scruffmutt

Hi Guys I live up a rough track in Crete (Greece) so use the up down regularly, last night started out high then dropped it to level 2 once on the tarmac, as i was driving noticed it had dropped onto it bump stops and would not come back up, so left it for a while and went for a coffee, retried it a while later and noticed it had no lights on the ride height control buttons or on the dash.

Checked fuses and relays as best as i can i am not 100% sure which of the relays under the dash is for the compressor, pulled the compressor off and although a bit noisy it runs.

I am assuming an electrical problem any ideas, we live 85kms from the nearest dealer on the north of the island and in its current state would not want to drive it across the mountains.

any help gratfully appreciated

Irish1004

I had a similar issue with my 2002 Allroad. Assuming that your car is close in age to mine the relay is number 373 and is located in the upper left region in the space under the steering wheel. I believe that the fuse (40 amp) is located in the engine compartment in the left cowl area in a box with the ECU. You'll also want to check all of the electrical connectors and wiring to the compressor as the wires often break off due to vibration and chaffing. The fact that your car is on the bump stop indicates an air leak in at least one of the airbags or fittings. If the compressor is noisy it may be time for a rebuild which involves replacing the piston ring and o-ring seal which is a 5-20 minute job. I rebuilt mine in sub-zero weather so I did everything without removing the compressor from the car. There is a rebuild kit sold on eBay manufactured by a Forum member "bagpipingandy" that includes everything needed including instructions and he also has a YouTube video with a complete step by step demonstration. Once you get the compressor running you'll want to check for air leaks using soapy water on the airbags and fittings or else your compressor will burn out quickly.

PaperToast

to help give you a diagnosis we need more info about the car, what year, mileage, engine (sometimes helps)
first off it sounds like one of the air springs is leaking
seeing how once you got on the hwy and it dropped to lvl 2 then the bump stops indicates to me that the leak is in the fold when its on lvl 2.

couple of things you can do, put in on lvl 1 and see if it holds. i'm betting it wont
also, if you can get a vagcom scan done, that will show if anything with the computers is amiss

amiram

Hope this will help you

scruffmutt

Hi Guys thanks for all the Info I had carried out all the usual stuff had the pump off checked re fitted it, checked for air leaks etc but was sure it was electrical found fuses, relays checked them, in desperation had all the under dash down around the fuse / relay area pulled pulled out and refitted them all, pulled apart every joint i could find, turned the key and it works !!! sorry cant offer any help to anybody as to why but thanks again.