounces per side. I also read the label on the Fix-A-Flat bottle, it says it is tire sensor safe. Some cars have sensors on the valve stems that detect low tire pressure, it then sends a message to the on-board computer to turn on the indicator light, so…if the orifice is blocked it would make the sensor fail. So they have already thought of this.

My car is still working fine after 6 months (knock on wood…).

It's actually pretty easy to do, you need a floor jack and a 10MM open end wrench, a bottle of Fix-A-Flat and you’re set.

It's your call. If the car is broken, you’ll need to replace the bladders anyway…

Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

Thanks, Nathan

 

Brilliant. Thanks for the info.

 

Hi Nathan

I have leaking airsprings in my allroad and picked up a can of fix-a-flat. I was wondering how long your fix lasted and whether you would recommend I go ahead and patch those leaking airbags?

Thanks
Rory

 

Hi Rory,

It's been 6 months and the air bags are fine. I use the car every day.. Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

Thanks, Nathan

 

THANKS, Nathan!

I have been lurking here for a while. I just signed up so I could respond. The allroad has been my wife's love ever since she saw one at the S.F. Auto Show in 2001. We bought one shortly after that. As it is complex and seemed likely to break if I used it as hard as some of my other cars, I have avoided driving it except for periodic inspection drives. Many years and much deprecation later she still adores it. I have to admit that the styling has held up and it still draws second glances... at least from us!

We have had a couple of the major issues and taken it to a couple of shops but we have no really good, local, shop.

When the suspension started failing.. again.. after a couple of years and only about 10k miles I was frustrated. Frankly, I wanted it gone. We paid SO much and the car is worth SO little that it seemed crazy to drop another $2k + into another repair. I scheduled a fix with one of the shops I had previously used. Their seeming indifference to me as a customer gave me pause. I didn't bother bringing it in. They had instructed me to drive it 45 miles to their shop, then park it somewhere on their city streets for a week or two until they had time to get around to it. I told my wife to drive one of the other cars and we let the allroad sit for a while. I started cruising the various online boards for possibilities. I pondered. I waited. The poor allroad front suspension had now sunken to where it looked like it was a low rider. I might mention that at first it appeared the problem might be a burned out air pump or/and air block. I bought a replacement air pump but held off. More reading indicated that the system indicates a pump failure even when it is just the block failure. I realized that, at the very least, I had another leaky air bag so I might as well deal with this first.

It seemed that replacing the bags with the improved units might work, but even that wasn't 100%. The new replacement kits were fairly new and seemed less than thoroughly sorted out. I needed to do..something.. then I ran across this discussion and Nathan's logical, simple, and straightforward fix. NAH.. It couldn't possibly be this easy?! Others wrote in and commented about the logic and effectiveness of this fix. I already had an oversize SLIME container in my Bimmer roadster. I finally decided that the front bags were going to be replaced regardless, so I only could lose some time.

First. If you are reading this you probably do or have done some car repair work yourself. I have done it all. I am now... old.. we old 'uns get to where we just pay the money but get fussy when we pay the big bucks and things don't get fixed properly. A general rule of fixing cars: It always takes 1.5x as long as it is supposed to, especially if you are doing something for the first time. Also, there is always something that won't happen according to plan. Many times this will screw up the project until you figure this new thing out. Here is what happened with me and I will mention a couple of considerations I hadn't seen addressed before. [yea. I am long winded but I mean well :-> ]

I recommend:

First, the day before. IF your bags still hold air, put it on #4 setting so it is nice and high and spray some slovent/WD40/anything on the air fitting and give it a chance to soak in so you can get the 10mm nut off and it will hopefully spin free of the small plastic air hose. This can only help.

