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Air Suspension pumped too high......

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Posted by: Hotthedd

Ok everybody i have a slight problem with my air suspension and wanted to know if someone could supply some type of assistance in helping me correct it. I just replaced the air suspension on my 94 lincoln mark VIII and everything went great however i cant get the suspension to vent. the car is riding so high that the ride is actually terrible now. its simply pumped up too high for some reason. they work fine and they drop the way they should when i am going over 60 like they shuld and they raise back up but they are just way way high as hell. it looks ridiculous. can someone offer suggestions on how to make them vent or how i can manually vent the system to lower them a bit?? any assistance would be greatly appreciated.......

Posted by: 4.6powa

sounds like a sensor popped off a ball stud.

Posted by: unity

You may be right, but generally a sensor off ball joint will cause a check air-ride since it will not read a lower height when it is suppose to vent. It will just keep giving the same reading and the computer will give up and error out.

But check the fronts and make sure they are attached. Were the brackets moved?

Posted by: 04SSHD

you did the 4x4 mod?

Posted by: Sergmark

Quote:

Originally Posted by 04SSHD

you did the 4x4 mod?

Too funny.... I hope he can take a little joke

Posted by: billcu

If the sensors are ok, you might have a sticking vent valve.

Eddies site has some great troubleshooting tips and explanations of the system and it's problem areas:

http://www.americanairsuspension.com/

Posted by: Hotthedd

Quote:

Originally Posted by 04SSHD

you did the 4x4 mod?

this is funny. no man no 4x4 mod but it sure looks like it seriously..... i will check the sensors in the front and rear inthe morning and make sure they are on properly.
i'm beginning to think its the sensors but i am not sure......

Posted by: Hotthedd

It is giving me the check suspension message still even though its working fine. I figured it was because it was pumped up so high.....

Posted by: billcu

If it's pumped up too high, it's not working fine. That's why you get the message.

You might run the risk of blowing up an airspring. Check out the link I gave above. Go to the air ride help and it will show you the reasons for your troubles.

Let us know what you find out.

Posted by: Hotthedd

I spoke with a few tech guys and they infored me that my compressor is bad or my suspension module is bad. I know the possibility of it being the ocmpressor is very very low because I replaced that about a year ago and I bought the part OEM from the lincoln dealership directly. They told me that the air shocks vent through the compressor so the compressor solenoid could be stuck in which case I now need a new compressor. I will go home and manually vent the system then turn the car back on and see how high up the car goes and if it gets stupid high again then I will be purchasing ANOTHER new compressor for my Mark. This is getting expensive.
I wish I would have converted to non-air suspension like I initially started to do.......

Oh well.

Posted by: mespock

Check the link to Eddie's site.. there is a lot of good information there.

If you can't figure it out give Eddie a call... I'm putting money on it being the suspension module. But then I could be wrong...

Posted by: unity

You Mark will NOT go high just because it will not vent. Did ya get to check the sensors yet? And like said above - you can blow the bags so try not to drive it. Still sounds like a sensors to me, I doubt the compressor is bad. I would not even get a new compressor if it is, I would get a spider valve.

Posted by: Hotthedd

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity

You Mark will NOT go high just because it will not vent. Did ya get to check the sensors yet? And like said above - you can blow the bags so try not to drive it. Still sounds like a sensors to me, I doubt the compressor is bad. I would not even get a new compressor if it is, I would get a spider valve.

Spider Valve?? Please Educate me.......

Posted by: bufordtpisser

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotthedd

Spider Valve?? Please Educate me.......

He will tell you all about it. It is basically a valve that you can use to put air in or take it out manually in case the compressor fails.

Posted by: unity

The spider valve replaces the vent solenoid on the compressor, so if it is bad you can just get one of these and not worry about it. The primary use of the spider valve is to remove moisture from the air-ride system.

The compressor pulls in moist air, most of it gets absorbed by the "dryer". The dryer is where the four lines going to each bag connect. It contains a water absorbing material that is suppose to dry out the air, but it does not do a good job because the air entering it is heated up by the compressor - hot air hold moisture better - so some water still gets into the system. The moist air eventually condenses when it cools and you have water in the system. When it vents to park the air reverses direction going the other direction through the dryer and the moisture should be pushed out, but moisture in the cold air is stopped at the dryer - because its doing its job better with the cold air than hot air.

Thus the dryer easily becomes saturated and water gets trapped "behind" the dryer in the lines and bags. Its like a check valve and the moisture builds up. Moisture/water is bad for rubber and will cause the bags to fail prematurely as is breaks down.

So the way to help is to do two things. One is a spider valve from AmericanAirSuspension.com What is does is simply let the car vent right to outside air versus blowing back through the dryer. This better removes the moisture because it does not get blocked by the dryer, it really leaves the system. In time nearly all moisture is removed. The other thing that helps is to remove the dryer, take it apart and bake the water absorbing material for about 2 hours at 250 degrees. I had TWO completely freeze up on me and blow right off since the air had to go somewhere and could not make it through the frozen dryer!!!

Posted by: billcu

Quote:

Originally Posted by unity

The Mark will go high just because it will not vent.

If you put people in the car, or stuff in the trunk, the system will compensate. When the people get out or you remove the stuff from the trunk, the car will be too high. It can also get too high by parking on an uneven surface (like the road in front of my house).

It happend to me before I installed my spider valve on my green Mark.

Posted by: D Hook

Very nice explanation of the spider valve and it's function. Should be a sticky someplace.

Posted by: Hotthedd

I'm considering purchasing a spider valve. sounds like exactly what i need.
either that or a Module8 lowering device

Posted by: unity

Bill. Your right. Never thought of that being a factor as I never have passengers and rarely use my Mark as a cargo vehicle

Posted by: chickenviii

but isnt the car venting while hes driving, if so the vent is working

Posted by: billcu

Quote:

Originally Posted by chickenviii

but isnt the car venting while hes driving, if so the vent is working

I re-read the original post and I don't think that I understand what was said.

How can it lower properly over 60 mph and not vent? How can you even measure if it's lowered properly over 60 mph?

If the car is too high, it should vent doing 60 mph, or even standing still with the doors closed.

Are the solenoids at the airsprings opening? You should hear them click when you are standing by the car and key on and close the doors.

When does the "Check Air Ride" message come on? Instantly, or after 45 seconds, or after 90 seconds? This is a key indicator of what might be wrong with the system (I read this at Eddies site).

If the vent valve is stuck it won't vent.
If the dryer is plugged up it won't vent.
If the solenoids at the airsprings don't open it won't vent.

There are more reasons why it wouldn't vent (dead battery ect...) but these are some of the more common ones.

Posted by: Hotthedd

ok i have been jacking around with the car trying to figure out what the problem is so i thikn i have it isolated. i got under it last night and adjusted the rear sensor so that the car shold be slammed all the way and it made no dofference. readjusted the sensor to be normal and no difference again and the fronts are ok. So i am thinking that the rear sensor is bad or something. or that the solenoids are bad on the rear shocks. i will have to take pictures os the car and post them here so you guys can see what i am talking about. but the rear simply will not lower at all......just stuck.

looks ridiculous man......