I've noticed on eBay, a crop of brand new aftermarket suspension compressors are for sale. They're half the price of a new Wabco unit (my guess would be chinese) Anyone here fitted one of these? My compressor is on the way out & cost is an issue, so these look very tempting......
I've considered a refurb with a seal kit - but can't do it myself so by the time I've paid someone to remove, rebuild & reinstall....well, we're pretty much up to the cost of a new one. Any advice most welcome.

 

Can you give a link to the eBay pages, so we can have a look. A new Wabco is around the £300 mark.

 

Getting to the compressor and rebuilding it is quite easy, labor should only be about 1-1.5 hours tops. I would opt to have the factory one rebuilt.

 

From a technological standpoint, the compressor isn't very complicated, so an aftermarket unit might be fine. But it would be important to confirm that the electrical connectors, air hose connection, exhaust valve and pressure relief valve all match those on the Wabco unit, as well as the air delivery/pressure capability. If the aftermarket unit can't pressurize the system as quickly as the Wabco, you may get frequent Air Suspension Fault warnings, which can shut down the air suspension until the codes are cleared.

Removing rhe radiator underpanel, then removing the old compressor, disassembling it, cleaning out the corrosion from the air dryer, check valve, exhaust valve and pressure relief valve, then reassembling with a new piston seal and reinstalling in the car and replacing the radiator underpanel can be done in a couple of hours by any competent mechanic. Simply replacing the piston ring is even faster, but the corrosion should really be cleaned while the compressor is out. It also doesn't hurt to put the molecular sieve desiccant beads in a 500F oven overnight to partially reactivate them, or replace them as I did.

Cheers,

Don

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compresso...0AAOSwa1VZlmb5


Cheapest new Wabco I found was £303+vat, so about £360.
I've been offered a S/H Discovery compressor for free, same guts I believe - but the connectors & mounts look different.
The eBay unit looks like a bargain, will also consider a rebuild -although my local specialist wasn't too interested in doing that.

 

It could be NOS, (New Old Stock) or an aftermarket lookalike. Lucas do one, I believe, and there may be others. All made in China no doubt !