Sometimes when I come out in the morning I find my frontend sitting on the tires and sometimes she doesnt drop at all. I even cut the airride off and she still dropps sometimes. Im lost and need advice. !!!!SKNAHT

Procrastination is not your friend when it comes to air ride.

This is an easy problem to fix, not EASY doesnt mean CHEAP.
you need two new front bags.

you can put two bags on it and fix it.. or you can wait..and then you'll need
2 bags
compressor
air ride relay
air ride computer

putting off the repair only means your gonna spend MORE money to fix it.
Right now you can fix it for LESS than a coil spring conversion.
Keep putting it off and it's only gonna get MORE and MORE expensive.

If my bags are bad why do they only leak sometimes? She sat for two week and never dropped and i never started her. That doesnt make sense.

Because that's how those bags are. Sometimes they leak, sometimes they don't.

Don't question and argue with someone who just told you why your car is doing what it's doing. Go replace the front Air Struts and be happy.

:D

Im not. I figured if there was a leak it would do it all the time.

If my bags are bad why do they only leak sometimes?.

If your bags are good, how do they leak "sometimes" that doesnt make any sense either.

Trust me.. or hell go do a search.

your reply "it only leaks sometimes" is the same reply given all the time.

There are alot of variables which could effect why it did or didn't leak down.
Temp, position the car was parked in..it goes on and on.

Here is the deal.

Turn your air ride off..(just like you said you did)
IF the car falls.. you have a leak.
it's pretty cut and dry.


there is a slim possibility that you have a bad solenoid 0 ring.
99% of the time they dont fail, unless the solenoid has been removed.

I know you dont want to "THINK" that you have a leak.. I too have been there.

you could change the solenoid o-rings and there's a very SLIM chance it'll fix it.

There.. I've given you a "gliimmer of hope" now, your bags might not have a leak.

In the end, your gonna find that ONE of your bags is leaking.

If you turn the key on..engine off..and let the car pump up from the pancake position.. if you listen very closely you'll be able to hear ONE or BOTH of the bags "hiss" as they pass thru the area of the leak.

It might be a very faint hiss... it might only happen for a split second. you might have to do this a few times before you catch it.

..in the end.. your gonna find you have a leaking front strut.
you might get away with chunking a single strut on..I've done it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but.. "it IS what it IS".

Procrastination is not your friend when it comes to air ride.

This is an easy problem to fix, not EASY doesnt mean CHEAP.
you need two new front bags.

you can put two bags on it and fix it.. or you can wait..and then you'll need
2 bags
compressor
air ride relay
air ride computer

putting off the repair only means your gonna spend MORE money to fix it.
Right now you can fix it for LESS than a coil spring conversion.
Keep putting it off and it's only gonna get MORE and MORE expensive.

Wrong in more than one sense. You cant go ahead and assume that the bags are bad. I've had solenoids fall apart in my hands putting them in. Also, O-rings do fail prematurely. It's an air suspension COMPRESSOR relay. That is going to imminently fail with a leak. The computer will NOT go bad.

If your bags are good, how do they leak "sometimes" that doesnt make any sense either.

Trust me.. or hell go do a search.

your reply "it only leaks sometimes" is the same reply given all the time.

There are alot of variables which could effect why it did or didn't leak down.
Temp, position the car was parked in..it goes on and on.

Here is the deal.

Turn your air ride off..(just like you said you did)
IF the car falls.. you have a leak.
it's pretty cut and dry.


there is a slim possibility that you have a bad solenoid 0 ring.
99% of the time they dont fail, unless the solenoid has been removed.

I know you dont want to "THINK" that you have a leak.. I too have been there.

you could change the solenoid o-rings and there's a very SLIM chance it'll fix it.

There.. I've given you a "gliimmer of hope" now, your bags might not have a leak.

In the end, your gonna find that ONE of your bags is leaking.

If you turn the key on..engine off..and let the car pump up from the pancake position.. if you listen very closely you'll be able to hear ONE or BOTH of the bags "hiss" as they pass thru the area of the leak.

It might be a very faint hiss... it might only happen for a split second. you might have to do this a few times before you catch it.

..in the end.. your gonna find you have a leaking front strut.
you might get away with chunking a single strut on..I've done it.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but.. "it IS what it IS".

Well lets think of a simple concept. Heat makes molecules expand correct? So, Cold makes molecules contract. Lets think of it this way. Saying his bags are bad is like saying every basketball or air filled rubber object is bad after being left in the cold for a period of time. GOOD DIAGNOSIS DOCTOR!!!!!

Im not. I figured if there was a leak it would do it all the time.

Yes. It does'nt have a special mechanism that says WOAH im gonna leak today or in 3 minutes but not later. Its because of the cold. XLR is making NO good points. Its very cold. Its really not a great time to get a clear diagnosis. Especially over the internet.....

93,

Don't take this the wrong way, you haven't annoyed me enough yet for me to really mean this, but... you're an idiot.

