The first signs i noticed were: lumpy weight transfer at the back, pitching whilst braking and eventually full deterioration of damping, akin to a bouncy castle!
After deciding i wanted to retain Dynamic Ride Control i set about researching the system; self study programme 244 Audi RS6 and the DRC video, both of which are in Mr Footlong's Audi technical file archive. They are invaluable and hold a lot of good information if you are considering this yourself.
So having done that i ordered two liters of hydraulic fluid and TWO front pipe/hose assemblies on the basis that the other side wouldn't be far away from failing. Arguably there is two hoses at the rear shocks too, however they are not subject to the same stress the front two are because they do not bend back on themselves 180 degrees, they follow a more meandering S shaped pattern and on inspection seemed sound.
I also ordered an o-ring set to have on hand in case it was required. They are not cheap so probably better getting some NBR rubber o-rings from polymax or similar (17mm id x 1 mm) & (12mm id x 1.5mm)
Fitting the parts is no harder than working on a brake system. The detail is in the refilling, obviously Audi could do this or there is third parties with the tool featured in the DRC video.
I decided to make my own. In essence it comprises of a vacuum pump, linear hand pump and the manifold to the charging hoses.
I followed the same procedure as the Audi video, coupling into the front shock and rear coupling diagonally.
With the couplings on i turned on the vacuum pumps to create a vacuum in the system, this also lets oil siphon down into the vacuum chamber (PVC waste pipe)
I then closed the vacuum side of the manifold and opened the oil side and filled the system to 22 Bar, this is when the system is full by volume and the central valve is fully depressed. I then let the pressure drop back to 16 Bar, this gives the central valve the correct operating travel in the event both shocks compress concurrently.
Ignore all the gauge markings but the black ones, the left shows -1 bar the right 16 bar.
All in all it was successful, with the exception of one sheared fitting not directly involved in the refilling procedure.
Its a banjo fitting of sorts which threads into the shock absorber and can be seen in the 9th image down. I decided to tighten it and accidentally sheared it off!
So if anyone has an old front shock with one on it, could they assist?
Anyone thinking those discs look new? here is what happened to the old one!
Hope this is useful to someone
Cheers, C
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