Airmatic 'Car too low'

[adrianjohnbrett]

My w220..320CDI (2002) has not been used much during lockdown. Stood still for several months. It started up OK once the battery was re-connected. I now have the 'Airmatic-"Car too low" warning on dash....and both front and rear of vehicle are low. I had this warning once before and by turning the wheel hard left and hard right it disappeared The car was working fine before so I am wondering why this has cropped up. Would a leaking strut occur by itself through little use and standing still? Could the disconnected battery affect the warning messages? The car has only done 113,000 miles in 19 years...and I drive less than 3000 a year as I am 76 and retired. Any advice would be most welcome!!

 

[alexanderfoti]

The pump has probably seized up. Have you left the car running for 5 minutes or so? If the pump runs, and there are no leaks, it should bring itself back up again. If not then a leak may have developed, or the pump seized

 

[Paul Garrett]

Could be what alexander said, these airmatic really do not like being idle for long periods , could be when you connected battery again it takes time to reboot everything? Also really hot weather...(.yes i know that is a silly comment at this present time) can be troublesome too ? I could be wrong, im sure some kind member will correct me for sure,
Sometimes when i jack up my car to work on the airmatic system warning comes up when i restart the beast, but after a minute or so its all good , maybe give it a good run to settle the air suspension back into full work mode then if it drops again you could have a potential leak somewhere?

 

[Paul1948]

Try raising the ride height, this forces the pump to work harder. does the pump clatter you need to open the bonnet to hear it, if there has been a leak you will hear the pump working overtime. If the pump is not working or the air has fully been lost from the system you will not be able to rotate the steering fully as the tyres will hit the wings as you increase the lock...I have been through all this with mine last year and a new pump was required...not a cheap job to have done but doing it yourself there are plenty of suppliers on ebay.

 

[adrianjohnbrett]

Try raising the ride height, this forces the pump to work harder. does the pump clatter you need to open the bonnet to hear it, if there has been a leak you will hear the pump working overtime. If the pump is not working or the air has fully been lost from the system you will not be able to rotate the steering fully as the tyres will hit the wings as you increase the lock...I have been through all this with mine last year and a new pump was required...not a cheap job to have done but doing it yourself there are plenty of suppliers on ebay.

 

[adrianjohnbrett]

Many thanks to you gentlemen for your kind responses. I am pleased to report that like Lazarus my car rose up by itself!! I think the disconnected battery was a contributing factor. I charged it overnight and to make sure my neighbour helped with some additional juice from jump leads. I moved the wheel hard left and right and lo and behold she started to rise up and the warning message disappeared from the dash. So no leaks or seized pump to my great relief. Thanks again! Adrian Brett