I just bought my Phaeton on tuesday. It is a 2004 V8 and the suspension is normal in the back, but the front is way too high. I know the batteries need replaced and that is being dealt with right now, but is this the batteries or something else? Is there a way to put it down that doesn't involve a VAG COM
View 2 RepliesMy phaeton all of a sudden wouldn't rise up .I then took off the left battery terminal and let it sit for a while then put it back and then the car rose up and the back is on the normal level and the front is sitting higher its weird !.I have to mention that it seems my car has electrical issues because if it sits for about two days my key fob doesn't work sometimes I have use the actual key to open it.then once the car starts I have to reset the clock ,seats everything..Anyway is there a way to completely reset the whole system so at least my vehicle goes down.
View 6 RepliesI'm at a body shop now to pick up my 2004 V8 after fixing some scrapes from getting gently rear ended. When they pulled the car around, the front of the car was almost on the ground while the back looked very high. I'm concerned that the air ride is damaged. It's possible, if not likely, that they lifted the car without using jack mode. Can that be the cause of suspension damage?
View 7 RepliesToday when I went to start the car I noticed front suspension (Shocks) were low but when I started the car it went up by itself. Then I got the warning message while I was driving the car. I am posting 2 pictures that were displayed in the console. After that every time I switch off the car, the front suspension (shocks) goes down by itself and goes up when I start up the car. I am not sure about this behavior. Could this be the famous Air shocks failure or just simple fix.
View 24 RepliesI have an occasional thump in the front suspension that seems related to road irregularities and I presumed there might be a bushing or tie rod end or ball joint causing it. It's not metal to metal and is not a cornering thing, just going straight down the road it can happen.
My mechanic looked over the front end and nothing was obviously bad, and he concluded that it was the shock mount at the top of one of the shocks and that sounded right to me. So we looked into it and were surprised to find that there was no shock mount. The air shock seems to be an all-in-one design that just bolts to the top of the wheel well.
So, this thunk, if it is coming from the shock can only be fixed by the replacement of the shock, is that the case? Better yet, could it be something else?
Last night I was sitting in my living room when I heard what I thought was a tire blowing out in my driveway - loud pop/hiss. Went outside but didn't see any flat tires, so I went to bed. This morning I got in the car and started backing out of the driveway but got the alert "Vehicle Too Low" - got out and saw that my front tires were almost touching the inside of the wheel wells. Trying to change the ride height via the suspension button has no effect at all.
I'm super bummed - I've always said that because of the cost to repair, a strut failure in the amazing air suspension would probably be what did this car in. But I didn't expect it to happen so soon - I'm "only" at 129k miles. It happened in my driveway and not 60 minutes earlier while I was doing 75 MPH on the highway.
Pic here: [URL] ....
Just recently I've been hearing a slight creeking sound coming from the front end when going over bumps. I don't have a lot of suspension knowledge so I'm not sure where to start looking and wanted to see if others had the problem, and what the outcome was? The car is at 60k miles.
View 20 Repliesmy P has recently developed a knocking noise coming from the front right when I go over a pothole. My first guess was a worn anti-roll bar drop link, but I've just taken the drop link off and it looks absolutely perfect. (I noticed that they have updated this part since my last 2008 P which had aluminium inserts in the rubber bush and easily distorted - now they have a stainless steel insert.)
It sounds like the "clunk" comes from high up on the front right suspension. I have looked at all the bushes on the arms and they look fine. If this was a "traditional" car I would have guessed that the top suspension mount bearing had failed, but am I right in thinking that the P doesn't have one of these bearing mounts ?
My V8 had extensive suspension work done this week. All the front suspension bushings were replaced including the sway bar links. In addition, the air suspension- all four corners were replaced and the tie rods were also replaced.
The reason all the bushings were replaced was suspension noise and the fact that the car would wear the front tires unevenly even after new tires and alignment. The assumption was that the worn out bushings at 64k miles where the reason for the uneven wear of the front tires.
After all this work, I received the car yesterday and the car has more suspension noises than it had before all the work was done.....
When I drive over a speed bump, at slow speeds, I can hear loud squeak noises. Even driving the car out of my garage this morning, I could hear the groaning noises from the front suspension.
I will be taking the car back to the dealer after the holidays so they can check it out. Are these noises normal due to the new bushings settling or something..
My P sits lower (about 2 inch) in the front after the car is parked for about an hour. No code on VAG-COM. No warning lights nor messages. What could this problem be? It started about a month ago. It actually occurs slowly just a few mins after I turn the engine off. It would go back to its normal height after I unlock the car with the remote or after I start the car.
View 5 RepliesSince we took ownership of our 2009 v6 there has been a rumble when going over bumps in the road. A certain amount of this I have put down to the big alloys and low profile tyres, but have always suspected that there was something else amiss.
