awdinut

A week ago I left my car in 'jack mode' when I dropped it off for an oil change. When it cooled off a bit and they drove it in to the shop they could not swing the lift arms under the car because the suspension had leaked down and they had to start the car to raise it up. I thought I have heard the compressor running from time to time, and that confirmed the leak.

Today I was turning around in a parking lot and I heard a loud 'pop', and when I got out of the car to see what had happened I saw the passenger side front sitting way down low. I dont recall reading about a bag blowing...anyone else have any knowledge about same ? If it wont hold enough pressure then you wouldnt think it could get too much pressure and pop.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

I thought it only happens with cheap airbag replacement. I assume yours is original. May be the pump didn't know when to stop pumping.
There were 2 incidents with airbag replacement on here.
Cheers,
Louis

MP4.2+6.0

I think there was a post on an exploding bag in just the past few weeks if you search down the recent posts. Bad rebuild?

Orlando Smith

Yes it can happen. I bought an a8 in march and mines blew out as i was parking it luckily. I took it back to the dealer who replaced it for 300. Couldnt beat it, the oem part i see on ebay for about that same price. Which basically is free labor. However it is a simple job for someone who is good at diy. Be glad that happened and it didnt leak long enough to cause compressor damage. Check your leveling arms as well. They are the skinny arms with the electrical connector behind the wheel. Dont fret brother. I had no more suspension problems. And mines happened where it hit the flood puddle on. Yea its a 2006 a8l low water flood damaged vehicle. Steal cash price, and runs like a dream. However nothing has been changed on it, everything is original and needs replacing ..pumps filter plugs coils timing belt crank sensor 1(x)air struts..... definitely check that timing belt asap. Plan on getting it done if it hasnt been. That crank sensor is a diy job that will require you to twist your arms between the driver half shaft and remove all covers to access. Good luck

svxit

Yes, happened to me a few weeks ago and, as in your case, I heard a loud pop and the front left hit the ground. Purchased from Amazon last October, just installed mid-July and blew less than a month later. Unfortunately, had to have it towed to a dealer and replaced. Luckily there was no compressor damage. I asked that they return the parts, and clearly it was not a pretty sight...

awdinut

only mine was an OEM Audi strut with 90K. So that it failed is par for the course, but the blow out is unusual. It is amazing that the O-rings contained the pressure of the air released from the bag that had obviously just had a catastrophic failure; you'd think the path of least resistance would be past the O-rings instead of inflating the heavy poly vinyl dust cover to the point of a rupture.

When I called Arnott to sell them my core, the guy I talked to said he has never seen one that has exploded, so I'd say it's a rare event.

svxit

Out of curiosity, will Arnott actually buy the core from you? I'm not able to return mine to Amazon, so just wondering if there may be another option for at least getting something out of it.

MP4.2+6.0

See my reply #7 here; sold mine to Arnott: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...t-bag-2931136/ Direct link here: https://www.arnottindustries.com/recycle-cores

awdinut

Yes, Arnott pays $75 for a core, although I do not know if that extends to aftermaket struts. They also pay the freight to get the core to them.

aTOMic

Wow! Lucky there was no one standing nearby, they'd have thought you were shooting at them!