Air ride help 1997 Mark VIII

firstmark

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Oct 5, 2018
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Location
conneaut ohio
My car has always had the driver's side rear at least 3/4" lower than the passenger side rear.
I tried adjusting the rear ride height sensor down all the way but it didn't make any difference.
I replaced the solenoid valve on the drivers rear bag but that didn't change anything.
I replaced the drivers side rear bag yesterday and that's when the real problem begins.
After replacing the bag the car came up to the ride height before the bag was replaced which I could live with.
The problem now is after the car sits for 1-2 hrs the rear bags both deflate and the rears are
19 1/2" on the drivers side and 21 1/2" on the passenger side measuring from the bottom lip of the wheel to the bottom of wheel opening on the fender. I didn't touch the passenger side so I don't understand why it is now deflating. When aired up the rear drivers is 23 7/8" and rear passenger side is 24 1/4".
I'm taking these measurements after the car is raised back up and I turn the air ride switch off in the trunk. My understanding is that by turning the switch off the bags are isolated from the system and the bags should hold the air that's in them. I guess my question is, is there something common that would cause both rear bags to deflate if there is problem on one side?
If anyone could provide an air line routing diagram that would help.
I have the star II tester and the car passes all the tests.
Car has 33000 miles and bag I removed had firestone sticker on it so don't know if was factory original or a replacement.
Thanks
 
If one bag is factory and one is new, my guess would be that the o-rings got damaged when you replaced "the one". If it's not able to hold its air, the old one likely has cracks all the way around from sitting for so long (33,000 miles) and it's unable to hold the weight of the entire rear end. Also, when it's cold out with any old bag, it tends to deflate even easier. I bought two new rears several years back and installed new o-rings and haven't had any issues. Before that, I did replace a bag here and there and that never worked out very well. Westar is the brand I went with for the rear, off eBay. Around $100 for both at the time.

Either way, something you done on that one side isn't right. Just one can't support that much weight on its own.
 

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