New to the Formus and my 1st Lincoln..advice?

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William

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Greetings all...

I rescently picked up my 1st licoln Continental , Its a 1994 with some issues. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

My biggest concern at this stage is the Air Ride. I have 0 exp. working on suspension of any kind I would however like to learn and could use some advice on where to start with the diagnosing of the problem(s)

The Air Ride was working when I got the car, althougH I did notice the front end started to drop on the guy I got the car from(my neighbor) shortly before I got the car.

After it sat for about a month the front drivers side tire went flat, and the suspension stopped coming up at this point.So seeing as I couldnt get a jack of any kind under the car, I took apart a picnic table and made a ramp out of it so I could drive the car up high enough to get the tire fixed.

Unfortunatly now all the bags are empty and Ive tried to leave the car running for about 10-15 minutes to see if the bags would come up.. but no luck.

I have checked the fuses that I (found reading the manual) all where good.
I have tried the "on/off" button in the trunk (attempted to reset?)
I really dont know where any of the other things I need to check are located?

So any of you with some patience and knowledge in this are that would be so kind as to guide me/instruct me... I would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards;
William
 
quite a few things to start looking at here..

you already tried the trunk switch.. so we wont go there.

does the compressor run when you start the car? (its mounted in right front corner of engine bay).

do you get a 'check A/S' warning on the dash immediatly after starting, or does it take 90 secs or so?? that makes a difference in the diagnostic path.

These are a couple things to start with, with those questions answered, we can go from their.

one quick check that will cause the system fail immediately.. since you had a flat tire, and used a ramp of sorts to get the car high enough in air to service the tire.. check the front height sensor links. make sure they are connected at both the sensor and the control arm. they have been known to be popped off, and if the sensor is WAY out of range (possible with the link undone), the computer will give up before trying. Also check the rear one for the same (passenger side, there is only 1, it mounts a little farther inboard than the fronts)
 
does the compressor run when you start the car? (its mounted in right front corner of engine bay).

No
(it does not appear to) The light for air ride (on dash below radio)comes on the orange one.

do you get a 'check A/S' warning on the dash immediatly after starting, or does it take 90 secs or so?? that makes a difference in the diagnostic path.
I dont this message at all?

The check cycyle at start up tells me immediatly that i need washer fluid, and then about 90 seconds later it says the same about air ride.

In regards to the other suggestions you made.. to be honest I have no clue what these look like or where they are.

After looking at the comp. It is obvious work has been done to it in the past, as it isnt mounted down tightly and is missing one bolt.

Thank you for the help...

William
 
ok. 1st.. the light on the flat part of dash below the radio is for the SRS airbags (the ones that blow up in your face in an accident). it will come on for a bulb test on start, then should stay off.

the check A/S light (it might be call air ride), is on the message center, right hand 1/3 of the digital cluster.

the compressor is mounted on rubber isolators, so some movement is normal. however, missing a screw is not.. but good news.. its not a disaster, as you can get by just fine with 2

ok, since the compressor does NOT run, and you have checked fuses.. we need to find out if there is power to it. there are 4 leads on the connector. 2 provide 12V and ground to the motor, 2 provide 12v and ground to the vent valve. I dont recall which ones are for the motor, but when you start the car, that pair should have power on them. if not, you have a problem in the fuse, relay (somewhat common failure), or control circuit (more troubleshooting for that).

you should find a factory (helm) manual, or seek out the CD service manual. your probably gonna need it for this job.
 
well after further investagating the compressor seems to be getting hot to touch if i let the car run for sometime.
 
compressor getting hot, but not running?? that would be a siezed compressor then.

you can definatly tell if its running, they make noise, and shake/bounce a fair bit. thats why they are on rubber isolators.
 
ok after testing the 4 lines coming into it, only one of them is live. Its the top one on the "rounded side of the connector, the lead to the left or right of it is a negative pole, and reads 14v regardless of which one i touch it to.

The lower lead (squared side) reads 0 regardless of any other lead i touch it to?
 
I dont have my manual handy to look up which wire is which, and which one's will be hot when.. I can probably give that info tomorrow evening.
 
Ok... I was thinking along the same lines as you , when I found the Compressor to be hot. Thus I removed it , and dismantled the top half...and the aluminum rod was snapped in 2...

So next question..

Do you think if I were to replace the comp. that I would be able to at least get 4-6 months out of it? I figure it will take me that long to a. get the funds to replace the bags, and or go with the conversion kit. (taxes killed me this year =\) and will give me ample time to do alittle more research as to which is the best direction/choice regarding my options here, aswell as find any other "major" problems that I may not be aware of yet...

oh and Michigan, you were a great help for me today, thanks muchly for the prompt replys ,the patience and guidance.

Many many thanks..

William
 
You might get 4-6 months, 4 years, or 4 days. its really hard to tell.

with the connecting rod in the compressor snapping, that could either be an abnormal failure (they normally wear out and cant make enough pressure, the vent valve rusts open, or the motor dies), or it could be from the compressor being overworked from leaky air struts.

If your compressor has a schrader valve on it for filling with shop air, put the compressor back in (leave electrical plug off), connect shop air to that port, and see if it will raise the car when you turn on ign (no need to start really). if it will, let it raise up to ride height, then turn off switch in trunk (that completely turns off the air ride), and take it for a ride to see if it drops any corners (or ends). thats the best way to check for leaky struts. just letting the car sit at height dont always do it, as the folds in the airspring can actually seal themselves in some conditions.
 
Ok a couple things... after jumping through some hoops I was able to get a comp. from a 95 lincoln continental. I installed the compressor and praise be to God it works..

Now The mounts don't line up, and for me to use the old mounts from the other comp. i would have to undo the rear plate which appears to have a gasket on it... is this a area of concern? Can I get a mounting kit? and or can I leave it for the time being without it putting extra stress on the compressor?

Also the new one is slightly diffrent, and has a vacum line on it that the original one did not... What should I do with this?

Also: I need a drivers side taillight.. used is more than ok... any suggestions?

Best Regards;
William
 
I am not 100% sure a 95 compressor will work for ya.

by gasket.. do you mean the 3 rubber isolators the compressor/dryer assy is mounted on?? if so, they are just there to isolate the assy from the body, to reduce the amount of noise heard when it runs.
 
no the gasket im refering to is a gasket, not the mounting pads.

The gasket sits behind the actual "mounting" plate and when I removed the "mounting" plate off the old comp i could see inside the comp.

When you say your not sure it will work... why and what do you mean?

I installed it and it "seemed" to work just fine, I only needed to swap out the filters (as they have a diffrent hose setup)

the only other issue is the mounting and the vaccuum line.
 
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