I have a 2000 S500 with 98K miles. My "airmatic - visit workshop" warning came on @ about 97K. When it came on the first time, I noticed the ridegot really rough, like it was lowered. If I turn the engine off and restart it, the fault goes away and it rides perfect for awhile then it happens again. I called a couple of dealerships, and naturally they want to see the car before giving me any advice. Can anyone give me a clue as to what I can expect them to say when I take it in ($$$), or can I just take it to an independent service station that has the equipment to diagnose the problem?

 

Hi kvne11,

I believe that you have a leak in the air suspension system.
This is quite common at your mileage.

The Airmatic system checks the ride height and if incorrect (height changes with speed + dash override switch) it signals a fault. Since your car was on the "bump stops" = low limiting condition...the ride felt bumpy.

Air is supplied by a pump under the right front wing/fender. You should be able to hearthis working when you turn the ignition on. This pump can go wrong for a number of reasons i.e. electrical, mechanical but the usual one is that at "high" mileage dust from the reciprocating piston prevents a non return valve from seating correctly and allows the car to go down to the stops overnight. Its unlikely a simple fuse etc because the fault corrects itself after a short period of time although it returns after the nextstanding period. It takes quite a few minutes to pump a fully deflated car up and this is often incorrectly linked to turning the ignition off and back on again. Turning the ignition off/on does clearthe fault since when it is recheckedthe pump has managed to get the car to the correct height.
The pump can be dismantled and reassembled after cleaning with good results. However, somewhat surprisingly a complete new pump (Bendix) is not that expensive. 400USD very approx.+ labour. However although no doubt less good than fitting a Quality assurred new pump my system now works better than it has ever done and in fact stays up over long non use periods.

Alternatively your pump works fine and the air is leaking from the suspension struts. If so I'm afraid this is BAD news. The struts are mega expensive plus of course they need to be fitted.
However mine are fine at 120k and my OCCASIONAL loss of ride height was tracked to the pump non return valve rather than the struts.

However there is a small glimmer of hope that IF the leak on the strut is in the black mastic where the air supply connects to the strut at the top fixing there is a lower cost fix. Lift the bonnet/hood and you will see these tubes at the top of the suspension towers. If there is a crack in/around the "mastic" a kit exists to just replace this part rather than the whole strut. Lots of other posts on this site reference this issue.

Lert us know how you get on.

I do hope that it isn't the struts themselves.

Stuart.

 

I have 2000 S500. Today on my drive to work for the first time it showed the message "Airmatic Visit Workshop". I turn off the engine and the problem disappeared.

It didnot happen on the way back.

I have the a very similar problem. Can you please share with me on what was the problem with your car and how you got it fixed.


Thanks
Ashish

 

Get the Air Suspension fault codes read at your dealer.
This will either advise what aspect of the system caused the code to be set or alternatively confirm that this was just a spurious event.
Stuart

 

I had the problem a few times when i went through a bump. The message "Airmatic Visit Workshop" came back and the ride became bumpy. Turning theengine on and off made the message go away.

I will take it to the dealer. Any word of caution on how to approach the dealer. Any idea on what the dealer will charge for diagnostic. Is this something which can be checked by an independent mechanic.

On the forum, It could be a realy, relay and air pump, struts or all the above. Any obvious trick to check what the problem could be.?

Thanks
Ash

 

"The ride goes bumpy" IMHO=Inadequate air in the system.
Could be lots of things.
However since corrects after a restart. Tends to rule out the pump and valve body but why did it occur on a bump?
Could be as simple as a dodgy fuse/relay.

Broken height sensor would unlikely correctly itself.

By this process I guess I come to strut top air leak but this is just tossing a coin style. If there is a leak the pump will eventually collapse since it is working overtime to make good the leak.

You can only get codes read at garages with "special" equipment which includes the dealers.
Ring to determine if they have the equipment and negotiate price for just the code and diagnostic definition. 15/30 mins job tops. 50 USD?

But don't let them loose fixing it unless you trust them and are PREPARED for a big bill. Struts are MEGA expensive.

Stuart

 

Snanceki, I believe my '01 s500 has the pump problem....where can I get a replacement after-market motor/pump? My local mechanic diagnosed the pump as "weak", no prob with the lines or struts.

please advise, ezbiker@hotmail.com