Compressor Died!

JoeyLincolnMK8

JoeyLincolnMK8

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2004
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
1
Location
Queens, NY
hey guys, today i had the oh so lovely pleasure of experiencing my first (hopefully last) "check air ride system" message. after a nice ride on the highway, and coming to a full stop at a light, i got that message. so when i got home i looked at the hieght of the car, which looks good all around. i started her up, turned the a/c and radio off so i can hear if the compressor is running. i hear a "thump thump, thud" not the normal sound of the compressor i take it...lol. so i am guessing the thing is shot to living hell. do i have to just replace the compressor and that is it, or do i have to replace the relay as well? i appreciate it... thanks :Beer
 
well the car only has 63.xxx miles on it, and everything except a few little things are basically orig! so i am actually amazed that the compressor lasted this long from the time of the vechile was build 10/92 is the date i have. so from then till now, damn i have to say it went far. but yeah this year was not all that bad actually, except for that freak over charge i had that fried my SCT chip, other than that it has not been too bad (knock on wood trim).
 
mespock said:
Hey I have one from my 93 Mark VIII that I no longer need...

Not sure on how long it has for life but it is available....

Shipping only!!
Click to expand...

wow rich... that is really generous of you. i appreciate it... but i going to have it looked at tomorrow, for a second opinion. but i am almost 110% sure it is the compressor, unless someone thinks other-wise. which they are going to get my mag-lite cracked across their face.... but anyway i will keep you in mind defiantly. but my other question is should i change out the compressor relay and the compressor or just the compressor itself, thanks. :Beer
 
well, i went to the dealer just to have a second opinion, and they determined that the compressor, is bad which burned the relay...... now they are saying that my front air spring/struts are bad. i flipping out, and i told him listen i replaced those struts 3 1/2 months ago, they can not be bad. he told me the guy working on it has 15 years of experience. i said i am not going to doubt his experience, but how can you say they ( the struts) are bad did he take soapy water and checked to see if there is indeed a leak?? he said no... so then i told him just give me car, and i will be on my way.... bastids are trying to screw me with 2 air struts, compressor & relay.... THAT IS IT....... COILS BABY!!!! i love the air ride do not get me wrong, but it is just too damn expensive to keep up with, this needs to be changed, and that need to be replaced to make this work....... :q:q:qoul you dealer! sorry i had to vent out my anger alil.
 
well i would check them myself if i where you for leaks if you just got them 3 months ago if they are bad dont they have a warranty on them or somthing
what did he say did he say exactly how they are bad or how he came to that deasision stearliship
 
well my front end is slammed right now, i can not even pump up the bags cause the compressor is shot. can i still use the soapy water method even without the compressor working?
 
some air ride compressors have a fitting on them that you can use an air line to air them up, it's like airing up your tires. I don't know if your compressor has this fitting but the one on my Continental did, I think it is called a schrader valve, if your compressor does have this fitting then you can use the soapy water to see if your bags are bad.
 
when you had your bags done where did you have them done at
if its the compresor i would get that done then if the bags are still bad or even if they dont show anything i would check for leaks and if they have them yous the 12 12 warranty
 
JoeyLincolnMK8 said:
oh yeah i do have a warranty.... 12 months, 12k miles!!!
Click to expand...

just dont tell the place that you bought the struts from they went out due to your air compressor failure. most parts like these have a "limited warranty" which would void if something else on your car decided to go out causing the strut failure.
just tell them they are garbage, and you dont want to waste your time replacing them again and you want your money back!
 
JoeyLincolnMK8 said:
well, i went to the dealer just to have a second opinion, and they determined that the compressor, is bad which burned the relay...... now they are saying that my front air spring/struts are bad. i flipping out, and i told him listen i replaced those struts 3 1/2 months ago, they can not be bad. he told me the guy working on it has 15 years of experience. i said i am not going to doubt his experience, but how can you say they ( the struts) are bad did he take soapy water and checked to see if there is indeed a leak?? he said no... so then i told him just give me car, and i will be on my way.... bastids are trying to screw me with 2 air struts, compressor & relay.... THAT IS IT....... COILS BABY!!!! i love the air ride do not get me wrong, but it is just too damn expensive to keep up with, this needs to be changed, and that need to be replaced to make this work....... :q:q:qoul you dealer! sorry i had to vent out my anger alil.
Click to expand...

Like I said I have a compressor - But that is because I switched to springs on my 93. I am not dissapointed with the spring conversion. But I have 2 Mark VIIIs and I have air ride on my 95. I don't know what I will do if the air ride goes on my 95. Convert or not will all depend.

Good Luck.... The swap is a very easy job. Do it yourself if you choose to do it.
 
JoeyLincolnMK8 said:
well, i went to the dealer just to have a second opinion, and they determined that the compressor, is bad which burned the relay...... now they are saying that my front air spring/struts are bad. i flipping out, and i told him listen i replaced those struts 3 1/2 months ago, they can not be bad. he told me the guy working on it has 15 years of experience. i said i am not going to doubt his experience, but how can you say they ( the struts) are bad did he take soapy water and checked to see if there is indeed a leak?? he said no... so then i told him just give me car, and i will be on my way.... bastids are trying to screw me with 2 air struts, compressor & relay.... THAT IS IT....... COILS BABY!!!! i love the air ride do not get me wrong, but it is just too damn expensive to keep up with, this needs to be changed, and that need to be replaced to make this work....... :q:q:qoul you dealer! sorry i had to vent out my anger alil.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club buddy...my coils are nicely broken in and I am SOOOO glad I switched. For one thing, I have no qualms about getting under the wheel wells now. I can do my own brake jobs and fix my own stuff.

DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!
 
Your goal is to try and get the front end up one last time. You can do this sometimes by putting a floorjack under the front end and give it a few pumps. Don't jack it up too far, as the module will "see" this and do nothing but vent. Just pump it up just under normal height and turn the ignition on and see if it'll go up the rest of the way.

"IF" the front end ever makes it up, do a leak test. You can do this without even getting your hands dirty. http://www.americanairsuspension.com/MARK VIII LEAK TEST.htm

Only after you have determined that is has or has not got a leak, replace the compressor. If you replace the compresor and you don't fix the leak, it'll take out a perfectly good compressor in a short time.

Good luck.
 
my compressor went 2 days ago.right after i fixed the strut rod bushings.my rear is in the air and the front is on the ground.can i use cougar or t bird struts?or do i have to order mark8 strut kit?
 
yeah as of right now i am just going to fix the air suspension just to get me by. i bought a reman compressor for $160 and a new relay from max for about $70ish. but DEFIANTLY i am going to go coils in a month or two. just got to save alil here and there, and i am good to go. i can not wait to be rid of the air ride. thanks guys
 
wow. i guess i do know my car better than the dealer. installed the new compressor, and let me tell you what, everything is fine. relay is not toasted, checked front struts they are not leaking... everything is prefect only with the exception of the compressor. man i going to give my stealership a call and rip it into them but good. just wanted to give all of you the update! thanks for all the help anyway... but i am still going to convert into coils once i am ready to do so.
 
thanks bro. i just love the fact that they tried to F me with front struts and a relay! asswipes!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 158 (members: 0, guests: 158)
Back
Top