Prairie Tan Air ride Issues!!! Ugh!!!!

[UltimateSVT]

I swear, I have the worst luck with Mark VIII's. Guys I need heavy input from all of you. My new job requires me to drive between 50-130miles p/day in my own vehicle. I do get a vehicle allowance + fuel but this 13 year old car is really feeling the mileage. As some of you know, I got this car with 63k. My father took it on a beautiful 2,000 mile road trip & the car road beautifully however my mileage is in the CITY!

So what's my issue? 2 weeks ago the car's front struts inflated to what I believe is to it's max. It was so bad I looked in the rear view mirror & all I could see was floor & the bumper of the car behind me. The solenoids would not vent. Then 2 days later they vented & car returned to normal height! The morning after, WHAAM! Sky high front end again. That same afternoon it vented to normal height.
I turned off the air ride & been driving like this. Problem is that after a week of driving the front end started to lower. I would turn on the air ride, watch the front end rise & run to the trunk to turn them off when I would see them reach normal height. Last night after a 130 mile driving day I noticed the front end is sitting about 2 inches lower than normal. I turned on the air ride & the compressor never came on. I left the air ride on all night, this morning I turn on the car, the compressor came on for 10 seconds then quit. I'm assuming in 2 more days of 100 mile driving the front end will be on the ground.

I NEED HELP! Where should I start? Checked the ride height sensors & they look ok, should I replace the solenoids? I'm about to order the spring conversion on this car too since it's my DD.

Worst yet, my 93 still sits because of a damn suspension issue as well. I'm waiting on the upper strut mounts to arrive!

I'm growing impatient!

 

[UltimateSVT]

Wow, really? 50 views & no one knows?

 

[Right on the Mark]

Man go to boneyard and pull bird of cougar springs and be done. Have you ever replaced the compressor? The compressor vent are always messing up. Mine was frozen shut when I got my cat too. Fregin thing was going to blow up the bags they where so pumped up. NOS solonid solved that.

 

[chris2523]

it sounds like a bad ride height sensor or stuck vent solenoid.
the compressor isn't turning on cuz its already way too high...

 

[UltimateSVT]

Gentlemen, I'm ready to get dirty with this damn car. Don't want to do the coil conversion because it's simply not my cheapest way out. Ok, at this point my 97's front end is simply not coming up. I swapped both ride height sensors & nothing happens. Compressor hasn't run on over 2 weeks. I simply get the "check air ride" message every time I start the car & I'm talking literally as soon as I start the car. Does anyone have a pair of good solenoids? I know I'm now sparing air ride parts from my 93 but I never found out why my 93 slammed so I don't want to go with swapping bad solenoids. I want to know that I'm installing a part that works. Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks.

NOTE: In the 3 weeks that my front air bags have been giving me issues, the rear has not given me one problem & thay don't leak one bit.

 

[unity]

Swap out the ABS relay for the air-ride relay. At this time the solenoids are not an issue as far as I can tell. Also, if the sensor are out of range when starting the car you will get the error right away. Get the car on the ground and if needed, jack it up a little to get it looking somewhat "okay" for height.

If the vent solenoid is stuck open, the car will not go up. If stuck closed, it will never drop. If a bag solenoid is stuck open it will eventually deflate since the system is not air-tight.

 

[the1andonlyGR81]

Wow, really? 50 views & no one knows?

i still have my compressor in mine, it worked fine when i switched to coils. if yours is going, ill give you mine you just have to take it out. i want it out anyways, for the weight or lack therof.

 

[UltimateSVT]

i still have my compressor in mine, it worked fine when i switched to coils. if yours is going, ill give you mine you just have to take it out. i want it out anyways, for the weight or lack therof.

That sounds beyond great! It would have to wait until next weekend though!

 

[BAD97LSC]

alex you answered your own question, the compressor isnt coming on. thats 1 of two things, either the relay for the compressor is fried, or the compressor is fried, but thats only gonna fix half the problem, if you change the relay or the compressor and it starts working again, you still need to replace the front air shocks, because they shouldnt ever fall unless they have a leak, which they obviously do, and i can tell you exactly where the leak is too, the top bushing in the upper cups of the shocks, garaunteed.

 

[UltimateSVT]

alex you answered your own question, the compressor isnt coming on. thats 1 of two things, either the relay for the compressor is fried, or the compressor is fried, but thats only gonna fix half the problem, if you change the relay or the compressor and it starts working again, you still need to replace the front air shocks, because they shouldnt ever fall unless they have a leak, which they obviously do, and i can tell you exactly where the leak is too, the top bushing in the upper cups of the shocks, garaunteed.

Already swapped the relay as well. I forgot to mention that. More than likely the compressor may have fried because of the erratically inflating, deflating, etc... Also, here's a good question, when we got the car, the bags were NOT deflating at all. The car stood for a week w/o being used & the car stayed at normal park height. Could it just be bad "O" rings?

 

[BAD97LSC]

the only thing that holds the air into the housing is a giant rubber plug, they crack, on every single one of them, if you were a small piece of rubber and had 2000 lbs pushing on you all day everyday you would crack too. it doesnt matter what it did when you got the car, parts wear out, over night, one day you could drive and everything is cool, the next day the crankshaft could snap in half, you cant predict anything. try running power directly to the compressor, only 4 wires come off it, and the two you need to worry about are the black and red, for obvious reason, hot and ground, take 2 pieces of wire and run them to the battery, if you dont get it to kick on, or if it barely runs at all, its done. the air ride in this car is as simple and changing the spark plugs, there is nothing to it, its a very simple system. if you havent touched the solenoids on the front shocks, then there is no reason why it would be an o-ring problem, if they havent been disturbed then that isnt the issue. trust me, your leak is in the top of the shock in the center of the top cup. take the plastic covers off the top of the shock in the engine bay and look at the bushings with a flashlight, you will find your big split.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Yeah I know I can do that, I just wish this car didn't have the air silencer above the compressor to I can reach into all that from the top! Ok, I got work to do this week.

 

[BAD97LSC]

just take the black lower splash shield off from under the front bumper. you have 4 12mm bolts and 8 phillips screws and you can take that out from under the car, then you can get the compressor harness without taking the whole front bumper off.