ABC what no leak ??

[bembo449]

some of you will have seen my posts in other threads about topping up my ABC on the 215 , now considering the PSi the system runs at , spotting any leak should be easy I thought , not so , there isn't a drip to be seen anywhere , I'm yet to check the level today but will be interesting to see if its dropped at all ??

 

[bembo449]

just checked it and level hasn't changed , so did it just have air in the system when I first got the warning ?

 

[alexanderfoti]

Like to be a failed puslation damper or other accumulator. These release the nitrogren into the suspension system, blowing out the oil. You then top it up and it remains at the correct level again.

 

[bembo449]

Ok alex so how can i be sure thats the fault ??

 

[alexanderfoti]

Ok alex so how can i be sure thats the fault ??

No real way to test, the dampers are not too hard to change. If you drive with failed dampers long enough, you will get a red abc warning when hitting bumps and dips in the road, sometimes very quickly.

 

[bembo449]

ok so ive done 20 miles today with no warning and will do 90 miles tomorrow so that should surely show up the damper issue , no ?

 

[alexanderfoti]

No, in the meantime your lines will be taking addicting stress from the pressure surges in the system.

When the pulsation damper fails you get a groaning noise up to 1000rpm that sounds like an exhaust leak.

 

[bembo449]

so can I plug in and monitor the pressure on MB2 ?

 

[alexanderfoti]

so can I plug in and monitor the pressure on MB2 ?

The refresh rate won't be fast enough and you cant infer the condition of the dampers by peak pressure alone.

 

[bembo449]

ok Alex , I thought I may see a fluctuation in pressure

 

[alexanderfoti]

ok Alex , I thought I may see a fluctuation in pressure

You might do. If you have access to delphi cars you can graph abc pressure over time, might indicate if its going out of spec.

If they are original spheres, then they will be shot anyway

 

[bembo449]

I can borrow Delphi ( mines been goosed since I upgraded to windows 10 ) its had over 6k spent on the system over the years Alex so you would think they had been changed , I may get the books out and look

 

[bembo449]

a good percentage of the work was carried out in 2014 @87k , NJS in Sevenoaks carried out the work , new struts , new pump , fluid flushed at least 3 times , I guess 7 years is long enough for things to start to fail again so will se what Delphi can tell me next week

 

[alexanderfoti]

Any new accumulators then?

 

[bembo449]

oops , ive put it all away now Alex , will have a look again in the morning