Q45 Active... something weird is afoot....

[Ozzie]

Here's the story........

My active suspension has been playing up for the last 8 months....

When I checked for a code, it threw out 41..... pump or pressure switch system is faulty....(The front of the car would rais up when I started the car... sit steady for about 10 seconds, then slowly sink back down, until it reached the point where the "ACTSUS" light would come on)

I was at work, topping up the coolant before i left work (was running a bit warm on the way to work the night before).....

So after I started the engine, to pump any air out of the system, the car raised up as normal, then sank down......Being annoyed at it (as I always am), I pushed the front of the car down, and surprisingly, it kept sinking!!!! (I got the spoiler to touch my foot, while I had my foot underneath it when pushing down)

After the air bubbles ceased coming out of the spout, I replaced the cap, then got in the car.....

I turned the engine off, so I could re-start it, to pump the front up again...

It turned over a few times, and i stopped cranking the engine over.... There was a chuffing/popping sound once i released the key.

I went to re-start it again, and it fired right up.....(I had the switch set to the "H" or "high" setting for the suspension, which has a green indicator light in the gauge cluster.)

The car raised up IMMEDIATELY (unusual), and I proceeded to drive off.By the exit of the carpark, the height light was still on (unusual).... Then i got to the nearest main road... light was still on!

I got all the way home (approx 20 miles..) with no "ACTSUS" fault!

The suspension has been working great since!!!!

After 8 months, the suspension begins to work again!?!?!?!?

I don't get it!

Any ideas as to why this happened?

[redmanfx]

The active Q has a "self healing" system. No Joke. You just helped it a bit.

[ceningolmo]

I might be thoroughly dense... but can you clarify for me.

You were topping off engin coolant, and letting air bubbles out of the coolant. You were not letting bubbles out of the actsus system, right?

When you pushed down on the front end, did you open anything on the actsus? Open the actsus resorvoir or anything?

As I am remembering some of my reading...don't the actuators come with some sort of pressure release or bypass hose? I thought we had a newb post up one time that he had fixed some of the problems on his active by fixing a bleeder or pressure release hose at the top of one of the actuators.

In any case...it's unlikely I will be the one to help or answer your question. Keith (texasoil) is the most likely candidate... but, I would like to make sure I understand what process you went through.

[Ozzie]

Definitely topped up coolant.......

Didn't touch the ACTSUS system at all....

That's why it's so weird.............

I was thinking..... maybe there was some grit or something blocking the valve of the front reservoir ....... and by pushing the front of the car down, i dislodged the blockage.....

Damn self healing system...... Has me all confused!

[szh]

I wish my heart artery blockage problems had had self-healing solutions like that!

But, no, I needed bypass surgery ... sigh!

Z

[Ozzie]

Sorry to hear that Z......Hope you will be ok.

[ScottJackson]

for a moment I thought he was putting antifreeze in the active suspension reservoir! I know the active oil is bright yellowish green and looks a bit like glycol coolant so it seems someone might be dumb enough to do that. It may not be a bad idea to power wash the engine compartment out and up underneath. Then unplug and plug in all the active suspension wire connectors. The suspension fluid might need flushed and filled with fresh fluid too.