2nd- if you are going to use SLIME, it isn't pressurized and you have to figure out how to get the stuff in. I had no suitable syringes and the State of Califonia restricted the sale of these in the misguided belief it would stop users from shooting up. Whatever. So, I looked around for a squeezable small plastic container I could get into the upper area to make it happen. I found something but had no idea how I was going to know I had 4.5-6 oz of the stuff in the bag. I went to the kitchen and filled a measuring cup with 6oz of water, then poured it into the plastic container. It topped up at 5oz. Perfect. I then LUCKED into the cap from the SLIME bottle fitting the container! However, the SLIME hose is too large to fit into the threaded air hole at the top of the bag. I dug around and found a slightly smaller plastic hose that neatly fit inside the slime house and perfectly fit inside the bag.

That's it for tricky stuff. The SLIME flows into the bottle without difficulty. I simply refilled the container to do the 2nd bag. Only one seemed to be leaking but why not do them both and be sure?

Also, not previously mentioned was locking the suspension first and I removed each front wheels for better access. GOOD thing, as when I released the air line on the good bag, the front suspension RAISED up about 2-3". Had I been squeezing my arms in over the wheel/tire it would have caused some panic.

Basically, it was straightforward and EASY. Anyone with a 10mm wrench, floor jack, and some SLIME or Fix-A-Flat can do this. I think the Fix-A-Flat might be a lot easier as you don't have to work to get the stuff into the bag. After finishing and cleaning myself up [very little mess on the suspension] but I was covered with brake dust and dirt. I took it out for a drive and got on the highway. At first, on local streets it didn't seem to be working. Once I got on the highway it is quick and effective. The additional suspension movement helped a lot. I drove it about 20 minutes and it all seemed 100%. I washed the car and left it in the #3 position for my wife to see when she got home. [No. She walked right past it without noticing.. but that is more reflective of what a long day at work does to people. We took it out for a drive and it again performed flawlessly. Pumping the suspension up was as quick as it has ever been. This morning it sat high and proud.

THANKS!!!! THANKS THANKS. Man, I am so delighted. Not only did it work, it was really quick and easy and.. it well.. it WORKS. I can't believe it. An effective and dirty cheap fix. If they fail after this.. so what? By then we will have had the chance to see how durable the new replacement bags are as well as how good and durable the new replacement strut kits are.

I am so pleased that I told my wife I needed to keep the allroad here another day so I could verify it is all 100%. OK, I will check tire pressures and I will go out and enjoy it a bit before it goes back to slogging in her daily commute.

Thanks Nathan, and thanks to you others who contributed on this.

Best

John Rice

 

Hi everyone -

I just wanted to add my name to the list of folks here who have successfully tried the Fix-A-Flat fix for a leaking airbag. My driver's side front bag had been leaking for months before I came across this simple *why not give it a go* fix.

The only thing I can add is that using the Fix-A-Flat product is tricky and a bit messy, and to make sure you wear eye protection as you may get some spray back if you're not careful.

1 week later the car goes up and down on command, and the leak is completely absent.

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to this thread - it saved me $thousands!

ww

 

Well, my airbag suspension finally went dead after six months. I used Fix-a-flat and it did work fine for about 6 months then the right side bag failed like a bicycle tire making the hissing sound and all. One thing I did notice on long drives greater than two hours it was fighting to stay full but on in town driving no issues at all.

Anyway I bought the Arnott bags for $300 which is better than the $700 factory replacement and paid a mobile mechanic $90 to install the new bag. Dealership wanted $200 for install and said that the bags had to be replaced in pairs. Had I followed their advice it would have been a $1800 fix as opposed to a $800 fix for both bags.

Nathan, thanks again for the advice looks like you helped quite a few of us save some money or buy us some time.

 

Hello to All,

Just wanted to reach out and find out if anyone has had a problem with their front suspension which it just drops unexpectedly (replaced right F bag)? It could be the compressor but it happen so fast I think it could be something else like a fuse or stuck value. Right before the front bags dropped I hit a small dip then when up a steep hill doing about 25/30mph and within 90 seconds I was on the stops.

Any Ideas?

Thanks to all
Paul