Hello!
Sorry for delay answering this message...
The fist step for pnumatic leak finding is to purchase a can of leak finder and spray around all the joints and fittings and possible leak sources.
It will create visible bubbles at any leak spot. Choose a can that comes with a long plastic tube or hose to get at the hard to reach places.
Do it when the car is elevated so that the pressure in the system is as high as possible.
There is an airfilter dehumidifier beside the compressor, is that OK?
There's a 3 way fitting with a valve where the left and right sides are T'd together. Check that valve with leak finder. It may be a shrader valve which is replacable. The fittings that are screwed into the front sides of the airsprings look like a typical leak spot. The tube/hose where it sits in the plastic retainer can also get worn.
If you find no external leakage at all, then you could disconnect the tube/hose from one airspring and plug the fittingfrom the compressor. Pressurize the system and wait and see if it leaks less than before. Then test the other side by itself. It would be a help to attach a pressure gauge or transducer to the test fitting to see pressure falls a bit quicker.
the compressor may have a non-return valve on the output so that air wont leak back out thru the compressor.
Well, I was able to hear the hissing noise of the leak when car was about half the maximum height (I found it while hand-washing it
). It was obvious by the noise it was an external leak but, curiously enough, noise was almost the same at both sides of the Espace (when sitting close to the rear wheels)
I have no way to get below the car (with a reasonable free height), so I decided to take it to Renault
Well, as I had insisted that they kept me informed, next day they called me and I went to look at the problem. Car was on the elevator, with pneumatic circuit under pressure and, in both airsprings, there were leaks, clearly visible with leak finder as you suggested. So both were shot (anyway, I would have changed both, but it is curious that they exhibit exactly same condition). BTW; units are
Pirelli made.
Then it came the price...
each is about
245€ plus VAT (18% in Spain now). Then you need to add 0.8 hours for each one to replace... so grandtotal is about
664€. Not as bad as I thought but not cheap either!
My Espace is now 11 years old but has only clocked 121.000km. So I hope it will last some more years so this investment is not trashed.
Best regards,
JOSE