Bags only leaking sometimes is because THEY LEAK! They usually leak around where the rubber rolls onto itself at the bottom. All that rolling on itself will take a toll on it after time.


Mill, you can listen to a "tech" (in school still, IIRC), or you can listen to people who have actually HAD bags go bad on them. Your choice.

Personally, I'll take hands on experience over edjumakation any day of the week.

^^ Exactly. The fact that temperatures and the slightly variable height that car may vent to changes the location of the craks and they can "seal" or not.

In fact usually one bag leaks first, not both. Even with one leaking the whole front can slam. It will only get worse and the other bag will start leaking too.

Oh, I should add that my beater 95 Mark had leaking bags. It was so bad that to prevent (most of the time) front end slams I would get out of the car, leave the door open and go to the trunk to turn the air-ride off. That would keep it from venting. Problem is that if I left it off it would slam from driving around so back on it went every time I started it up.

If I let it vent I can guarantee it would be slammed 90% of the time.

and each time it slams it tears open the leak a little more....it gets worse and worse..

and unity is correct.. 1 leaking bag will slam the whole front end due to the weight of the engine.

mkviii93 is just spouting crap.

The orings are tightly samwiched into the bore, they aren't just gonne "get chilly" and start leaking.

And.. the air ride relay is just that..the relay for the air ride.

and if you think overworking the compressor wont FRY the air ride computer you really shouldn't be giving people advice..

I am speaking from over a half a million driven miles in the mark 8.

When you drive one of these cars and have to fix one yourself..for that many miles..you start to "notice a pattern".

Procrastination is not your friend when it comes to air ride.
putting off the repair only means your gonna spend MORE money to fix it.
Right now you can fix it for LESS than a coil spring conversion.
Keep putting it off and it's only gonna get MORE and MORE expensive.

Best advice of the day.



Personally, I'll take hands on experience over edjumakation any day of the week.

I think it would be smart to listen to somebody who has un bolted almost every bolt on a mark.

I do have plenty of hands on experience. And I've had a personal experience on my mark when it was frigidly cold the BRAND NEW bags would leak... and the car dropped 1.5-2 inches below curb height. NOW tell me that my brand new bags which were ordered from American air with brand new o rings were defective. You're pitting experience(which doesn't mean much to me or anybody) against logic and concept.

I am speaking from over a half a million driven miles in the mark 8.

When you drive one of these cars and have to fix one yourself..for that many miles..you start to "notice a pattern".

Talk about all the miles youve put on your mark. Anybody can throw parts at a car like you. Doesnt mean you have any more knowledge than homeboys auto repair down on 8 mile.

My Mark that DOESN'T have a suspension leak has been chilling in my garage since I parked it in October, it has dropped at the most 1/4-1/2" up until this point.... Any leak no matter how small is unacceptable.

I do have plenty of hands on experience. And I've had a personal experience on my mark when it was frigidly cold the BRAND NEW bags would leak... and the car dropped 1.5-2 inches below curb height. NOW tell me that my brand new bags which were ordered from American air with brand new o rings were defective. You're pitting experience(which doesn't mean much to me or anybody) against logic and concept.

Yet at -18 with my air-ride shut off (bad relay) mine did not drop in height enough to notice. The air ride has been off for a while. I had a thread on it about the compressor.

I do have plenty of hands on experience. And I've had a personal experience on my mark when it was frigidly cold the BRAND NEW bags would leak... and the car dropped 1.5-2 inches below curb height. NOW tell me that my brand new bags which were ordered from American air with brand new o rings were defective. You're pitting experience(which doesn't mean much to me or anybody) against logic and concept.

Tell you what do a search.
Tell me what you find on why the car would drop.

You will find many threads on leaking bags
and only this one on cold air doing it.

If he had new bags and it was droping what your saying might just make a little sense, but he dosent have new bags and o rings.
Like I said do the search see what you find.

I do have plenty of hands on experience. And I've had a personal experience on my mark when it was frigidly cold the BRAND NEW bags would leak... and the car dropped 1.5-2 inches below curb height. NOW tell me that my brand new bags which were ordered from American air with brand new o rings were defective. You're pitting experience(which doesn't mean much to me or anybody) against logic and concept.

Ok mr physics major, since you know so much about how cold affects rubber o-rings.. explain to me why you cant figure out why a bladder full of warm air tends to deflate quite a bit when it cools down considerably.

Now before you spout off about the air not being warm..
put your hand down on your cold compressor and keep it there while it jacks the car up...then come back and tell me that air in the system isn't pretty hot.

That is probably why the air ride computer allows the car to make adjustments for up to 1 hour after it is turned off..so it can adjust the height while the bags cool down.

THAT is why the brand new American Air bags that were not leaking.. sagged a little bit.


