HELP! AIRMATIC 2003 S500 4MATIC - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

chinda · #1 03-28-2013, 01:20 AM

The warning info came up saying: AIRMATIC - VISIT WORKSHOP. When turning, Red background will come up and says AIRMATIC - Stop-car too low. It disappear later. But I feel car stay low all the time.
Car is lower than before and will not rise at start up. There is no air relieve noise when shut off the engine.
Can anyone help to guide me how to fix it.
Will this hurt the strut if I continue to drive since it looks like there is no air to rise the car. The 40amps fuse is still good.
Please help

Gilly · #2 03-28-2013, 08:04 AM

Yes you will hurt the struts. You should stop and let the car try to raise the car when you get that warning, it means you are low enough that if you turn the car hard enough the tires will get scraped on the fenders or chassis components. If you have to drive it you better be careful about how sharp you make your turns, say making right turns especially in town or if you have to park or pull in a driveway for example.
If you can't hear the compressor, logic indicates it isn't trying to raise the car and there is a problem. I know you said the fuse is good but there may be some other problem. I know the pump is good for a long time but it was discussed when the cars with airmagic came out that it probably won't last the life of the car, so yeah the car is about 10 yrs old now so might be a bad pump, assuming it is original to the car. If you aren't sure if the compressor is running you could also have a leak at an air line or strut.

Gilly · #3 03-28-2013, 08:05 AM

There are also blocks you can get to insert in the struts to keep it from dragging, but are meant for towing only.

chinda · #4 03-28-2013, 01:06 PM

Thank you Gilly. I have no choice but driving it now because I have no other car. It did not rub the fender or any suspension part. It is just low.
Will driving damage the strut since there is no air. Is there spring inside the strut to hold the weight?
I thinking to check if the compressor is still good, if the relay still good. I suspected the compressor is bad because there is no air pumped (can not hear any pumping) into any strut.
How to check the compressor?
How to check the relay? and which one and where it is located.

I know it will cost fortune to have the dealer check and fix.

pawoSD · #5 03-28-2013, 02:16 PM

Maintaining a car with Air Suspension is risky/expensive. Just the way it is. I would not keep driving it that way, it only takes one hole/bump in the road to really damage something, then the costs will skyrocket even higher.

Gilly · #6 03-28-2013, 03:46 PM

Well you may have to find alternative transportation, as pawosd says you can really damage something worse than it is already, so don't just insist you have to drive this car. Here is a thread that may help, I never go to work on them very much:
Airmatic Strut - Epoxy Fix - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

There does seem to be a spring and snubber inside the strut, I would not rely on that to "save the day"