Air Suspension on Fiat Ducato

[shadowdancer]

Both sides of my rear air suspension are losing pressure, one goes down to zero in about a day, the other lasts about two days. I have not checked for leaks yet but hope some of you guys can come up with problems you have experienced before. Motorhome is a CI Mizar with 2.8 TD Engine.

 

[Deleted member 58330]

Put tyre inflator sealant stuff through mine - cured the leak sort of. Only refill now once every 3 weeks. Nothing to lose really - if you have leak it is stuffed. So just fix it the easy way.

 

[witzend]

I'd try a soapy solution or leak finder like the tyre people use over the joints first. Be interesting to know how old the system is when you locate the leak. As recently I saw a spring to fit as you'd fit the air bellows which would not be prone to leaking

 

[Wooie1958]

My system ( 5 years old now ) on the ALKO chassis loses a tiny amount 0.1 bar over about a month or so.

The main thing i was to told was to NEVER EVER drive it with no air in and to keep it at 3.0 bar and above whilst moving otherwise the bags can get pinched.

 

[shadowdancer]

I'd try a soapy solution or leak finder like the tyre people use over the joints first. Be interesting to know how old the system is when you locate the leak. As recently I saw a spring to fit as you'd fit the air bellows which would not be prone to leaking

The van is 2005, will try and find where the leak is from, would be interested in finding the springs you speak of if I cant fix the problem.

 

[witzend]

The van is 2005, will try and find where the leak is from, would be interested in finding the springs you speak of if I cant fix the problem.

Spring Assisters for leaf springs to fit Fiat Ducato 06 > 16 Mk3 | eBay not the add I saw but similar

 

[Tezza33]

The van is 2005, will try and find where the leak is from, would be interested in finding the springs you speak of if I cant fix the problem.

I have mad springs fitted on mine, it is two auxillary springs fitted alongside the leaf spring
HV-138120

It would be cheaper to replace the bellows on your system but if they are both going down and they are connected with only one inflation valve I would check the pipework
Fiat | Air Ride Suspension Airride
Air Bags | Air Ride Suspension Airride

 

[Wooie1958]

I have mad springs fitted on mine, it is two auxillary springs fitted alongside the leaf spring
HV-138120

How very apt :scared: :lol-049:

 

[shadowdancer]

I have mad springs fitted on mine, it is two auxillary springs fitted alongside the leaf spring
HV-138120

It would be cheaper to replace the bellows on your system but if they are both going down and they are connected with only one inflation valve I would check the pipework
Fiat | Air Ride Suspension Airride
Air Bags | Air Ride Suspension Airride

Mine has two separate valves, waiting on a dry spell to check for leaks.

 

[RichardHelen262]

Check the gauges as they are prone to leak

 

[shadowdancer]

Sealant

Put tyre inflator sealant stuff through mine - cured the leak sort of. Only refill now once every 3 weeks. Nothing to lose really - if you have leak it is stuffed. So just fix it the easy way.

Thanks for the advice, inflated and deflated both sides a few times after letting all the air out, left both sides with 1bar pressure for an hour or so then inflated to 3bar. Checked today and both are at 3bar, excellent method, thanks again.

 

[witzend]

Thanks for the advice, inflated and deflated both sides a few times after letting all the air out, left both sides with 1bar pressure for an hour or so then inflated to 3bar. Checked today and both are at 3bar, excellent method, thanks again.

Which Sealant did you use

 

[gypo]

I keep the old bump stops in the van just in case the bellows pack up completely, especially when we are on one of our jollies overseas.
D

 

[shadowdancer]

Sealant

Which Sealant did you use

Xtreme Tyre Inflator and sealer, it`s a slow process but worth the effort. It is also a bit messy as you have to inflate and deflate a few times to get the sealer to the air bags, when deflating some of the sealer will come back out of the valves, you then inflate again after waiting a few minutes, think I did it about four times per side. I then inflated using my foot pump to one bar and left it for an hour or so. I then inflated to three bar. It is now three days since and both sides have stayed at three bar, great news for me.:wacko::wacko:

 

[Wooie1958]

Does it still allow you to inflate and deflate after this time has passed or has it also sealed the Schrader valves ?

The reason i ask is that i regularly change the pressures in mine depending on load / circumstances and i can get a certain amount of leveling including side to side movement :hammer:

 

[Deleted member 58330]

Does it still allow you to inflate and deflate after this time has passed or has it also sealed the Schrader valves ?

The reason i ask is that i regularly change the pressures in mine depending on load / circumstances and i can get a certain amount of leveling including side to side movement :hammer:

yes mine deflates ok with sealant. Been 2 years since i did mine but prone to slight leaking now again. Might stuff some more in as I only used half last time.

 

[alexander160]

Re seal

Both sides of my rear air suspension are losing pressure, one goes down to zero in about a day, the other lasts about two days. I have not checked for leaks yet but hope some of you guys can come up with problems you have experienced before. Motorhome is a CI Mizar with 2.8 TD Engine.

I had same problem with mine i removed them stripped them down cleaned them and rebuilt them they hav not lost any air in 7 months

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Most leaks seem to be on the pipe connections. Remove pipe from fitting check that the pipe has a perfectly square cut end shove into the fitting as far as it will go, do this for all connections inflate to maximum pressure as soon as possible as this locks the pipe connections deflate to running pressure.
NEVER run deflated as this will damage the air bags.
A regular check will give you an indication as to wether they need regular top up.

Alf

 

[barge1914]

Airbag pressure

My system ( 5 years old now ) on the ALKO chassis loses a tiny amount 0.1 bar over about a month or so.

The main thing i was to told was to NEVER EVER drive it with no air in and to keep it at 3.0 bar and above whilst moving otherwise the bags can get pinched.

Careful with the pressure figure. Check with the manufacturer of the particular air suspension, and tell them your van model and weight... for ours its only 1.8 bar.. 3 bar would be like concrete suspension on our little van!

 

[Wooie1958]

Careful with the pressure figure. Check with the manufacturer of the particular air suspension, and tell them your van model and weight... for ours its only 1.8 bar.. 3 bar would be like concrete suspension on our little van!

My van is 4,100kg hence the 3 bar minimum.