When it rains it pours: front suspension fault, help?
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No, it died in an airport parking structure I couldn't get a tow truck into.
I carefully exited, then parked it and tried jack mode (didn't work) and plugged in my trusty Ross Tech to see what it said. Right then, a cop pulled up and told me if the car could move, I had to get it off airport property to wait for the tow truck (I was in a bus lane, but he was also being a bit officious) so I started to drive and there was nowhere good to stop, so I just drove it to the independent like it was since it was just straight down the highway with no turns. I probably damaged the bushings by doing that, but nothing else was affected. Not a great choice, but last time I waited for Triple A it took more than three hours and I had nowhere to wait.
I carefully exited, then parked it and tried jack mode (didn't work) and plugged in my trusty Ross Tech to see what it said. Right then, a cop pulled up and told me if the car could move, I had to get it off airport property to wait for the tow truck (I was in a bus lane, but he was also being a bit officious) so I started to drive and there was nowhere good to stop, so I just drove it to the independent like it was since it was just straight down the highway with no turns. I probably damaged the bushings by doing that, but nothing else was affected. Not a great choice, but last time I waited for Triple A it took more than three hours and I had nowhere to wait.
Did you drive it all the way to FMU? That's a pretty good distance but I've driven my Phaeton on short drives 3 times when the level sensors each failed and one front strut blew out (could actually hear it pop while I was driving the car. Was a bit weird but I drove carefully and no problem. So prob no reason to worry.
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The control arm bushings were all ripped, it wasn't that expensive to replace them and a shoulder-shrug for me to do so, since the car has 72,000 miles, but I have to assume that going over the bumps with no shock-absorbing damaged them. So there's that, I should have had it towed. I have a tendency to be impatient 
Yes, I drove all the way to Fluid Motor, there were only a couple of turns and I was very gentle, so that wasn't a big deal, but Chicago streets probably wrecked my bushings.
And re: airport parking lot, that's pretty much what the car does, back-and-forth to the airport. It's actually really safe, as you can tell by the cop telling me to move along, there are eyes on everything all the time. I'm not really worried about it getting stolen, good luck with that, and if they take my Ben Hur, I'll just thank them, that thing is turning into a royal P.I.T.A. I've been pretty lucky with door dings, knock on wood.
With new shocks and new bushings, it's driving really nice, I took Ogden all the way from the Independant home, instead of the freeway to make sure everything was working as it should, it was a really nice drive. My radio/infotainment is in a box, waiting for an RMA from Nav-TV so that was a drag, but I used earbuds and contemplated whether a $7,000 stereo was really that much better than a set of expensive earbuds. Jury is still out.
And for Johnny…I never got an error code over the suspension from the Ross Tech. Just the "too low" code.
Yes, I drove all the way to Fluid Motor, there were only a couple of turns and I was very gentle, so that wasn't a big deal, but Chicago streets probably wrecked my bushings.
And re: airport parking lot, that's pretty much what the car does, back-and-forth to the airport. It's actually really safe, as you can tell by the cop telling me to move along, there are eyes on everything all the time. I'm not really worried about it getting stolen, good luck with that, and if they take my Ben Hur, I'll just thank them, that thing is turning into a royal P.I.T.A. I've been pretty lucky with door dings, knock on wood.
With new shocks and new bushings, it's driving really nice, I took Ogden all the way from the Independant home, instead of the freeway to make sure everything was working as it should, it was a really nice drive. My radio/infotainment is in a box, waiting for an RMA from Nav-TV so that was a drag, but I used earbuds and contemplated whether a $7,000 stereo was really that much better than a set of expensive earbuds. Jury is still out.
And for Johnny…I never got an error code over the suspension from the Ross Tech. Just the "too low" code.
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And…when troubleshooting I placed the suspension in "high" mode so the car looks like it's ready to off-road and I have no way to change it back until I put the head unit back. Or maybe it will work with just the console switch? Anyway, I think I'm getting the RMA number this morning and I'll fedex that sucker off. Worst case scenario, they say there's no problem with the unit or radio and I'll have to figure out the loose connection in that wiring mess.
Both channels cut out when I go over bumps, sometimes one, sometimes the other. I can usually get it back if I thump on the head unit with my knuckles. I replaced the wiring harness (not much to it) and that didn't make a difference. I hope Nav Tv is like Apple; they "repair" the unit by simply sending a new one with no problems.
My first unit blew up, the second unit has a loose connection…I'd rather this stuff just worked. I rented a Kia four-door a couple weeks ago and the radio…just worked. I thought, "Aha! So this is luxury!"
Re the codes, you're right there were two, I just paid attention to the ride height one, I get a lot of communication error codes that I ignore because I don't know what I'm looking at. In this case, there were two physical problems. I imagine we could have changed out the seal on the right side, but that looks like a press fitting, I can't imagine that holding a seal over a long time.
Either way, they just changed it out and I'm ok with that, two at once and all.
At this point, it's not about the money I'm spending on this thing, it's the reliability…I do not have the luxury of wating by the side of the road for hours for a tow truck, and I can't abandon the car because the City tows from the front wheels, not caring at all about AWD, they just say to file a report if they damage your car.
Both channels cut out when I go over bumps, sometimes one, sometimes the other. I can usually get it back if I thump on the head unit with my knuckles. I replaced the wiring harness (not much to it) and that didn't make a difference. I hope Nav Tv is like Apple; they "repair" the unit by simply sending a new one with no problems.
My first unit blew up, the second unit has a loose connection…I'd rather this stuff just worked. I rented a Kia four-door a couple weeks ago and the radio…just worked. I thought, "Aha! So this is luxury!"
Re the codes, you're right there were two, I just paid attention to the ride height one, I get a lot of communication error codes that I ignore because I don't know what I'm looking at. In this case, there were two physical problems. I imagine we could have changed out the seal on the right side, but that looks like a press fitting, I can't imagine that holding a seal over a long time.
Either way, they just changed it out and I'm ok with that, two at once and all.
At this point, it's not about the money I'm spending on this thing, it's the reliability…I do not have the luxury of wating by the side of the road for hours for a tow truck, and I can't abandon the car because the City tows from the front wheels, not caring at all about AWD, they just say to file a report if they damage your car.
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