DIY for front air struts
 

We have threads on this topic here and there but no proper DIY in "How To's" section. I am doing mine and taking pics and will do a proper DIY in Articles section

I am replacing the passenger side air strut with Arnott's rebuilt air strut. I removed the fuses 79 and 87. I removed the wheel.

I check the air bag, feels no air inside(as against driver side which is tight), so I assume this is already done. I start removing the end link nut, and all of a sudden I hear hissing and touch the airbag and it feels tight and filled with air :confused: ???? Shouldn't the removed fuses stop the filing of air?

Arnott's (inadequate)instructions say remove yellow cable from "Air system manifold" in underbody. Where is that?

Shall I just disconnect the battery?

I think there is another fuse that needs to be pulled. I forget which one. Also, when the banjo bolt is removed, I think it is supposed to let the air release and then remove it. The fuse that is missing is the compressor fuse.

Here is the Fuse listing with fuse 79 and 87 removed.

Pull out the purple relay on left. That's it.

Pulled the relay out.
Any trick to opening the endlink nut, the whole(nut and bolt) thing keeps moving. Any thing in back to hold on to. Very little room there.

Hmmm, well I know those two bolts for the hub carrier to the strut are good. But that end link was a pain. The only combo I found that worked was using a 1 1/2" extension and a 12 point 16 MM socket. It was still tight, the a 12 point was thin enough to just get on the top of the nut. But my passenger side was more of a bear. Seemed like it was tighter up against the strut and I basically had to soak it in PB Blaster and then lightly tap the socket in and get just enough to spin it off.

Thanks guys.
Talked to member Pureveil and there are indents behind the nut as pointed with vertical arrow below and it uses 20 or 21 mm wrench. Of all the wrenches, those are the ones I do not have. Time for trip to store

The nut on the front uses 18 mm socket. Mine is 4.8is. Not sure if its different on others.

Yup 18 you are right. Did not now about the 22mm nut behind though. I guess mine was seized because it didn't spin.

Are you making a DIY on this, like all complete in the articles section? Because I need to do this to the 4.8is now, I was going to make one sometime this week..

Yes, I am taking pics and will do complete DIY for Articles section.

Endlink nut, the one you have the left arrow pointing to, is 17mm open end skinny wrench. A regular will fit, but you will rip the endlink balljoint boot. I didn't have a skinny one, so I took a spare 17mm and put it through my table grinder. That made it skinny. You will need to hold that nut when installing anyway. Pm me if you want me to send it to you. You can make this yourself too. I will check my garage later to verify size when I get home tonight. A bicycle multy wrench also fits, and might have just enough grip for you to remove.

Pretty sure it's 17mm or 19mm. Hang tight I'll let you know soon.

yes, only a thin wrench will fit behind the strut. I have a adjustable wrench but its too thick for that space. Pretty expensive they are.
Maybe big needle nose pliers may work.

Mine are 18mm. If you are going to work on your e53 regularly, buy a couple 18s and grind them skinny.

With 4 wheel air, you've got a 50A fuse-link and that line to the compressor doesn't run through the referenced relay. Near the front drivers "side" of the space under the load floor, there's a panel with fusible links. Towards the bottom is red/blue cable (going off memory here), and that runs directly to the compressor module. The relay for that style is in that assembly; you may want to make sure which design you have.

Mine is that design, and my fuse #87 has nothing to do with the self-level suspension.

Yup 18mm. Sorry.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...2065303412.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...2145832522.jpg

And those Purple relays, were traced back to the air ride system on my car. The only reason I know is my electrician was diagnosing my rear hatch problem, and it was one of the purple relays. The other purple is for air ride. The one closest to hatch, is for the softclose of the hatch. So if you pull that, your soft close won't work.

Thanks. Very little space there. Don't want to damage the rubber boot either.

I pulled the relay furthest and closed the hatch and now I cannot open the hatch. I will have to climb from inside to put the relay.

4-whl air susp = fuse and relay are NOT in the fuse block on the passenger side of the auto in the cargo area.

If I wasn't using a friggin' apple device I could post the pics showing you. But I am, so I cannot.

damn nicee

Pull the emergency chord in trunk to open hatch. Then insert relay from the back. Lol.

So civ where is that relay. I must know this for future.

Is this panel behind the OBD port on driver side? pic below.

Gimme until tomorrow morning. I tossed my computer in a dumpster about 6 or 7 years ago and never looked back, but with just this apple iPad thingy my wife bot me, I can't do pics. Anything personal that needs a computer waits until I go to work ( only 2~3 min away, and I have 24/7 access, but I figured this'd wait till tomorrow)

You must have a 2mm thick 18mm open wrench to hold the joint when loosening the screw. I bought the wrench from some bicycle repaire shop. Regarding the fuse, I pulled the no. 72 fuse which is 30A when I was replacing my front air struts.

