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Yes sir, I have taken it for a ride and nothing changes.
When I took apart the front drivers side actuator was unclipped and I tensioned the clip and reinstalled the actuator.
Is there a correct way of doing this? I mean I was thinking the way the bar from the shock goes up into the actuator maybe I rotated it to its end so when I put it back together it tried to "open up" and it couldn't because it was twisted already. Does that make sense?
Thanks again....
There is a specific way to uninstall/install the actuator but if you got it installed just open up your Techstream and go to the suspension menu. From there go into the data list. All the actuators should be at 17, you can run the active test on any actuator. The increments will go like this 1,3,5,7,9,11,13,15,17. Even if you installed it the wrong way the car will automatically adjust it to the correct value. I had the same train of thought at one point.
Are you saying that when you test drove the car with techstream open that the dampers never changed from 17? If so,then something is definitely wrong. When I did my test drive I noticed that all dampers would go to 1 as long as the road was relatively smooth. If I flip the switch to sport mode the front 2 dampers would go to 13 and the back 2 would go to 9. Comfort mode sends all dampers to 1 until you change to another mode. Now I don't know if the dampers are acting properly or not but this is what happens. If you can try the same tests and report back then we can form some kind of baseline for the settings.
When I originally took it apart and plugged it back in on techstream it went from 17 to 1. Then I drove around my neighborhood and it was still rough as hell.
Then next day hooked up techstream and it was back to 17. So I took actuator apart to make sure it was still snug and it was.
Then after you told me to drive it again, I took off with it open and running and it never again changed from being pegged at 17..
I don't know if my repluggin it back in corrected it until system figured out I had something else wrong.
I will run the individual test today to see if it responds properly
When I took off the actuator test the top of the shock is full of oil including on the actuator.
Since I have to take apart the back seats to test other actuators maybe I should replace all four of them with these which another member reported driving 25k with no problems
bought this car with 80K miles for the executive package as me and wifey do a lot of traveling personaly as well as for my business.
I just want it done right the first time. Maybe will buy all 4 and replace front two to see if that fixes problem before taking apart back seats and all.
Question
When I put negative of multi-meter on 3 with positive then I touch 1,2,4,5 at which time I should get 12ohms?
Do I have to take out the whole back seat to test rear actuators?
12-18 ohm means the actuators are within spec but oil underneath probably means the dampers are bad even if the shock still hold air. I would clean the oil up and drive for a bit then check them again before I commit to new shock's. I noticed that if you turn the little tube inside the shock when trying to line up the actuator that oil comes out. I'm guessing this is the reason they state in the manual not to turn it more than 40° when uninstalling the actuator.
Wait, I thought the dampers were part of the shock?
Thanks
The dampers are part of the shock but the actuators are what control the dampening. Lots of ppl just focus on if the air bag on the shock is holding air but even if it is but it's not dampening properly then the shock is no good. Oil on the top of the shock is a sign that the damper is no good.
Originally Posted by derreckla
Drive them a bit even though they are fully extended don't budge stiff AF
I haven't done anything except clean up a tiny bit of oil in a reservoir. How is this going to make the shock work?
Thanks
I just wanted to make sure that you did not accidentally release oil on top of the shock when you were putting the actuator back on. I released a tiny amount of oil when I was trying to line the actuator back up with the pin inside of the shock.
