Manitou Mattoc Air Spring issues

I recently came across an odd issue with my Mantiou Mattoc's so thought I'd share my findings.....
Firstly this was all problematic due to Manitou not publishing any service documentation for the forks yet!

So for reference on the Air Spring internals I pulled the Manitou Dorado service manual:
http://www.manitoumtb.com/assets/Service Manuals/2012 Dorado Pro Service Manual.pdf

My forks weren't pumping up correctly.
The positive and negative chambers weren't equalizing, and it felt like I was only pressurising the negative chamber.
When disconnecting the pump and cycling the fork, it suddenly firmed right up, so much so I had to release pressure out.
The air spring felt variable and inconsistent, switching from soft to firm when in use.

This turns out to be an issue with the Poppet valve used to pressurize the fork.
This is the middle part of the valve that the pump should connect with to open the valve to both chambers, and should protrude from the valve itself by 1mm. (Pg20 Section 14)
When inspecting my fork the valve was recessed into the fork by ~2mm, so wasn't opening up the valve correctly when connecting the pump causing my issues.
This also means that the valve isn't in the correct position inside the fork, so can move slightly during use, causing the positive and negative chambers to equalize when you really don't want them too!

So to fix it.......
Simple 2.5mm allen key in the middle of the air piston, and undo the poppet untill it appears protruding from the bottom valve by 1mm.
Fig22, and picture below show the correct position.


Manitou Travel adjustment Exploded diagrams

A cheat way for stripping the fork without the need for the thin wall socket for the air side, just use a 4mm allen socket in the valve.
It's slightly annoying fighting with the spring in the valve, but it's way easier and safer than risking stripping the nut thread with a poor fitting socket or filing a socket down.
Another trick if using the 4mm allen key method, is when putting the lowers back on compress them so you can seat with 1 turn on either side, then fully extend fork pulling hard and releasing any pressure in the air valve. Tighten both bolts whilst the fork is fully extended.
This is needed to make sure there isn't any vaccum inside the lowers that disrupts the balance of the forks air spring.

Then go ride and enjoy!


P.s. Make sure you put the exact 3cc (confirmed from Manitou tech support) of lubrication oil in the air chamber. DO NOT exceed this, as the excess will flow down into the negative chamber and ruin the ride of your fork when you next change the air pressure with the forks upright on the bike.