Having hard time finding a 2 mm thin 18 mm wrench at a local store. On hold till I find.

S,

Do you think you can get Needle nose pliers in there? At least to give you some leverage to break the bolt free?

Go to a bike shop. A bicycle shop. Get said wrench there.

And yes, needle nose will work taking it off, putting it back on is going to be the issue. You really don't need much force to get it off.

If you have EHC2 (4whl self-level), then your system doesn't use the 30 amp fuse. If you have EHC2, then your compressor system is a 50 amp fused circuit. In front of the spare tire is a fuse block. Pop off the white cover and note the 50 amp fuse (designated F204) with red/blue wire. Trace that wire and you will see that it goes to your air system compressor assy, no detours. If you have this system then your relay (designated K126) is under the compressor housing. It is still removable, just more work.

See the attached pics; note the red/blue wire.

Note: If you have EHC2 AND your sticker on the back of the passenger side rear cover (fuse block and subwoofer cover) says that fuse 87 (30A) is your air suspension, it's lying to you. Very easy to pull the white cover in front of the spare and see for yourself.

Thanks guys. Found the wrench at bicycle store.

The bottom bolt is a bitch to unscrew. :(

Which bottom, the endlink?

Yeah I think thats what he is referring to. Now I can't remember where it connects to.

The bottom of the two rusty ones on left in the pic below. Tight room there.

http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...ts-endlink.jpg

Ahh, strut on to hub carrier. Yeah those are on there tight. Spray PB blaster on them and let sit. Use a breaker bar and some pipe to break it free. Sometimes the bolt will turn without taking the rest of it with it. If the whole thing starts spinning, then use 6 pt socket and wrench to counter the spin and crack the bolt off.

Turn your wheels baby. Get an extension to clear the rotor. Put wrench on. One hand to steady the extension, one hand on the wrench. Should have enough leverage to break it loose with a 2' breaker.

If you have impact gun. Turn wheels, put on impact. Done.

Its open now. I had drenched in lithium grease overnight. Still did not budge.
Used the Gorilla extendible wrench with a 3-feet pipe bar at the end and it gave up. I have that wrench and pipe for these instances.
But impact wrench is way to go.;)
http://www.tirerack.com/images/acces...rench_1721.jpg

I bought a 24" breaker bar from harbor freight for 10 bucks, works on any stubborn bolt you could imagine, 1/2" drive but I use 3/8" adapter on it if needed.

That and 5 bucks worth of PB blaster is worth its weight in gold.

I also have a heavy duty Snapon ratchet adapter for my breaker bar. So I can even ratchet with it if I have to. And sometimes, you do need to ratchet on those bastard rust covered bolts.

Can you just unplug the battery to accomplish the same thing?

Yes you can. The only reason I can think of not doing that though, is the fact that you will reset everything when the battery is disconnected for a long time. I am not talking about radio and seats. I am talking about all the computers.

You're saying everything in NVRAM, all the information in the ECU is going to be discharged by not keeping them supplied with voltage?

Yea, plus the fact that pulling 3 fuses, is easier if you pulled the correct ones. You know how people have problems when the disconnect the battery and then reconnect. Would you want to be dealing with new lights and errors after you just did a repair?

You can tell that I am taking my sweet time to finish. I am enjoying driving my other car these days.

Opened the fuse box by prying with flat head screwdriver in holes with arrows as shown in pic below, while pulling very slowly or you will break the tabs.

The colors on mine are switched.;) The box is blue instead of green and the red cable has green stripe instead of blue. And more cables going to box than yours.

All finished this evening.
I have had the dealer put the driver side last month for $1700 less 10% discount. Passenger side costs, with me doing the labor, $350 after returning the old unit. Money saved for future mods, priceless. :)

Strange was that dealer did just one side, despite me asking him; "Don't you need to do both sides?" Within 2 days from dealer visit, I hear noise on passenger side when going over pot holes.

Driver side is OEM unit so car is slightly higher than passenger side. Hope it corrects by itself. :dunno:

Its proved, none of fuses; 72, 79 or 87 relate to air struts.

Very nice. That is quite a savings. Post a link to the DIY. I'm sure this thread is going to keep going.

Thanks guys for your help. I was able to put a DIY Video Guide together. You can see the thread here, or watch the video below.

Good job dude. Those relays you talk about in the beginning, those are fuses.

Good job