Legacy 2.5gx air suspension problem

[dragonevo]

My legacy 2.5gx (auto) 2001 (EU model) has some very strange things going on with the pneumatic air suspension.

 

 

If we have very cold weather now in the winter around 68 to 77 Fahrenheit for example the car sinks apart in the front over the night, the front is very low and the rear is normal, sometimes it sinks apart in both front end and one of the rear end so i only have one side for example right back who is normal.

 

 

if i then start the car the car dosen´t go up to normal height after a while the "height hi" is starting to flashing.

 

 

Funny is if i take in the car to a warm garage a couple of hours the car goes up like normal, no problem then.

 

 

 

If we have warmer weather around 40 to 50 Fahrenheit the car dosen´t sink apart over night either.

 

 

Today when we had around 66 Fahrenheit i cold started the car and let it warm up, after a while the height in started to flash the car was on this time only low in both front end, after a while when the car was warmed up i jumped in the car and turned it off and started it again directly.

 

 

When i was driving out from my neighborhood the car started to pump up the car to highest mode like normal, if i for example go from normal to height mode in the car, we still had very cold weather when i drove away with normal car this time, very strange!

 

 

Subaru has checked the car and as usual the have no clue about nothing the car was there with some other work on the car, W

 

When i drove the car there it was very low in the front and normal in the rear, they told my that the had some kind of error code directly when i came in but after they had worked on the car a couple of hours with other things the car goes up like normal with no height his flashing... and no CEL code..

 

 

 

 

Anyone knows what could be the problem here? Subaru wants to start changing dampers but my thoughts is heading maybe to failing compressor? because before all this problem occurred the compressor did kicked in out much more then it normally do when i stopped on red lights for example..

 

Then i talked to another outback owner (99:a outback) who started to change dampers when Subaru told him that they was the problem , the car still sinked apart when the dampers was new, he changed the compressor and the problem was gone....

 

 

So im really concerned what the problem could be.??

 

 

[john in KY]

Chance you have moisture and or rust in the system. Remove the front solenoids and take them apart. A good cleaning may solve this problem. Do the same for the tank solenoid.

[idosubaru]

You said cold weather is 67-78 and warm weather is 40-50. Can you explain?

 

I would monitor the temps and see if it's related to just hot/cold or if actually it's related to below/above freezing.

 

 

The XT6 came with air suspension so those of us that have owned one (or a few) have some experience with them. Air suspension systems can be very complicated. You might even want to visit subaruxt.com as your system will be nearly identical functionally speaking. You'll probably get much more input there as many of us have worked on dozens of air suspension, built controllers, manually controlled them, etc.

 

Odd you're having issues with a 2001 though. New dampers (air struts/bags i assume are the same thing) will not likely solve the problem.

 

The real problem with the air suspension is a lack of diagnosis. Nearly every mechanic (dealer included) is going to throw all high dollar parts at this. When in reality many issues are something simple like a 50 cent oring. But you'll never find a mechanic to diagnose and replace those things. They will replace them incidentally when higher dollar items are replaced - like the compressor or strut. Your 50 cent oring was replaced when the new $500 compressor was installed, is that the proper fix?

 

What ever work they do i would demand new orings all the way around.

 

If this causes problems or becomes a money pit, frankly the cheapest and easiest long term solution is to swap to coil over struts. Get a set of coil overs from another Legacy and they'll swap right in. Although I still have air suspension in my XT6 it actually rides really nice.

[dragonevo]

The weather thing is if we have warmer weather now in the winter around minus 50 Fahrenheit the car dosen´t sink apart over the night..

 

 

But if the temperature drops to around minus 68 Fahrenheit the car sinks apart in the front for example.

 

 

This morning when i took my other car to work i checked the Subaru we had minus 70 Fahrenheit this morning, i noticed that the car had sinked apart again in the front.

 

 

 

Very strange problem, the moisture problem a very good Subaru mechanic told me that i could be also...

 

 

But is it a pain in the rump roast to fix it self as you described in this thread?

 

 

 

[idosubaru]

WHAT!? Okay so you're talking Negative 70 degrees F? Really? That's 100 degrees below freezing, I'm fairly certain we can rule out frozen water in the lines since it sounds like it's always frozen up there.

 

That kind of cold alone might be the problem. I'd convert to coil overs, it would be very, very easy and it's done all the time. I have a converted car in my garage right now - originally air, now it's not.

 

It should be fixable, but yes these systems can be very complicated. Being new I think it's going to be very hard to guess what's wrong. If it was old I'd say replace all the orings, but it's not so they shouldn't be compromised.

 

Here's a trace from one strut through the system:

Strut, height sensor, strut fitting, air line, solenoid fitting (oring), solenoid, another solenoid fitting and oring, air line back to the drier (another oring and the base of the drier fittings can crack and leak), then the compressor (oring, valve), then the storage tank with pressure sensor, air line fitting, solenoid, and 2 orings. multiply all that strut stuff times 4 plus the computer and wiring and you have a lot of possible options.

 

That's why it's hard.

[john in KY]

Just to see what happens, the next time to front end is at the correct height, disconnect the front solenoid electrical connectors. If the front struts deflate over time after doing this then we know there is a leak between the front struts and solenoids and/or the front solenoids are leaking.

[idosubaru]

YES - do what John said that is unbelievably simple. Just unplug those front connectors. You can post a picture of the engine bay top of the strut area if you're not sure which plug (but it'll be really obvious, the only thing with two air lines running to/from it).