Today I took her into our local Phaeton garage and asked them to investigate. They has hinted at worn drop links. However after checking everything out in the ramp they can find nothing wrong. They even replaced one if the drop links (whatever they are).
So they came up with nothing wrong but could still here the rumble when driving over un-even surfaces. When I change to sport mode I think the rumble gets less, where to look or what could be wrong.
I have an 04, one air spiring is leaking. Covered by real driver warranty. VW no longer makes the part so they have to replace the entire system, it costs about $10,000. Great car but if you are buying one, get the real driver warranty.
View 3 Replies06 330 4WD Replaced control arms, tied rod ends, ball joints and had aligned. Now it somehow appears that the suspension is stuck in the high position, there is no movement in the front struts. It sounds like there is no motion from any suspension components. Feeling a bit stupid here...everything looks correct. So Disconnected battery and suspension is actually active now. But each corner is at a different height, will not return to Normal or low position
View 1 RepliesI am having a problem with my rear suspension. The indicator lights on the dash (for the rear suspension control) are working correctly as are the controls on the center console, however the rear of my vehicle is stuck in a high position.
View 14 RepliesMy 2004 Phaeton has 167,000 KMs on it right now, but the maintenance schedule on the user manual ends at 166,000 KMs, I have checked with the VW dealer, they said once the car goes pass that mileage, you just start over again, treat it like a new car, i wonder if this is true?
View 3 RepliesI have an 04 rx 330 with air suspension. The swaybar end links have just been replaced on the front and a rattling noise persists.
The noise happens over large and small bumps at high and low speeds at normal and low vehicle height. When the height is at "HI" the noise is louder and it feels as though the front end is shaking loose over bumps at 10 km/h+.
I took it in and was advised to replace the end links, they did so and returned it claiming the noise was gone. The air compressor and struts are in working condition.
I have done a search through the forum, not extensive... I was wondering which other components come loose/wear and cause a clunk/rattle/shudder noise.
Also, tires are new and at approx. 32-34 psi.
I've noticed over the last year or so that when I put my car in reverse to back out of a parking space, occasionally, the break pedal will not fully depress - probably goes about halfway down - and the braking becomes very sensitive. I cannot smoothly back out because the brakes keep catching. Once I've switched back to forward drive, the problem is resolved. Is this normal, something I'm doing wrong, or does it indicate a braking problem that needs to be fixed?
View 11 RepliesReplace shocks in the front ????
View 5 Replies2010 F-150 SuperCrew. The braking is overly aggressive especially at slow speeds. It is most noticable in parking lots when trying to ease into a parking space or just easing up to the curb. I took it back to the dealership and they printed a statement from Ford stating that aggressive brakes are normal and no adjustment should be made. It is annoying to the point my wife does not want to drive the truck. Obviously there have been enough complaints that Ford has a prepared statement.
Otherwise a great driving truck. I test drove two new Sierra SLE Texas Editions and the Ford drove much better. Also the GMC, hesitated everytime you leave from a dead stop.
By way of brief background, I have a 2004 Touareg with 180,000 miles. I recently noticed that the front left air suspension was sitting lower than normal after the truck had been sitting. I discovered that the shock was leaking air and in the subsequent days began getting "Running Gear Workshop" warnings on the MFI. I got both the orange ones and a red one that instructs you to stop immediately. It reset after parking, and restarting. In summary, I knew I had a problem.
Today, I stopped at the dealer and they confirmed that the fitting at the top of the air shock was in deed leaking. Attached is a photograph showing the fitting. It is important that you inspect these fittings ASAP if you have air suspension. There is a TSB that references corrosion and possible failure. See TSB 43 07 01
Initially I was told that the entire air shock would have to be replaced but after doing research and with the assistance of Spockcat, I discovered that the fitting can be replaced assuming the female portion of the connection is not corroded. Replacing the entire air shock assembly is expensive. Apparently, there have been some instances where the fitting has failed during driving and bad things happen.
I have a humming noise coming from the front end of my 2004 W12. I only notice the noise at highway speeds and it appears to only be audible when I turn the wheel to the right. For example, when traveling on the highway and the road bends slightly to the right or when I move into the right lane, I hear a faint hum coming from the wheel(s).
I started hearing the hum a few days ago but dismissed it as a symptom of my Phaeton Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (POCD). While driving to and from DC last night on a night out with my wife, she commented on the presence of the hum as well.
I just had the LF wheel bearing replaced 2 weeks ago. Here are some possibilities I'v thought of:
RF wheel bearing
Low Power Steering Fuild
Other Steering Problems (leaking rack)
On a related note, where do you check the power steering fluid level? I can't seem to find the reservoir.