Suspension flat / Fault code: 'B22/3(Rear level sensor) No signal'

[Snake Charmer]

I kept the solenoids off my original air springs, will they fit?

 

[Nod]

I kept the solenoids off my original air springs, will they fit?

Depends what type they are. I have only seen Aerosus ones and the two I have are Aerosus ones, these are the small Rapa ones (P/n : B4-SV1 Z001A01).

Pictured are the huge great circular solenoid design(left) and the smaller Rapa type one alongside, which are the ones I need. In the bottom pic you can just make out the damaged hose inlet, caused by overtightening

 

[Nod]

Very hard to find x2 of the solenoid valves(2nd hand). For some reason you can get them in Poland where people seem to have them and resell them for about £25 each. However, all the online places are written in Polish and for the best part do not deliver to UK. I bit the bullet and ordered x2 new from a German Auto Factors place for about £41 each and the delivery of about £18. Bout a hundred quid all in. Expensive for x2 little valves possibly(isn't everything though nowdays?) but it will give me x2 brandnew Aerosus struts as these ones are new and unused, other than missing the valves. I have seen you can get cheap unbranded replacements(Chinese?) for about £90quid each but I reckon the quality will not be very high at all and expect the Aerosus struts to last a good few years hopefully.
Can't wait to get it back on the road!

N.B : Think my repairs on the old struts held up for about 1 year, probably wasn't really worth the time spent taking them on and off about 3 times, patching them up with vulcanising cement and suchlike etc. Suppose though I did get a years extra use and to learn how the system/ struts all came apart and got quite good at taking them on and off, not that its a particularly nice job. On my Mothers car, same as mine, the repairs seems to be holding up for longer, its been on there about a year and still seems to sit nice and high. Defo worth having a spare strut on the shelf, should a side fail. I think its a good system in certain respects, despite all the bad press it gets. To be kept optimally It does need to have decent condition airstruts and be maintained and inspected. I.e, the sensor and bar mechanism kept nicely lubricated(greased) and preferably water/weatherproofed, as well as the pump and intake air filter kept in a decent condition. Think also inspect the unions on the airline and loosen/ tighten /grease them up abit, so they can be easily taken on and off in the event of problems, knowing they are not too baked/ corroded in. I also greased/ cleaned all the splitter T-Piece up, they can get very messy/ rusty looking which could well lead to fractures etc in the long run would think. Also worth checking the airline for any rubbing or fractures. Also when you got the electrical connectors off, then grease them abit, they can be fiddly to get off after years of not being disturbed and you can apply too much pressure and possibly damage the wires or plugs themselves when they stubbornly refuse to come out. Think abit of light grease carefully applied does help if they have to be unplugged again, which given the 'fragilty' of the system is a distinct possibility (or in my case anyway it is!)

 

[Nod]

Something I forgot to add is regarding the 2 pin control connector, which triggers the solenoid :- Have seen online videos when removing the air struts, people deflate what air is left in them often using a 9v volt battery and wires hooked upto the 2 pins. Be very careful with this method, because that is how I believe I broke my original solenoid, when I shorted the 2 wires out on each other. A far better method for removing the last bit of air out is just use a sharp and very thin pointed object to depress the valve. This will release what air is left, thus letting you squeeze and manoeuvre the air strut out. They are abit difficult to get in and out and this method really helps. A very thin piece of copper lighting cable wire worked for me as a homemade tool for the job with its end ground into a point.

 

[Nod]

New solenoids arrived and I installed them into the new Aerosus struts. Car and air suspension system is working super again now. Strangely one side seemed to sit slightly higher (the unreplaced strut sitting higher than the new one for some reason, you would think it maybe the other way round).
It now seems to have now become about the same now after some use. It is sitting alot higher than it was on both sides. Not quite sure why, can only think it maybe because I have disturbed the sensor and bar attachment when I took it all off and rustproofed and refurbished it. Probably have mounted it in a slightly different position to where it was sitting possibly. I far prefer it sitting higher, with better ground clearance, as for me the E320 does seem to sit incredibly low. As to if this is because of many cars 'temperamental' and possibly leaking struts or not, I am not sure.