not another air ride question..sigh

achesonm8

achesonm8

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Hi,
I have rear airbags that are abt 10 yrs old. They randomly or (episodically) deflate. Two days ago they were deflated. I started the car and the compressor came on and pumped them up to their normal ride height (trunk empty). I shut off the air ride switch to test for leaks in the air bags. Today they did not appear to have leaked at all. I started the car to drive and on my way to where I was going (stop and go city traffic abt 5 mi) they had completely deflated (vented). I think the bags are ok (not leaking) which would mean something is triggering venting of both rear bags. My understanding is that there is one sensor on the p side shock for load that would trigger the compressor to inflate the rear bags or trigger venting of both rear bags(?). I am confused. Maybe I should throw in the towel, replace the rear bags with springs and put in a new pair of Koni/Bilstein shocks along with Jay's shock mounts... :(
Thanks for info!
 
If you let the car air up to city height, and then shut off the switch, you most likely got the bags in a position where they are not cracked, therefore not leaking. Next time, or tonight, pump the car up , then shut the car off and shut the door. Wait for the air ride to visibly vent down to park height. Then shut the air ride switch off. In the morning you will most likely find it on the ground in the rear. You most likely have bad rear air bags.
 
Once that test is done, have the air ride on and sit in the car. Have a passenger sit in the car also. Shut the doors and let it air up all the way. Both of you exit the car but DO NOT shut the door until you have turned off the air ride first. Shut both doors and let sit all night. I bet it will be raised above the open cracks in the fold of the bags and it will not leak.
 
When I was having problems with my front air shocks leaking it depended how it was parked (angled uphill or downhill) and the temperature..they tended to leak if it got cold out overnight. I don't know how you guys can daily drive these cars with the original air ride equipment and feel at ease..that was always on my mind when I walked out to my car in the morning before I swapped to springs.
 
keVIIIn said:
When I was having problems with my front air shocks leaking it depended how it was parked (angled uphill or downhill) and the temperature..they tended to leak if it got cold out overnight. I don't know how you guys can daily drive these cars with the original air ride equipment and feel at ease..that was always on my mind when I walked out to my car in the morning before I swapped to springs.
Click to expand...

Yes, before I got the new air shocks, mine would leak down in the front at 47 degrees in the garage. Slightly at 50 degrees but any higher and it would not leak down. One of the best buys I ever made for this car was the front air shocks. The whole ride changed. The feel of it is much smoother and it has a tightness that it didn't have before. Quieter too.
 
I had a problem on my 95 with the rear leaking down. Bags in good shape. Changed rear sensor, same thing. Changed the module ( under dash behind glove box on the rt) and solved problem
 
I kept having goofy issues with my '93 before I gave up. I had low mile 2nd gen front bags, and my rear bags were good. Car worked perfectly except for some odd venting issues where the car wouldnt lower or at least visibly. But otherwise was fine. I would drive the car for more than 45 mins and the chk air ride msg would pop up on the dash and my front end would pancake. However I could let the car sit for a week and it would be fine. But if I drove it after I got the air ride error, and parked it after reinflating, sometimes people in my office after coming back from a smoke break would come up to me and say, "hey your car made a loud whoooshing sound then the front end fell on the ground" and this would be like 6 hours after I get to work.

Idk, I loved the air ride when it worked, but I was just tired of it. I've been on springs now for 2 years and the front end has never dropped once, and it rides/handles better too :) lol
 
Thanks all for your help! I will try the first two tests. I will do a lookback here to revisit how the rear sensor works. I don't recall the details. So it could be the sensor or further upstream electronically. I can also check the integrity of the rear bags with soapy water....it is not a very "robust" suspension system! I haven't had any problems with the front after Jay and I installed new Gen II bags in the front. I also have a spare compressor from scavenging at JYds. The experiments or tests above sound perfectly sensible, pun intended!, to my dumb brain. :cool:
 
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