Jeez it's not rocket science.. hell it aint even model rocket science.

wow! this thread is getting interesting too! im saying bag. mine did the exact same thing as the OP said, some days leak other days no leak, all depends on where the fold on the bag is at the end of the day. mine got so bad i stopped at the father in laws house for a minute, when i came out the car saw sitting in the driveway hissing as the rf deflated, swapped the rf bag with a spare and viola. ONLY time i saw a o-ring leak is if the solenoid was removed, if you didnt touch it i wouldnt even consider it. you need to see what side is leaking, just see what side is lower after it leaks down (mine was only .5" difference right to left)

Ok mr physics major, since you know so much about how cold affects rubber o-rings.. explain to me why you cant figure out why a bladder full of warm air tends to deflate quite a bit when it cools down considerably.

Now before you spout off about the air not being warm..
put your hand down on your cold compressor and keep it there while it jacks the car up...then come back and tell me that air in the system isn't pretty hot.

That is probably why the air ride computer allows the car to make adjustments for up to 1 hour after it is turned off..so it can adjust the height while the bags cool down.

THAT is why the brand new American Air bags that were not leaking.. sagged a little bit.


Jeez it's not rocket science.. hell it aint even model rocket science.

Well. Air especially in such a small space can become cold in a matter of hours. The bags could be bad... I wont completely deny that. But, you can't legitimately replace air suspension components because of the weather. Also it is possible that when it's cold as it is, an existing imperfection in the bag could become more noticeable. Im saying because I had a problem with my air suspension sagging last winter with new bags and o rings.

Is the ass of the car raised when the front end is slammed? First indication of bad front bags.

OK OK OK!!!!!!! Listen the car sat for 2 week without leaking and the airride was off. I did this after I it would slam sometimes. This car sat in the cold for 2 weeks and did drop at all. Since Ive driven her for the last two week she has only slammed once and that was last night. Ill buy bags thats not a problem just wont to be sure thats the problem.

Is the ass of the car raised when the front end is slammed? First indication of bad front bags.

The rear comes down a little but not as much as the front.

OK OK OK!!!!!!! Listen the car sat for 2 week without leaking and the airride was off. I did this after I it would slam sometimes. This car sat in the cold for 2 weeks and did drop at all. Since Ive driven her for the last two week she has only slammed once and that was last night. Ill buy bags thats not a problem just wont to be sure thats the problem.

If the car slams when parked it's most definately a bag leak.
as unity said it may only be one bag, not both.

regardless of what someone that just wants to debate with people says..trust those that say.. you've got a leaking bag.

Give this a shot..

with the car at parked height, have someone turn on the key, dont start the engine, while you kneel next to the drivers side wheel.
listen very close and you should be able to hear the bag hiss as it passes thru the leaking portion.

If you dont hear it on the driver side..have your buddy turn off he key and get out of the car and close the door.
That will make the car go back down to parked height. Then repeat and listen to the passenger side wheel.. keeping in mind it's gonna be harder to hear the leak on the passenger side because the compressor is over there.

This test will tell you if you have a leak.. in the "normal travel" area of the bag.

There is also the possibility that the leak only leaks at positions "lower than normal travel" which is probably why at this time you have a "sometimes" leak.

Trust me though, there has never been a case of a "sometimes leak" that didn't turn into an "always leak".

each time the bag pancakes it opens that tear a little further.

I believe you. Im going to replace all four and the compressor maybe the dryer too. Im not that worried right know because its sitting alot but in the spring ill hit it hard.

Give this a shot..

with the car at parked height, have someone turn on the key, dont start the engine, while you kneel next to the drivers side wheel.
listen very close and you should be able to hear the bag hiss as it passes thru the leaking portion.

If you dont hear it on the driver side..have your buddy turn off he key and get out of the car and close the door.
That will make the car go back down to parked height. Then repeat and listen to the passenger side wheel.. keeping in mind it's gonna be harder to hear the leak on the passenger side because the compressor is over there.

This test will tell you if you have a leak.. in the "normal travel" area of the bag.

There is also the possibility that the leak only leaks at positions "lower than normal travel" which is probably why at this time you have a "sometimes" leak.

Trust me though, there has never been a case of a "sometimes leak" that didn't turn into an "always leak".

each time the bag pancakes it opens that tear a little further.

Now the important part... buy your back from Eddie at American Air Suspension.

Don't go anywhere else...

I have the same problem with my 94. But it only happenes once it lowers on the way to school. I have a leak in the front passenger strut. I have a new strut but im just too lazy to replace it. Whenever it sits low, i just turn off the air ride and turn it back on while the car is on. Then start pushing up from the driver door on the car and it starts to fill. I get the craziest looks every day in the school parking lot when im doing this.

It was -28 degrees Friday... got home Saturday and went out in the garage... My car hasn't dropped anymore than the last time I checked it, win!

Now the important part... buy your bag from Eddie at American Air Suspension.

Don't go anywhere else...

+1,000,000

Unless you want to buy a brand new gen2 style strut... then you go to Max :D

I believe you. Im going to replace all four and the compressor maybe the dryer too. Im not that worried right know because its sitting alot but in the spring ill hit it hard.

Save some dough & just do the fronts. Probly all you need, The rears last quite a bit longer.