jwadz626

Sorry guys it seems the thread is dedicated to these but I am hoping I can get some feedback from the community on this one. Pulled into the garage Wednesday night and looked over at my wife's 05 allroad and suddenly War's low rider started playing in my head – I know from reading the threads it is just a matter of time before you lose the front bags but was hoping I would get more than 60,000 miles on mine. The front was slammed to the ground (back is fine) and when I started the car I got the 'air suspension' warning light. I was able to move the car back to level 2 rather quickly and the warning light cleared. I took it for a 10 minute ride without issue and then it sat in the garage for about 30 minutes and I did not hear the compressor kick in or see the car drop. I went in the house and searched the threads to read some more on the Arnott's bags (looking for recommendation between Gen 1 and Gen 2) fully expected to wake up Thursday to find it dropped again and assumed I would be placing an order for front bags but to my surprise it was not and had no warning lights. Wife drove it about 30 miles that day and no issues. Late last night I checked it again and could see it was visibly low in the front but barely – about a 1/2 an inch low for level 2. Turned on the car and the compressor kicked in and it quickly (1-2 seconds) raised back to full level 2 height without any warning lights or intervention from me. Once again I went to bed thinking it would drop overnight as it had only been sitting around an hour when it went low. Woke up this AM and again it did not drop at all and had no warnings lights. My question is does this behavior seem indicative of a bag failure or is there something else I should / can check in the system? I plan on looking for a leak on the bags using soapy water tomorrow AM but am confused as to why it wouldn’t drop overnight if it is a bad bag. Have been lucky to date with the car so I am a relative newbie to the known issues – any insight from those with more experience would be appreciated.

ricam78

I am in the same boat as you I think. Do you have a VAGCOM you can scan and get codes with and post?

My fronts both drop an inch or so overnight and a little more over a longer weekend. With a scan I get the Intermittent G291 code and am honestly not sure if that can cause the suspension to drop any when off as I think it only pertains to the compressor running too much. I would recommend putting the car in manual mode today when you part it on your normal level 2 and keep an eye on it. From what I have read, on manual mode, if one front airbag drops, the car wont drop the other to keep the front level. This way you can see what bag is giving you the issue. As far as your 60K miles on the bags, that is pretty good. I am at 58K miles on my 01 and have replaced all the bags once and the driver front twice. I am SERIOUSLY contemplating the coilover conversion kit from Arnott since I am in TX and barely take advantage of the air system.

Good Luck

allroaddave

My wife's car with 45K on it did something similar. Came out one morning to find the left front corner down all the way, it went right up as soon as the car was started and didn't do it again for over a week, then we found it down again, left front corner only.

I replaced both front bags with Arnott's and haven't had a problem since....I bought the Gen 1's....

jwadz626

ricam78 I don't have VAG-COM scanner but did call my indy shop and they will scan it for me. My wife has it on the other side of town (no issues today) so that will have to wait until Monday most likely - will let you know on the codes. I also will take your suggestion and place it in Manual mode to see if I loose one side versus the other. I am resigned to the fact that I will be buying new bags but hoping that is the only issue. Only thing I can think is I have a really slight leak that only is exposed under certain conditions...otherwise I can't figure out why it is so hit or miss. Unfortunately I did not pay attention to the wheel locations the first time it went all the way down. May park it tonight with the wheel turned one way and if nothing the next night the other way.

ricam78

I am thinking the same thing as my driver side is only a month or so old, so its prob my passenger side. Will do windex/bubble test and also park it overnight in manual mode this weekend to confirm.

jwadz626

allroaddave Thanks for the response - sounds like I can't go wrong with either Gen 1 or Gen 2 bags. Did find a 10% off code which I think will about cover the differences between Gen 1 and Gen 2 so am going to go Gen 2 unless I hear a reason not to.

ricam78

Good luck then. I think you are right about the small leak. One thing you can do is check for leaks using windex or soapy water on all 4 levels (I say start at level 1 and go up) by spraying the airbags and fittings and see if any bubbles are coming out. If you see any, there is your slow leak.

ricam78

Remember that the Gen2's are sportier than the Gen1's and I am not sure how a set of sportier Gen2's up front with a set of OEM bags in the back will ride. The Gen1's are the same ride as the OEM's, so if you want to replace 1 OEM bag with a Gen1 you will be ok.

jwadz626

Looks like it is the right front bag so I have an order for two fronts with Arnott's and should have them replaced by Wend. Thanks to all for the responses. Also for anyone else needing to place an order for bags I was able to use the below discount code...

This discount code starts on 10/15/2009 and expires on 02/15/2011

Discount Code 74V4-W7D

To redeem this discount, enter the code above during the check out process on our web site.
Air Suspension Kits, Air Shocks, Suspension Parts, Struts - Arnott Industries
1-800-251-8993

ricam78

My front passenger bag had a pinhole leak also, so I just ordered a GenI from Arnott for it this weekend also. Glad you figured it out. Why did you order a set if only 1 was bad? Did you go with the GenII's?