# Air suspension - how to check?



## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

I had the rear coil springs on my Compass Calypso (VW Transporter) changed to air suspension about 8 years ago. How do you tell if these need replacing?


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Apart from visual inspection I suspect you would notice a harsher ride.

Terry


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## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

dghr272 said:


> Apart from visual inspection I suspect you would notice a harsher ride.
> 
> Terry


Hi Terry,

What would there be to see? - my local garage reckons they wouldn't be able to tell from looking at them.

At the moment, I have to pump them up each time before I go anywhere, as they lose pressure, and I've not noticed any difference in how much leakage there is. What I don't want is sudden deflation while driving!


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Could you have a leak tombar ?

When ours was deflating slowly we had a leak, we had it repaired it's fine now 

Sandra


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

I think you've answered your own question if they need inflated every time before you travel, have they a common inflation valve or individual?

If common there's a system leak, if individual both are faulty.

Terry


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

hi 
i would pump up the air suspension and go around it with some soapy water and look for bubbles

on my van i have 2 separate pressure gauges and valves that i can adjust individually the pressure,

mine has some non return valves between the compressor and the gauges and air bags, 1 time the pressures kept equalizing and found the non return valves were leaking and letting air pressure back to the compressor and slowly leaking through the compressor


do you have just air bags or do you still have the coil springs as well


hope this helps

barry


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## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

aldra said:


> Could you have a leak tombar ?
> 
> When ours was deflating slowly we had a leak, we had it repaired it's fine now
> 
> Sandra


I'll look into it, Sandra - I assumed this was normal, never havign had nay before. Though there is usually 2 or more months between trips


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## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

dghr272 said:


> I think you've answered your own question if they need inflated every time before you travel, have they a common inflation valve or individual?
> 
> If common there's a system leak, if individual both are faulty.
> 
> Terry


Hi Terry,

This isn't normal, then? - I've never had any before. I should maybe say there is 2 or more months between trips and between pressure checks. It's two inflation valves


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## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

powerplus said:


> hi
> i would pump up the air suspension and go around it with some soapy water and look for bubbles
> 
> on my van i have 2 separate pressure gauges and valves that i can adjust individually the pressure,
> ...


Hi Barry,

I don't have a compressor, just two valves and two bags that I blow up with a pump. Coil springs are in the garage, but they were pretty hopeless as the whole van heeled over on cornering, or in wind, or when anything at all passed! - hence the air bags


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

tombar said:


> Hi Terry,
> 
> This isn't normal, then? - I've never had any before. I should maybe say there is 2 or more months between trips and between pressure checks. It's two inflation valves


Sounds like a slow leak to me then, after inflation apply soapy water to the valve stem to check for faulty valves, if no sign of air bubbles it's likely that the airbags have perished.

The units should be no different to your tyres i.e. they should retain pressure even after sitting for a couple of months.

Terry


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## powerplus (Oct 6, 2014)

i agree with terry

as i said soapy water once pumped up


barry


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

powerplus said:


> hi
> i would pump up the air suspension and go around it with some soapy water and look for bubbles
> 
> on my van i have 2 separate pressure gauges and valves that i can adjust individually the pressure,
> ...


We have the same system

No coil springs

Leaf springs and airbags

We can pump them up individually by a switch on the dashboard connected to a compresser

We can also inflate from an external air supply if the onboard compresser fails

But never used that yet

You are impressed by my knowledge ?

I'm just typing as Albert dictates

Sandra


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## tombar (Nov 11, 2008)

dghr272 said:


> Sounds like a slow leak to me then, after inflation apply soapy water to the valve stem to check for faulty valves, if no sign of air bubbles it's likely that the airbags have perished.
> 
> The units should be no different to your tyres i.e. they should retain pressure even after sitting for a couple of months.
> 
> Terry


I'll check for leaks. I assumed this was normal, since they've always been like that (so not likely to be perished).

But my original question was how to check when they need replacing so as to avoid a blow -out


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

The bags themselves should last a very long time, but there are also the pipes which may be leaking at a joint.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We found the problem on the trip after it was installed, so returned it to the installer, who rectified it 

I would think the best option is to take the van to a qualified installer , get them to check and find the fault 

Maybe having identified it you can fix 

Or if life is too short , they can

Sandra


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